Press Release Strasbourg, 11 September 2008 European co-productions travel better and earn more admissions than national films		LUMIERE
		REPORT click here to download the report
		Council of Europe Film Policy Forum

The European Audiovisual Observatory has just published a special report on European co-productions for presentation at the Council of Europe Film Policy Forum which takes place in Kraków from 11 to 13 September 2008. This new report can be downloaded free of charge here:

The circulation of Europan co-productions and entirely national films in Europe - 2001 to 2007

1. European co-productions travel better than their 100% national counterparts to the extent that, on average, co-productions get released in more than twice as many markets as national films. 77% of all co-productions get released on at least one non-national market, compared to 33% for entirely national films.

2. European co-productions earn on average 2.7 times as many admissions as their national peers.

3. In terms of admissions, non-national markets are more important for co-productions than for entirely national films. Non-national admissions account for 41% of total admissions to co-productions compared to 15% for entirely national films.

   

Notes for Editors:

Please refer to the full report as published on the Observatory's website for detailed information regarding the methodology and data sample used for the analysis.

The data sample The circulation of European co-productions compared to entirely national films is analysed on the basis of a data sample which is drawn from the Observatory's LUMIERE database and holds details of a total of 5 414 films with cumulative admissions of 1.4 billion tickets sold. The sample includes cumulative data for all feature films produced since 1999 by one of the 20 European countries covered, with a theatrical release in any of the 20 European markets covered, in the time period between 2001 and 2007. Though the LUMIERE database attempts to cover all European markets, coverage rates vary across individual territories. To avoid statistical distortion of indicators and to ensure valid conclusions this analysis focuses on the theatrical exploitation of European films in markets with a comprehensive coverage rate for the majority of the reference period. This applies to a total of 20 markets, i.e. Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Hungary, the United Kingdom & Ireland, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal Romania, Sweden and Turkey. In order to ensure a coherent and unbiased data sample, the study focuses on films produced in the 20 European countries for which comprehensive exploitation data are available and takes into consideration only two types of films: (i) `100% national' or `entirely national' films produced in one of the 20 sample countries; (ii) `Co-productions' that are co-produced exclusively among the 20 countries covered, i.e. no co-productions involving countries other than these 20 will be considered in the data sample. This excludes films with US involvement. With regard to the coverage rate over the time period in question, it should be noted that data availability has significantly improved for some countries since 2004. In addition, the 2007 data are still provisional as some information, e.g. distributor declarations to the MEDIA programme, are still missing at the time of this analysis, which means that the data for this year are a bit less comprehensive compared to preceding years.

For further press information, please contact:
Alison Hindhaugh, Information and Press Officer
Ttel.: +33 (0) 3 88 14 44 10 -E-mail: alison.hindhaugh@coe.int

For further information on the LUMIERE database, please contact:
Martin Kanzler, Analyst at the Department for Information on Markets and Financing
Tel.: +33 (0) 3 88 14 44 00 -- martin.kanzler@coe.int

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The European Audiovisual Observatory Set up in December 1992, the European Audiovisual Observatory's mission is to gather and distribute information on the audiovisual industry in Europe. The Observatory is a European public service body comprised of 37 member states and the European Union, represented by the European Commission. It operates within the legal framework of the Council of Europe and works alongside a number of partner and professional organisations from within the industry and with a network of correspondents. In addition to contributions to conferences, other major activities are the publication of a Yearbook, newsletters and reports, the compilation and management of databases and the provision of information through the Observatory’s Internet site (http://www.obs.coe.int).