France’s state-backed film and TV financing ecosystem, which is underpinned by investment obligations for all content distributors and strict media chronology laws, is the envy of audiovisual professionals worldwide.
But not everyone is a fan. Disney’s EMEA boss Jan Koeppen revealed near irritation with France’s protective system in an interview with the FT on Friday, in which he laid out $5B content investment plans for Europe.
Detailing the characteristics of different territories in the region, he praised Spain for its “tax advantages and investments in infrastructure”, but was frosty about France.
He described the country’s audiovisual landscape as “uniquely complicated and complex “, adding: “It restricts competition, and it restricts consumer choice…We normally want to get our content to customers in the way that they can best enjoy it.” Under France’s current windowing rules, global platforms including Disney and Amazon are subject to a 17-month gap between the theatrical and online release of a feature film, while Netflix has negotiated a 15-month window in return for extra investment in local movies.
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