CONVERSATION WITH THE CNC

As is tradition, the last round table of the MIFC was that of conversation with the CNC, which this year brought together Laurent Cormier, Director of Cinematographic Heritage at the CNC, Laëtita Facon, Head of Digital Distribution at the CNC, Mathias Hautefort, President of the Syndicat des Editeurs de Vidéo à la Demande, Sophie Jardillier, deputy director of studies, statistics and forecasting at the CNC, Sabrina Joutard, deputy catalogue director at Pathé Film and president of the Syndicat des catalogues de films de patrimoine and Hugues Peysson, treasurer of the Association L'Appel des 85. 

To open this conversation, Sophie Jardillier presented a review of the past year for the heritage sector. The full presentation can be found by clicking here. Among the key findings were that almost 90% of viewers said they were watching more films on their television screens, particularly cult films, films over 40 years old and French films, with a stronger appeal for well-known heritage films. Theatrical sales of catalogue films are at their highest level since 1997: 4.4 million admissions and 2.4% market share. Two re-releases in particular boosted these box office results: Titanic and Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra. Heritage films also remain an important base for physical video in a declining market, accounting for 32% of sales in 2023. Transactional VOD is a different story, with market share down by 10%. Finally, there has been a marked increase in the share of VOD consumption for heritage films (25%), against a backdrop of falling cinema consumption. 

What kind of distribution for heritage films? 

The conversation continued around the issue of distributing heritage works. Laurent Cormier explained that while there were many networks, ranging from cinemas to platforms, physical publishing, festivals and media libraries, it was still vital to enable the digitisation and restoration of works. With this in mind, he announced that from 1 January the CNC would be able to support films released up to 2010.  

On the subject of restoration, Sabrina Joutard announced that we still need to find joint actions to help this work, since the CNC's aid, which represents 0.4% of its budget, is not enough. For the moment, the wait is on Europe and the MEDIA programme, and on 2027 when the new budget allocation will be announced. 

What about physical video? 

Hugues Peysson reminded the audience of the important role played by video publishers in a declining market, but one in which heritage is proving resilient. He also pointed out that the work of publishers on fresh films is a way of preparing the heritage of tomorrow and that there is a virtuous circle between the cinema and video. Taking the example of Elephant Man, he explained that a heritage feature film that does well in cinemas will encourage viewers to buy it as a physical edition. Despite the undeniable decline in this market, Laetitia Façon added that the CNC has been supporting video since 1994 and will continue to do so, thanks in particular to a dedicated, ring-fenced budget of €4 million.   

VOD and SVOD more worried  

For Matthias Hautefort, while the merger of Universciné and Filmo is a strong and positive symbol, it does not mask the problems facing the sector. The President of the Syndicat des Editeurs de Vidéo à la Demande is sounding the alarm about the free offer, which he believes will eventually disrupt the monetisation of works on pay platforms. He also points out that there is a wide disparity between platforms, and that several of them are in the red or even disappearing, as was the case with Salto. A threat to the dissemination of heritage. He also returned to the subject of the TSV, the tax on physical video and online distribution of audiovisual content, which has doubled since 2020, while subsidies have not. Laetitia Facon, head of the digital distribution department at the CNC, responded to these comments by saying that discussions were underway on the subject of subsidies, and that talks had been underway with the various platforms since the beginning of October. 

Sabrina Joutard added a point about television, expressing concern that France Télévisions was reducing the number of films it broadcasts, unlike M6, for example. She suggested that the CNC meet with France Télévisions. 

Towards an increase in investment aid?  

Towards the end of the round table, Matthias Hautefort, Sabrina Joutard and Hugues Peysson joined forces to call for a more general increase in the percentage of the CNC's budget allocated to them as a whole. The aim is to support platforms in difficulty and restoration projects, as well as the video sector, to enable even higher-quality editions to be produced without costing publishers too much. The overall aim is to enable these different heritage professions to look to the future rather than adapting from day to day.