Digitization of works and discussions with cataloguists

Divided in two, this round table was an opportunity for a frank exchange between the CNC and the cataloguists.

This Thursday afternoon, Philippe Loranchet, journalist at Ecran Total, led a round table discussion with Laurent Cormier, Director of the Direction du Patrimoine Cinématographique at the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée, Laurence Braunberger (Films du Jeudi), Anne Esteban-Barrière (Gaumont) and Yann Le Prado (Studiocanal). 

In the first part, Laurent Cormier first reviewed, from 2012 to 2019, the CNC's heritage system, recalling that it was for the Centre the result of a mission assigned by law with the key task of "collecting, preserving, restoring and enhancing the cinematographic heritage". He recalled the 50 years of action of the CNC in the field of heritage with 1.1 million boxes kept on the Bois D'Arcy site, the national inventory, the legal deposit as well as the various supports in many initiatives such as festivals, markets, associations working for promotion and distribution as well as VàD platforms. He finished on the plan to support the digitization and restoration of heritage films. Since its launch in 2012, it has already helped some 1,161 films. And he wanted to reassure the whole room as well as the panellists: contrary to what had been understood, this plan did not disappear. However, its budget has dropped drastically from €8.5 million last year to €1.5 million this year. To compensate for this lack, the CNC is about to officially launch a possibility to call on sponsorship. This relationship between beneficiaries and the patron will be established through the CNC. The application form is already available on démarchessimplifiées.fr and the Centre claims to have already 140 beneficiaries who have submitted a file. The CNC itself will be responsible for finding the sponsors. 

The news of the non-removal of digitization and restoration plan was very well received by cataloguists around the table. But the reception of the assessment was a little pinchy on the part of Yann Le Prado: "Bravo for the presentation of the CNC, assessment very well for the past but not for the future" he replied. The man who is also the president of the cataloguists' union began by recalling why this organization was set up last January. Composed of the Films du Jeudi, Gaumont, Pathé, SNC-SND (Groupe M6), Studiocanal (Groupe Canal+), Société Cinématographique Lyre and TF1 Studio (Groupe TF1), its objective is to defend the interests of this profession and to make it better known. And according to him, this decrease in CNC assistance comes at the worst possible time because of the decline in the heritage market, whether on DVD or on channels, while the public on the platforms is not keen on heritage. "If this support is reduced, it means that we will not be able to restore and exploit these films when we have an obligation to do so," he says. He also points out that these aids make many people work, from cataloguists to laboratories. And the three representatives of rights-holders collectively seemed to doubt the ability of sponsorship to fill this gap. Their request is simple: 1%. They would like to see 1% of the CNC's annual budget dedicated to heritage, which, according to Anne Esteban-Barrière, would allow them to "support the CNC's budget upwards and downwards", while having a form of stability and visibility. Especially since restoration or digitization is never really definitive and it is necessary to regularly update the catalogue to suit the constraints of the market, eager for images in the best possible quality. 

A request heard by Laurent Cormier, who nevertheless brings a downside: "If everyone asks for this, then we will have a compartmentalized, inflexible budget, unable to adapt". If no common ground was found on Thursday, everyone was ready to continue this discussion. 

And Yann Le Prado concluded: "The question is: what does this country want to do with its heritage? »