Media 2007 : rolling out the red carpet.
Date: 2019-01-31
Institutions: Directorate-General for the Information Society and Media
Subjects: EU programme, audiovisual industry

Volver by Pedro Almodóvar 

Development 
MEDIA 2007 supports smaller independent companies and producers working 
on audiovisual and multimedia projects, including documentaries, animations 
and drama. These ‘upstream’ preparations carry a ﬁ lm through to production 
and post-production.
The funding helps : 
— Develop individual projects
— Develop ﬁ lm catalogues
— Facilitate access to ﬁ nancing 
—  Streamline ﬁ lm development and raise value in the ﬁ lm production chain
“Long live European cinema ! Our cinema is enjoying a renaissance in many European 
countries : new talents are being born, creators are expressing themselves and their results 
are starting again to be seen in our countries. The future of European cinema must celebrate 
diversity and encourage discovery, enabling us to have a better understanding of other 
traditions and cultures. The future is in our hands.” 
Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar

”

“

industry.
The funding helps :

Distribution, a downstream phase after production, is where the ﬁ lm is released 
to cinemas, on-line, DVD and television with the help of promotional material, 
such as press kits, posters, ad campaigns, etc. MEDIA’s promotion action 
line combines both economic and cultural ambitions, involving festivals and 
markets, to ensure success.
Distribution 
MEDIA 2007 will encourage wider circulation of European audiovisual works 
among  the  31  participating  countries.  Support  at  all  stages  –  distributors, 
sales agents, producers, exhibitors, etc. – underpins Europe’s competitive ﬁ lm 
—  Stimulate wider circulation through marketing and distribution support, so 
that ﬁ lms are seen outside their national territory 
— Support cinemas and cinema networks 
— Support dubbing and subtitling 
— Encourage digital screenings 
— Encourage co-operation with broadcasters
Europa Cinemas is an EU-funded network of around 670 independent 
theatres with more than 1 500 screens in some 340 cities and 50 countries 
worldwide.  Its  mission  is  to  boost  the  screening  of  European  ﬁ lms, 
especially non-national ones. It also develops joint initiatives at national 
and  European  levels,  with  education  and  awareness-raising  activities, 
such  as  ‘Open  Your  Eyes’  aimed  at  young  people,  and  to  encourage 
greater use of digital technology in cinemas.     

Good bye, Lenin ! by Wolfgang Becker

Training
MEDIA 2007 supports training projects with a European dimension, helping 
professionals  adapt  to  the  realities  of  the  global  audiovisual  market  and 
especially new technological developments.
The funding helps : 
— Support scriptwriting and project development 
— Improve management skills
— Develop technical skills for digital technologies
—  Promote professional networks and training projects (i.e. individuals, ﬁ lm 
— Promote co-operation opportunities
schools, professionals in regions with lower production capacity and/or less 

common languages)

Training  strengthens  creative  skills  and  the  quality  of  European  works.  It 
helps  develop  sound  economic,  ﬁ nancial  and  commercial  management. 
Development, a pre-production stage for works of ﬁ ction, animations, creative 
documentaries and multimedia productions, is where ideas are ﬂ eshed out 
into a viable script via preparatory steps, such as research, location scouting, 
ﬁ nancing, rights management and casting. 

No Man’s Land by Danis Tanovic  

MEDIA 2007 720x210-DEF_ENv2.indd   1
MEDIA 2007 720x210-DEF_ENv2.indd   1

8 Women by François Ozon

audiovisual sector 

Promotion/Festivals
MEDIA funding supports many different kinds of promotion to help European 
independent producers and distributors attend events and festivals, and to 
access  markets  for  European  cinematographic  and  television  works  both 
inside and outside of Europe.
The funding helps : 
—  Ensure  access  to  European  and  international  markets  for  the  European 
— Promote European audiovisual works in Europe and worldwide
—  Recognise and reinforce the role of festivals to promote European ﬁ lms and 
contribute to cultural diversity
“

