Juan Monroy — Outline: Western European Cinema

1 European Community
- 1.1 Following European recession after 1973 “Oil Shock”
- 1.2 unified market to compete with the US and Japan
- 1.3 European Union
  - discussions began in 1979
  - A “Single Europe” in 1994
  - A common currency: Euro, 2002
2 Declining European Industry
- 2.1 some countries production increased
  - artificially inflated by pornography
- 2.2 box office steady
  - increasing ticket prices
- 2.3 declining attendance
  - color television
  - home video
- 2.4 fewer films
  - mirroring the United States
  - most titles aimed at young audiences, 15–25
3 Dominance of US in Europe
- 3.1 impact of US film
  - US had best theaters
  - blocked domestic films
- 3.2 comprised 50% of film attendance
  - Belgium
  - France
  - West Germany
- 3.3 comprised 60%
  - Denmark
  - Italy
  - Greece
- 3.4 80% of film attendance
  - Netherlands
- 3.5 90% of film attendance
  - United Kingdom
4 Government Support
- 4.1 state subsidies
- 4.2 several countries established advance sur recettes
  - Greece
  - Spain
  - Switzerland
  - Italy
  - Belgium
- 4.3 National Film Development Fund
  - United Kingdom, 1976
    - tickets
    - television license fees
    - VCRs
- 4.4 Finland
  - television taxes
  - VCRs
  - blank videocassettes
5 Co-Productions
- 5.1 independent companies pooling resources
- 5.2 treaties between countries
  - draw subsidies from two or more countries
- 5.3 Eurofilm
  - stars from several countries
  - director from another
  - mixed-national crew
- 5.4 East-West co-productions
6 Television Support
- 6.1 most television was state sponsored
  - BBC in UK
  - ORTF in France
  - RAI in Italy
- 6.2 maintained internal production companies
- 6.3 banned advertising
- 6.4 showcased national culture
- 6.5 West Germany supported filmmaking
  - channels: ARD and ZDF
  - Film and Television Agreement (1974)
  - films would receive money in exchange for broadcast rights
  - supported New German Cinema
- 6.6 France
  - added two public channels for films, 1970s–1980s
- 6.7 Britain
  - Channel 4
- 6.8 television added to decline of theaters
7 Private Investments
- 7.1 media conglomerates
  - Studio Canal
  - Berlusconi
  - Prisa
  - Thorn-EMI
  - Polygram
  - Bertelsmann
- 7.2 investment groups
  - Credit Lyonnais
  - supplied financing to European and US film producers
- 7.3 France
  - Societes de Financement du Cinema et de l’Audiovisuel (SOFICA)
  - tax-exempt investments to spur investment in films
- 7.4 West Germany
  - investments in films could be deducted from income taxes, 1995
  - supported filmmaking
  - almost 80% went to Hollywood
  - rescinded in 2005
8 European Community
- 8.1 founded MEDIA in 1987
- 8.2 funded production
- 8.3 European Film Distribution Office
  - financial incentives for national distributors for imported films
- 8.4 European Film Promotion agency
  - festival events
  - supported travel for filmmakers
- 8.5 Eurimages
  - founded 1988
  - backed films
  - spread support to Turkey and Eastern Europe
- 8.6 “Eurofilms”
  - bland
  - lacking national qualities or identity
  - Bertolucci’s Last Emperor (1987)
- 8.7 European Film Academy
  - European Oscars
- 8.8 Lumière film archive
  - co-ordinated European film archives
- 8.9 Mixed results
  - almost half of all European films were from Hollywood
  - in 2007: only 50 of 1,000 films recouped their investment
9 Pan-European Film