CREATIVE EUROPE: Support for TV Programming of European Audiovisual Works - EACEA 23/2016

Deadline: Nov 24, 2016  
CALL EXPIRED

WARNING:

The present call for proposals is subject to the availability of the funds after the adoption of the budget for 2017 by the budgetary authority.

Objectives and Description

This notice of a call for proposals is based on the Regulation No 1295/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11/12/2013 concerning the implementation of a programme of support for the European cultural and creative sector (CREATIVE EUROPE) and the corrigendum of the 27/06/2014 . 

Within the specific objective of reinforcing the European audiovisual sector's capacity to operate transnationally and internationally one of the priorities of the MEDIA Sub-programme is to:

increase the capacity of audiovisual operators to develop European audiovisual works with a potential to circulate in the EU and beyond and to facilitate European and international co-production, including with television broadcasters.

The MEDIA Sub-programme shall provide support for the following measures:

the development of European audiovisual works in particular films and television works such as fiction, documentaries, children’s and animated films, as well as interactive works such as videogames and multimedia with enhanced cross-border circulation potential;

activities aiming at supporting European audiovisual production companies, in particular independent production companies, with a view to facilitating European and international co-productions of audiovisual works including television works.

Eligible applicants

Applicant must be European independent audiovisual production companies that are the majority producer of the work. 

Applications from legal entities established in one of the following countries are eligible as long as all conditions referred to in Article 8 of the Regulation establishing the Creative Europe Programme are met and the Commission has entered into negotitations with the country: 

EU Member States and overseas countries and territories which are eligible to participate in he Programme pursuant to Article 58 of Council Decision 2001/822/EC;

Acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates benefiting from a pre-accession strategy, in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in Union programmes established in the respective Framework Agreements, Association Council Decisions or similar agreements;

EFTA countries which are members of the EEA, in accordance with the provisions of the EEA Agreement;

The Swiss Confederation, on the basis of a bilateral agreement to be concluded with that country;

Countries covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy in accordance with the procedures established with those countries following the framework agreements providing for their participation in Union programmes.

The Programme shall also be open for bilateral or multilateral cooperation actions targeted at selected countries or regions on the basis of additional appropriations paid by, and specific arrangements to be agreed upon with, those countries or regions.

The Programme shall permit cooperation and joint actions with countries not participating in the Programme and with international organisations which are active in the cultural and creative sectors such as UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co­operation and Development or the World Intellectual Property Organisation on the basis of joint contributions for the realisation of the Programme's objectives. 

Proposals from applicants in non EU countries may be selected, provided that, on the date of the award decision, agreements have been signed setting out the arrangements for the participation of those countries in the programme established by the Regulation referred to above.

Eligible actions

Drama films (one-off or series) of a total duration of minimum 90 minutes intended primarily for the purposes of television exploitation. Sequels or second and third seasons of an existing drama series are eligible.

Animation (one-off or series) of a total duration of minimum 24 minutes intended primarily for the purposes of television exploitation. Sequels or second, third and further seasons of an existing animation series are not eligible.

Creative documentaries (one-off or series) of a total duration of minimum 50 minutes intended primarily for the purposes of television exploitation. Sequels second, third and further seasons of an existing documentary series are not eligible.

The work must be produced with the significant participation of professionals who are nationals and/or residents of countries participating in the MEDIA Sub-programme. 

The work must be submitted at the latest on the first day of principal photography (or start of animation for animation projects).

The work must involve the participation of at least three broadcasting companies from three countries participating in the MEDIA Sub-programme. 

The exploitation rights licensed to the broadcasters participating in the production have to revert to the producer after a maximum license period of:

- 7 years if the broadcaster's participation takes the form of a pre-sale;

- 10 years if the broadcaster's participation also takes the form of a co-production.

The broadcaster's contribution cannot exceed 70% of the total financing of the production.

A minimum of 50% of the total estimated production budget must come from countries participating to the MEDIA Sub-programme.

A minimum of 50% of the financing of the total estimated production budget must be guaranteed from third party sources of finance (either through direct financing or by advance rights sales).

The maximum duration of the projects is 30 or 42 (in the case of series) months.

Award criteria

Points will be allocated out of a total of 100 on the basis of the following weighting:

Relevance and European added value (30 points):

Potential for European and international distribution of the project. 

Quality of the content and activities (30 points):

Quality of the project and the European dimension and financing of the project. 

Dissemination of project results, impact and sustainability (30 points):

Quality of the distribution and marketing strategy. 

Organisation of the project Team (10 points):

Distribution of the roles and responsibilities of the production and creative team.

Automatic Award criteria: 

- Project targeted for young audience (5 extra points)

- Applicant company established in a country with low or medium production capacity (5 extra points)

Budget 

The total budget available is 12.5 M €. 

For drama and animation works the financial contribution awarded may not exceed EUR 500.000 or 12.50% of the total eligible costs, whichever is the lower. 

Only for first seasons of Drama Series (co-produced by production companies from different countries participating in the MEDIA sub-programme, consisting of at least 6 episodes and with a total eligible production budget of minimum 10M€), an amount of maximum of EUR 1M or 10% of total eligible costs, whichever is the lower, can be requested.

For creative documentary, the financial contribution awarded may not exceed EUR 300.000 or 20% of the total eligible costs whichever is the lower.

Deadline for submission of applications

Proposals must be submitted not later than 24/11/2016 and 25/05/2017 at 12.00 noon (midday Brussels time) using the online application form (eForm). No other method of submission of an application will be accepted. 

Applicants shall ensure that all the documents requested and mentioned in the eForms are provided.

In addition, a set of compulsory annexes that cannot be submitted online have to be sent to the Agency by post. 

The package must include the copy of the acknowledgment of receipt of the application, the paper annexes and a CD-Rom or USB stick containing all these documents. 

Address to which the documents must be sent:

Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency 

Creative Europe Programme (2014–2020) 

MEDIA Sub-programme 

Avenue du Bourget 1 

BE – 1049 Brussels 

Belgium

Full details

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

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/creative-europe/funding/tv-programming-2017_en/

Applications must comply with all the terms of the guidelines and be submitted on the eForms provided.