 “MEDIA has been a long-standing and vital supporter of our activities. We strive to provide 
producers with greater access to the global market and, at the same time, bring Europe’s 
talented ﬁ lm makers into the promotional process – important for increasing European 
cinema’s visibility. We deeply appreciate MEDIA’s commitment to these goals.”
Claudia Landsberger, European Film Promotion President

”

Film festivals provide valuable exposure to all contributors in the creative, 
technical and business sides of ﬁ lm making. Every year, MEDIA supports 
more than 100 festivals and fosters collaboration between them to strengthen 
the diversity and quality of ﬁ lms produced and shown in Europe. 

Pilot Projects 
Digital  technology  could  make  European  ﬁ lms  more  accessible  to  a  wider 
community  and  to  people  of  different  cultures  and  languages.  Embracing 
these  new  technologies  for  ﬁ lm  development,  production  and  distribution 
– and passing on know-how – is key to creating competitive advantages for 

Europe in the future.

CinemaNet  Europe  is  bringing  documentaries  to  the  big  screen  by 
transforming  independent  cinemas  across  several  countries  into  digital 
cinemas. These screens will receive ﬁ lms by hard discs or ADSL instead 

of reels.

Horizontal Priorities 
New actions will be launched to make it easier for SMEs to access funding, 
and to follow and support market developments for digitisation – encouraging 
the presence of European ﬁ lms on digital platforms.
“I live in a small country, so I have to ﬁ nd funds [from elsewhere]. Thanks to the MEDIA 
“
programme I’ve done it, I’ve made ﬁ lms !” 
Frédéric Fonteyne, Belgian ﬁ lm director

”

The Best of Youth by Marco Tullio Giordana

23/01/07   17:56:40
23/01/07   17:56:40

 
 
MEDIA 2007
by segment 
The total ﬁ gure earmarked by the European Union for the seven-year MEDIA 
2007 programme is €755 million, spread across ﬁ ve action lines.
On a year-by-year basis, the budget will increase as the programme builds 
momentum, starting with €75 million in 2007 and culminating with €107 million 
in the last year of the programme, 2013. 

%
5
5
n
o
i
t
u
b
i
r
t
s
i
D

%
0
2
t
n
e
m
p
o
l
e
v
e
D

%
9
n
o
i
t
o
m
o
r
P

%
7
g
n
i
n
i
a
r
T

%
5
s
n
o
i
t
c
A

l
a
t
n
o
z
i
r
o
H

%
4
s
t
c
e
j
o
r
P
t
o

l
i

P

Training : Each year, around 50 specialised seminars are organised thanks to MEDIA. 
Development : Each year, 300 new European ﬁ lm projects are born with MEDIA backing. 
Distribution : Half of the European ﬁ lms distributed or shown on cinema screens beneﬁ t 
Promotion : MEDIA supports hundreds of ﬁ lm festivals across Europe each year.

from MEDIA support. 

The march of the penguins 
by Luc Jacquet 

Kirikou and the sorceress
by Michel Ocelot

Amélie
by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

industry.

