Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

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| 26.5.2012 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 150/3 |

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MEDIA 2007 — DEVELOPMENT, DISTRIBUTION, PROMOTION AND TRAINING

Call for proposals — EACEA/14/12

Support for the digitisation of European cinemas

2012/C 150/04

1.   Objectives and description

This notice of a call for proposals is based on Decision No 1718/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 concerning the implementation of a programme of support for the European audiovisual sector (MEDIA 2007).

The global objectives of the programme are to:

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| (a) | preserve and enhance European cultural and linguistic diversity and its cinematographic and audiovisual heritage, guarantee its accessibility to the public and promote intercultural dialogue; |

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| (b) | increase the circulation and viewership of European audiovisual works inside and outside the European Union, including through greater cooperation between players; |

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| (c) | strengthen the competitiveness of the European audiovisual sector in the framework of an open and competitive European market favourable to employment, including by promoting links between audiovisual professionals. |

The aim of the ‘digitisation of cinemas’ scheme is to encourage cinemas showing a significant percentage of non-national European works to exploit the possibilities offered by digital.

This call for proposals aims to facilitate the digital transition of cinemas screening European films by supporting the side costs linked to the purchase of a digital projector.

2.   Eligible applicants

This notice is aimed at European independent cinema operators whose principal activity is the screening of films.

Applicants must be established in one of the following countries:

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| — | the 27 countries of the European Union, |

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| — | the EEA countries, Switzerland and Croatia, |

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| — | Bosnia and Herzegovina (under the condition of the finalisation of the negotiation process and the formalisation of the participation of this country to the MEDIA programme). |

Applicant organisations must:

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| — | be first run cinemas (programming European films in first run, within a maximum period of 12 months after the national release), |

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| — | have been open to the public for a minimum of three years, |

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| — | possess a ticketing and entry declaration system, |

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| — | have at least one screen and 70 seats, |

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| — | have presented 520 screening per year for permanent cinema (i.e. cinemas in operation for a period of at least six months per year), 300 screenings per year for single screen theatres (30 screenings per month) and at least 30 screenings per month for summer/open air cinemas (cinemas in operation for less than six months per year), |

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| — | have had at least 20 000 cinema admissions where a normal ticket price was actually paid in the previous year. |

Applicants who have or will receive a projector from a third-party integrator as a result of signing a VPF deal will not be eligible for support.

To be considered as eligible, the cinemas must have screened in 2011 a minimum of 50 % European films of which at least 30 % are European non-national.

A film is considered as European if it complies with the MEDIA programme's definition of such films under the Cinema Selective and Cinema Automatic support schemes.

Films that have already been classified are listed in the European Movie Database:

http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/programme/distrib/filmbase/index\_en.htm

A film is considered as European if it complies with the following definition:

Any recent work of fiction (including animated films) or documentary, with a minimum duration of 60 minutes, complying with the following conditions:

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| — | the work has been in majority produced by a producer or producers established in the countries participating in the MEDIA programme. To be considered as the actual producers, the production companies must be credited as such. Other elements such as creative control, ownership of exploitation rights and share of profits may also be taken into account to determine who the actual producer is,  and |

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| — | the work must be produced with the significant participation of professionals who are nationals/residents of countries participating in the MEDIA programme. ‘Significant participation’ is defined as having more than 50 % of the points on the basis of the table below (e.g. having 10 or more points in the case of a work of fiction or the biggest share of points if the total is less than 19 as is normally the case for documentaries or animation films where all of the categories are not usually included in the credits):   |  |  | | --- | --- | | Functions | Points | | Director | 3 | | Scriptwriter | 3 | | Composer | 1 | | Actor 1 | 2 | | Actor 2 | 2 | | Actor 3 | 2 | | Artistic Director/Production Design | 1 | | Director of Photography | 1 | | Editor | 1 | | Sound | 1 | | Shooting location | 1 | | Laboratory | 1 | | TOTAL | 19 | |

Films consisting of advertising, pornographic or racist material or advocating violence are not considered as eligible films.

3.   Eligible actions

Support to the side costs linked to the purchase of digital projectors meeting the content security requirements for Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) compliance to be installed in a cinema complying with all the eligibility criteria.

Support can be requested for only one projector per screen and for a maximum of three screens per cinema.

The projector must be bought between the date of submission and 31 December 2013.

4.   Award criteria

Eligible applications/actions will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

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| Criteria | | Points |
| European dimension (percentage of European non-national films) | | 65 |
| Number of eligible projectors requested: | |  |
| 1 projector |  | 7 |
| 2 projectors |  | 13 |
| 3 projectors |  | 25 |
| Existence of national support mechanism | |  |
| No |  | 10 |
| Yes |  | 0 |

5.   Budget

The annual budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects is estimated at EUR 2 000 000.

The financial contribution awarded is a subsidy and takes the form of a lump sum, of maximum EUR 20 000 per screen.

This subsidy covers any costs related to the digital transition of European theatres, to the exclusion of the cost of the digital projector and server.

The Agency reserves the right not to allocate all the funds available.

6.   Deadline for submission of applications

Proposals must be sent (postmark date) by 31 July 2012.

Proposals must be sent at the following address:

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| Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) |
| Constantin DASKALAKIS |
| BOUR 3/66 |
| Avenue du Bourget/Bourgetlaan 1 |
| 1140 Bruxelles/Brussel |
| BELGIQUE/BELGIË |

Only applications submitted on the official application form, duly signed by the person entitled to enter into legally binding commitments on behalf of the applicant organisation, will be accepted. Envelopes must clearly mention:

MEDIA programme — Distribution EACEA/14/12 — Digitisation of cinemas

Applications sent by fax or e-mail will be rejected.

7.   Full details

The guidelines together with the application forms can be found at the following Internet address:

http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/programme/exhibit/schemes/digitisation/index\_en.htm

Applications must be submitted on the forms provided and contain all the information and annexes requested.

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