20 YEARS OF MEDIA


Support network S


et up by the European Union in 1991 to support European production and distribution in key areas including pro-


fessional training, development and pro- motion, the MEDIA Programme has had a sustained and wide-reaching impact on the European film business. In the two decades of Brussels-based


MEDIA’s existence, the market share for European films outside their home ter- ritory in Europe has been about 7%-8% annually. According to MEDIA head Aviva Silver, this would have fallen to 1%-2% without the programme’s support. In the training sphere, MEDIA has


helped to expand the provision of professional courses across Europe. Last year it co-financed some 63 projects, ranging from the eQuinoxe Germany and Sources script development workshops through the EAVE and ACE programmes for producers, to courses for new media and digital technologies such as The Pixel Lab and Insight Out. The current MEDIA Programme, which runs from 2007 to 2013, has a budget of $1.04bn (¤755m), with back- ing for training increased by 30% from $8.4m (¤6.1m) in 2007 to $12.4m (¤9m) in 2010. Financial support from MEDIA remains crucial for many training initia-


‘The earlier you intervene upstream, the more prepared professionals will be to meet the challenges of a continuously shifting


landscape’ Aviva Silver, MEDIA Programme


were leading rather separate lives on a national level without necessarily being conscious of the bigger picture.” This focus has, says Silver, led to an


Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2011, the MEDIA Programme is a major supporter of film training in Europe. Martin Blaney reports


tives. “Script development is the corner- stone of better storytelling,” says eQuinoxe Germany chairman Ellen Winn Wendl. “A programme like ours and many others are only possible with the MEDIA Programme as the major partner.” Agnieszka Marczewska of EKRAN, a


Warsaw-based course focusing on crea- tive pre-production, agrees: “Without MEDIA support, we could have neither established our training initiative nor have run it for seven years.” It is a mark of how vital MEDIA


support is in Europe that the news, at this year’s Berlin International Film Fes- tival, the programme was under threat and could be scaled back or merged with another programme was greeted with alarm. This March, two public hearings are being held in Brussels to discuss the future of the MEDIA Programme.


European identity In addition to its financial support, the MEDIA Programme has also helped pro- mote a European identity within the con- tinent’s film business. As EAVE chief executive Kristina Trapp points out, the commitment of initiatives such as EAVE over the past two decades has “made young professionals aware they are European. This was not always the case 20 years ago when the film industries


MEDIA BUDGET, 2007-13: DISTRIBUTION


Budget of $1.04bn (€755m) January 2007-December 2013


Training 7% Producer support 20% Distribution and exhibition 55% Promotion 9% Pilot projects 4%


Susanne Schneider, an adviser for the MEDIA-backed eQuinoxe Germany, in discussion with a writer


MEDIA desks and European Audiovisual Observatory 5%


n 10 Screen International European Training Special 2011


ever increasing number of European co- productions. “This is a result which we consider to be a pre-condition for the improved trans-European circulation of European works.” EAVE is a case in point: some 70% of


the projects produced by participants of EAVE workshops in the past couple of years are European co-productions and 65% are co-productions within the EAVE network. At the same time, MEDIA’s policy for


the training sector has constantly been evolving to serve the particular needs of the industry. “In 1991, we considered that a specific scheme for training should be more business-oriented, and as a conse- quence, the Media Business School (MBS) was created,” Silver recalls. Based in Madrid, with courses in Ronda, the MBS offers a range of programmes for audiovisual professionals including the prestigious Master in European Audio- visual Management (MEGA). Meanwhile, the present MEDIA 2007


programme has also turned its attention to initial training for new industry entrants. “Experts convinced us that the earlier you intervene upstream, the more prepared professionals will be to meet the challenges of a continuously shifting landscape,” explains Silver. “It was neces- sary to include a European dimension from the beginning.”MEDIA has also adapted to take account of developments in technology, the consequences of digiti- sation and the financial needs of small and medium-sized businesses. To keep up to speed with the training


needs of the industry, the programme financially supported a two-day think tank — Training in a Changing World — organised by the Audiovisual Train- ing Coalition (ATC) in Zurich last sum- mer. Participants brainstormed training over the next decade. “We are moving towards a more com-


plex and diverse media world in which the role, function and place of different areas of cinema, television, the internet, games etc and the relation between them are in a process of flux,” said the event’s organisers. n


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