The Distribution Selective scheme: Support for the distribution of non-national films 2019 - Call EACEA 28/2018

Deadline: Jun 4, 2019  
CALL EXPIRED

WARNING:

The present call for proposals is subject to:

the availability of the funds after the adoption of the budget for 2019 by the budgetary authority

Objectives and Description

This notice is based on the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing the Creative Europe Programme (2014-2020).

Within the specific objective of promoting non-national circulation, one of the priorities of the MEDIA Sub-programme shall be the following:

• supporting theatrical distribution through non-national marketing, branding, distribution and exhibition of audiovisual works.

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

• establishing systems of support for the distribution of non-national European films through theatrical distribution and on all other platforms as well as for international sales activities; in particular the subtitling, dubbing and audio-description of audiovisual works.

Eligible applicants

The applicants shall be a European sales agent company: 

A European company acting as an intermediary agent for the producer, who specialises in the commercial exploitation of a film by marketing and licensing a film to distributors or other purchasers for foreign countries.

The sales agent must have been over the last 3 years the appointed sales agent of at least 3 films that have been theatrically released in at least 5 countries. 

The sales agent must be appointed by the producer of the film by way of an international sales agreement providing for the right to sell the film in at least 15 countries participating in the MEDIA Sub-programme.

Applicants must be established in one of the countries participating in the MEDIA Sub-programme and owned directly or by majority participation, by nationals from such countries. 

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 negotiation with the country: 

• EU Member States and overseas countries and territories which are eligible to participate in the 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

The activities to be funded are campaigns for the pan-European distribution of eligible European films, outside their country of origin, coordinated by the sales agent of the film.

A minimum of 7 different distributors must be attached to the project. Out of the 7 distributors: at least 3 from high/medium capacity countries and at least 2 from small/very small capacity countries. 

The film must have been majority produced by a producer/producers established in countries participating in the MEDIA sub-programme and made with a significant participation by professionals from those countries. The film must be a work of fiction (including animated films) or documentary with a minimum duration of 60 minutes long. 

The film must not consist in alternative content (operas, concerts, performances, etc.) or advertising, pornographic or racist material or advocate violence.

The production budget of the film cannot exceed EUR 15M€.

For the film to be eligible its first copyright must not have been established before 2018.

The film must be released: 

o between 1st April 2019 and 1st October 2020 (first deadline)

o between 1st October 2019 and 1st April 2021 (second deadline) 

for the costs to be eligible.

The action consists into:

- the coordination of the campaign by the sales agent.

- the promotion and release of eligible non-national European films by distributors.

The film must have a standard interoperable identifier, such as ISAN or EIDR.

The beneficiary will have 18 months to carry out the project.

Award criteria

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

1) relevance and European added value (30 points):

Relevance of the content of the activity including its international/European/regional dimension vis-à-vis the objectives of the Call for proposals.

2) quality of the content and activities (45 points):

Quality of the project in terms of content and distribution strategies.

3) communication and Dissemination of project results, impact and sustainability (15 points):

Sales agent plan to expand the project with a view to increase the impact and sustainability of the funded action.

4) coordination (10 points):

Methodology in place by the applicant to distribute the fund to third parties, to collect results and to report.

Budget

The total budget available is EUR 9.851.144.

A maximum of 25% of the budget will be allocated to films with a production budget superior EUR 10M.

The financial contribution from the EU cannot exceed 50% of the total costs. The investment by third parties needs to be estimated in the “revenue part” of the budget.

The support is limited to 50% of the P&A incurred by the third parties.

Within the following limits:

Max 150.000€ for FR, UK, ES, IT and DE

Max 60.000€ for AT, BE, NL, PL

Max 30.000€ for CZ, DK, FI, EL, HU, NO, PT, SU

Max 10.000€ for all the other territories.

The maximum support allocated to third parties will be listed in the grant agreement. 

Deadline for submission of applications

The deadlines for sending applications are 08/01/2019 and 04/06/2019.

Proposals must be received before 12.00 noon (midday Brussels time) on the relevant deadline, 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.

A copy of the film (DVD or any other format) for which support is sought is compulsory. It must be sent to::

Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency 

Creative Europe Programme (2014–2020) 

MEDIA Sub-programme – SELECTIVE SCHEME

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/distribution-selective-scheme-support-for-transnational-distribution-european-films-2019_en 

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