The European Audiovisual Observatory will be back in Cannes this year with two new conferences announced and a stand on the Marché du Film. The Observatory team will be present in Cannes around the first weekend and looking forward to meeting up with international film professionals in the Palais des Festivals and on the Croisette. 

The first conference announced by the Observatory will examine the diverging paths that European cinema is currently taking. This session will look at the increasing polarization of European cinema:  art-house and “European block busters”, low budget and high budget, large and small markets, public and private funding, US studios and indie local distributors, multiplexes and art-house cinemas. The Observatory team of experts and their panel will be asking what lower box office and higher concentration could mean for the European exhibition sector, the distribution and also production of films, as well as exploring how film policies can adapt to this new environment in each of these three sectors. This conference: 

The European cinema sector - diverging paths?

will take place on Saturday 20 May from 9.30 – 11.30 (CEST) in the Main Stage (Riviera) conference area. The event is open to all Marché, Festival and Journalist accreditations. If you have a pass to get into the Palais, you can come!

Free registration here.

The conference is a hybrid event and will also be live streamed on the Marché du Film platform and publicly on YouTube for anyone not taking part in the Marché. Conference language is English.
Speakers already announced for this first conference are: Thomas Eskilsson, Head of Nordic regional film fund Film I Vast, Laurent Dutoit, CEO of Swiss distributor, Agora Films and Asgar Flygare, CEO de Nordisk Film Cinemas.

The Observatory will provide scene setting context with snapshots by Martin Kanzler and Sophie Valais, the Observatory’s two Deputy Heads of Department. Our expert panel will be moderated by Gilles Fontaine, Head of the Observatory’s Department for Market Information and Sophie Valais, Deputy Head of Department for Legal Information.

A second Observatory-Marché du Film conference will launch the 2023 edition of the Observatory’s FOCUS – World Film Market Trends report which will be freely available at this event and on the Observatory’s stand during the Marché du Film. This annual pocketbook report gives invaluable one stop shop insights on the main key trends in the international film sector. This conference, co-hosted by the Marché de film, is designed as an “all you need to know” event in a short 45-minute format. Gilles Fontaine, Martin Kanzler and Cinema Analyst Patrizia Simone will talk trends with Beatriz Navas, General Director of the Spanish national cinema institute, the ICAA, This conversation round will zoom in on the latest tendencies in cinema going, film production and distribution.

FOCUS 2023: Key Trends in the Film Sector session

will take place on Friday 19 May from 17.00 – 17.45 (CEST) on the Palais stage at level -1.

Free registration here.

All participants will receive a free copy of the Observatory’s annual FOCUS – World Film Market Trends report. Conference language is English.

Susanne Nikoltchev, the Observatory’s Executive Director, said she was looking forward to “two very timely events at a crossroads period of extreme transformation in European cinema.” She added that both Observatory sessions would “provide the European context to explore current challenges to the cinema industry and hopefully represent a vital forum for exploring possible solutions.”

The European Audiovisual Observatory team will be present on stand H1 in the Marina/Riviera area of the Palais des festivals from 16 – 24 May. Drop by and say hello in person!

Contact: [email protected] 
 

The Strasbourg-based Observatory, part of the Council of Europe, has been invited to take the first conference slot at this year’s Series Mania Forum in Lille. The Observatory team will open with a scene setting conversation event focusing in particular on production challenges in Europe. This presentation will take place on Tuesday 21 March from 10.00 to 10.45 am (in the Auditorium Louis Pasteur), during the Series Mania Forum (21-23 March). It will be open to all journalists and participants with a Series Mania accreditation.

During this opening event, Gilles Fontaine, Head of the Observatory’s Department for Market Information, will present the main figures from the Observatory’s new Key Trends report and discuss their significance for European series production with Alexandra Lebret, Managing Director of the European Producers’ Club and Guillaume Pommier, Co-Head of Distribution at Federation Entertainment.  Journalists can request a free press copy of Key Trends from [email protected]. 

This latest edition of the Key Trends report will be launched during the Observatory’s conversation panel. It will give a unique and accessible overview of the main trends in the European television, VOD and cinema industries. All attendees will receive a free copy of the new Key Trends report at the event. The conversation panel will be co-moderated by the Observatory’s Executive Director, Susanne Nikoltchev who stated that “this second year of the Observatory’s collaboration with Series Mania consolidates the partnership between the two organisations.” She added that “the Observatory is delighted to provide scene setting and contextual economic data on series production in Europe, both through the latest Key Trends report and an expert conversation panel.”

Francesco Capurro, Head of Series Mania Forum stated: “We welcome the Observatory’s unique overview of the key market trends in series production in Europe right at the start of our Forum and look forward to this second event co-organised with Series Mania.”

The Series Mania Forum brings together 3,500 international television industry leaders and talents in a three-day program of conferences, keynote addresses and pitching sessions. It is organized thanks to the support of the CNC, Hauts-de-France region and the Creative Europe - MEDIA Programme of the European Union.

Further information on Series Mania and accreditations can be found here: https://seriesmania.com/