On August 10th the Hotel Belvedere in Locarno, Switzerland, hosted an exclusive presentation of Eurimages’ brand-new Film Marketing and Audience Development Support Scheme as part of Locarno Film Festival. Eurimages is one of the Council of Europe’s (CoE) most prominent cultural support funds, and the event, held during the Swiss gathering’s industry days, saw the participation of Eurimages Executive Director Susan Newman-Baudais and Thierry Hugot, the body’s Programme Manager and Financial Controller.

Established in 1989 and based in Strasbourg, Eurimages promotes independent filmmaking and it includes 38 of the 49 CoE’s member states, plus Canada. Over the last few years, the fund backed successful co-productions such as “Corsage”, “Close”, “Titane”, “Sick of Myself”, “Unicorn Wars” and “Lamb”.

“You probably know that funding international co-productions is our main path, but we’ve also got a mandate to back exhibition and distribution. Of course, we do this to a smaller extent than [supporting] co-production but nonetheless we consider this [activity] key,” Newman-Baudais said.

“In the past, we’ve had a distribution scheme – a very ‘classic’ one – active in a select number of countries and aimed to support the distribution of European films. It had a limited geographical impact, and didn’t involve all the 39 member states of the Council of Europe. But, as many other organizations of this kind, we’re subject to regular evaluations,” she continued.

The Reimagining of Eurimages

An evaluation of this sort was conducted in 2018 and as a result, Eurimages was advised that the current scheme was struggling to make the desired difference. Eurimages was thus invited to “reshuffle things” and “generate much greater synergies between the co-production and distribution schemes.”

After many Zoom meetings with sales agents, producers, distributors and film funds, the brand new program was devised:

– The scheme will be open only to films supported within Eurimages’ co-production support program. 

– Films co-produced by all member states will be eligible, while the overall available budget remains similar to that of the previous scheme (up to EUR €1 million). 

– An international sales agent must already be attached.

Primarily, the initiative aims to promote innovative marketing solutions and to develop audiences for a selection of films currently supported by the scheme. “We expect Eurimages films to be released in more territories and reach wider audiences in the territories where they’re already slated for a release,” Hugot underscored. “We designed this support [scheme] for producers. And producers are our main ‘customers’ as we work with them all day long.”

Hugot highlighted how the scheme is still a pilot program and requires producers to work in tandem with all the other marketing professionals involved in the value chain, including sales agents, distributors as well as marketing and communication agencies.

Details of the Program

Eurimages seeks to support a maximum of 15 movies per year – with a cap of EUR €50,000 per project, given in the form of a non-repayable grant. Eligible expenses include use of third party service providers on the basis of quotes for activities directly linked to the distribution of the film. These may include audience design activities; audience and market insights; digital marketing campaigns; creation of media assets and stills; press and PR until and including the first market presentation or festival screening; excluding domestic releases; outreach and networking events with an emphasis on audience and community building; and localization efforts to distribute the project outside of the co-production countries.

“We will not support in-house expenses, so [this scheme] is really about making producers work with marketing specialists,” Hugot stressed. Other ineligible expenses include sales or distribution expenses not previously listed such as P&A (prints and advertising) expenses; publicity, promotion and marketing costs already included in the production budget; and sales and distribution advances or minimum guarantees.

Hugot clarified that the applicants and beneficiaries of the grants will be delegate producers (minority producers in a co-production, also known as principal responsible producers), who will work in close contact with the aforementioned specialists. Touching on a tentative calendar, Hugot said that the first call will be published by the end of the summer and the deadline for submitting applications should be set on 28 October. The beneficiaries will be notified and asked to sign their grant agreements over the course of the first half of 2025. A potential second deadline has yet to be confirmed. A committee made up of four external experts (active in the fields of festivals, distribution, world sales and marketing) plus a Eurimages board member (to ensure choices are in line with the overall strategy of the body) will assess the applications.

Selection criteria include:

– The presentation of a clear, comprehensive strategy to position, sell and distribute the film.

– The strategy’s transnational potential which can help the project travel across several Eurimages member states and beyond.

– The involved companies’ track record.

– The project’s coherence of its financing and budget.

– The quality of the joint strategy and the existence and quality of promotional texts and materials (including stills and media assets).

Diversity, gender equality, inclusion and environmental sustainability are also taken into account but they’re not considered “exclusion criteria,” the two Eurimages reps warned.

Hugot and Newman-Baudais reiterated to the audience in attendance how timing is key: “Once you receive the notification of our co-production support, the production is immediately eligible for this new scheme – so it’s really coming early. Normally, after support is granted, filming starts within a year. [..] Obviously, the sooner [you start working on your application], the better,” Newman-Baudais said.

The application form should include key elements: a detailed marketing and audience development strategy (billed as the application’s ‘most important part’); short profiles of the companies involved; a signed agreement or deal memo with an international sales agent; letters of intent signed by distributors (if any); letters of intent from marketing and communication agencies with quotes; some first promo materials as well as a detailed budget and financing plans. 

Show Me the Money

The funds are handed out in two installments with the first 60% being transferred upon signing the support agreement, followed by the remaining 40% after final reporting. Reporting duties include a narrative report informing Eurimages about the film’s distribution path and listing all relevant sales, circulation and admission figures. And a financial report made up of a final financing plan and cost report certified by a chartered account, an auditor or a statutory auditor independent from the applicant’s production company and sales agent. The implementation period kicks off on the first day of the official notification, and runs until three months after the day of the film’s first market or festival screening. 

“Our aim isn’t to get as many applications as possible, but to receive thought-through applications. [..] Given that the production budgets are expanding constantly and financing sources aren’t keeping up, one way of dealing with this for producers has been to cut out ‘non-essential elements’. This [scheme] is a way to encourage [focus] on those elements that have been cut out. Things you’d like to do, but the budget simply doesn’t allow you to do anymore,” explained Newman-Baudais.

During the final Q&A session, one of the attendees asked whether the digital marketing efforts may include synergies with Web3 applications (the next ‘iteration’ of the internet based on blockchain technology) and gaming. “That’s exactly the kind of proposal we’d like to receive. If you’ve got a plan heading towards that direction, we want to see it. That’s the innovative kind of thing we’re seeking, which may be particularly useful when it comes to [distributing] genre cinema or animation,” the Eurimages Executive Director answered.

The new scheme offers an appealing alternative to fund distribution wherein the producers take center stage, which is where this scheme differs to similar initiatives such as MEDIA Creative Europe’s Film on the Move and European Film Sales, or European Film Promotion’s Film Sales Support. The endeavor aims to strengthen the circulation of co-productions already backed by Eurimages. And its rather ‘experimental’ raison d’être wasn’t at all denied during the panel, so various adjustments can be expected along the way, as with any new scheme or program of its kind. Over the next couple of years, a closer look at some of the funded projects will show what lessons can be taken from this bold creative approach and if it will bear fruit.