A passion for ﬁ lm 
How  often  do  you  see  real  emotion  in  business  in  Europe ?  One  industry 
overﬂ ows with it – from the scene-setting ﬁ rst lines in a script to the passionate 
negotiations for development ﬁ nance and, ﬁ nally, the tears of joy or sadness 
shed by ﬁ lm-goers in cinemas all over Europe... and beyond. 
Over the past 18 years, MEDIA, the European Union’s audiovisual support 
programme, has developed a keen understanding of this duality – the colour 
of  the  creative  arts  versus  the  black  and  white  bottom  lines  of  business. 
MEDIA-supported ﬁ lms have received awards at the world’s premier festivals, 
including Cannes, Berlin, Venice and the Academy Awards.
MEDIA 2007 is a worthy successor to previous programmes (MEDIA I, II, Plus 
and Training), integrated and simpliﬁ ed in its administration but certainly not 
in its objectives. The programme continues to strive for a stronger European 
audiovisual  sector,  reﬂ ecting  and  respecting  Europe’s  cultural  identity  and 
heritage. MEDIA’s budget of €755 million covers the period 2007-2013. While 
not  vast  in  absolute  terms, the Community  budget  has  a strong  knock-on 
effect in the audiovisual sector : each euro spent generates some €6 in the 
MEDIA  2007  meets  the  challenges  of  a  rapidly  growing  and  changing 
audiovisual sector shaped by new technologies, new players and participating 
countries, market fragmentation and lack of private investment. 
Film making life cycle and EU involvement
‘Pre-production’ 
(upstream)
Training
Scriptwriting techniques
Economic, ﬁ nancial and 
commercial management
Digital technologies
Development
Single projects  
Catalogues
New talent
Co-production ﬁ nancing

‘Post-production’ 
(downstream)
Distribution
Distributors
Sales agents
Broadcasters
Cinema exhibitors
Digitising works
Promotion
Market access
Festivals
Common actions/events
Heritage

3

1

Production

Foreword

The  MEDIA  2007  programme  was  adopted  on  15  November 
2006. Although it doesn’t have the budget that I had requested, 
I am happy that we can ﬁ nally get the new programme under 
way, to build on past success and prepare tomorrow’s European 
audiovisual industry.
MEDIA  Plus  and  MEDIA  Training  have  supported  more  than 
8  000  projects  between  2001  and  2006,  injecting  more  than 
half  a  billion  euros  into  the  European  audiovisual  industry; 
nearly half of the ﬁ lms produced in a European country have 
circulated  outside  their  national  borders  thanks  to  European 
We must now commit ourselves to MEDIA 2007, whose ﬁ rst 
years will be difﬁ cult in terms of budget, to enable us to make 
progress in disseminating our diverse cultures, and help increase 
the competitiveness of our audiovisual industries. 
To achieve this, new actions will be launched to facilitate the 
access of independent production companies to ﬁ nancing or 
to support cinema exhibitors in their efforts to modernise and 
digitise  their  projection  equipment.  I  would  also  like  other 
initiatives  and  pilot  actions  to  be  launched  during  the  time 
span of the programme in order to better adjust it to market 

Union support.

evolutions.
Viviane Reding 
Commissioner for information society and media 

Dogville 
by Lars von Trier

Hidden 
by Michael Haneke 

Winged migration 
by Jacques Perrin

On a mission
MEDIA  has  come  of  age !  With  MEDIA  2007  (2007-2013),  the  European 
Commission has channelled its ‘upstream’ and ‘downstream’ support into a 
single programme to develop and strengthen Europe’s audiovisual industry. 
Blending the best of the past with many innovations, it is now simpler, more 
streamlined and better equipped – with the help of the MEDIA desks and 
partners – to reach its goals. New actions will include support for on-line cinema 
and access to ﬁ nancing. The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive 
Agency will ensure the operational management of the programme. 

MEDIA 
2007

CONTACTS :
MEDIA programme
Website : ec.europa.eu/media
Directorate-General for Information Society and Media 
E-mail : infso-media@ec.europa.eu
Website : ec.europa.eu/dgs/information_society 
Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (MEDIA programme)
E-mail : EACEA-P8@ec.europa.eu
Website : eacea.ec.europa.eu
MEDIA Desks and Antennae
Website : ec.europa.eu/media (see ‘contact’ section) 

Rolling out the red carpet

C
-
N
E
-
5
5
5
-
6
0
-
6
7
-
K
K

European support programme for the audiovisual industry (2007-2013)

MEDIA 2007 720x210-DEF_ENv2.indd   2
MEDIA 2007 720x210-DEF_ENv2.indd   2

23/01/07   17:56:51
23/01/07   17:56:51