Société des Auteurs Audiovisuels
Society of Audiovisual Authors

Projection suivie d’une discussion animée par Cécile Despringre, Déléguée Générale de la SAA, et Jean-Jacques Beineix, Vice-Président de L’ARP

La SAA s’associe à Cineuropa pour permettre à ceux qui ne seront pas présents de poser des questions à Emanuele Crialese. Suivez @cineuropa et @saabrussels sur twitter pour voir apparaître #LCIEC et poser vos questions.

The delegation, which included prominent authors Robert Alberdingk Thijm (A’dam E.V.A), Fred Breinersdorfer (Sophie Scholl), Bertrand Tavernier (The Princess of Montpensier) and Susanna White (Generation Kill), met Vice-President Kroes in Brussels on 22nd February.

Recognising that it is their creativity that is driving the demand for faster and better connectivity across Europe, they called on Vice President Kroes, responsible for the European Commission’s digital strategy, to guarantee that the new online market benefits consumers and authors.  Both win by using the internet to help Europe’s creators’ works reach a wider audience but this is also an opportunity to guarantee authors a fair deal and redress the imbalance that had formed in the physical market.

They welcomed previous public statements of support from the Commissioner and called for a voice in political discussions on their issues as well as continued support for Europe’s cinematographic diversity through production support and consistent low VAT rates for all audiovisual formats which would boost Europe’s online market.

The delegation made the case for European legislation linking authors to the success of their creativity as proposed by SAA in its White Paper. This would give them the incentive to make more works and encourage them to produce them in Europe with all the economic effects that that implies.

The Commissioner acted quickly by inviting an author to participate in her Media Futures Forum.  SAA Patron Robert Alberdingk Thijm accepted the invitation.

Quotes

Fred Breinersdorfer, renowned director and member of SAA’s Board of Patrons said “As authors we want to be able to focus on creating and presenting our stories.  If we are to be able to do that in the future we need legislative support.  That means being given a place in discussions and legislative measures that protect us from ourselves, our weak negotiating position and our enthusiasm to get our films made. Our discussion was very constructive and I hope it continues.”

Cécile Despringre, Executive Director, SAA added “The success of the internet comes and will continue to come from the great films and TV shows that people want to watch through it.  This is what is going to drive the next generations of network infrastructure and the take up of cloud computing. It seems only fair that the creators behind this ‘content’ are recognised appropriately.”

Janine Lorente, SACD Deputy Director General and Chair of the SAA Board of Directors added “Our meeting with Commissioner Kroes was very encouraging.  We look forward to continuing to work with her services and trying to find the combination of market lead and legislative solutions that will achieve our common goal of a thriving European audiovisual market that gives Europe’s film fans real access to our authors’ creative works.”

L'ARP, la SAA et la SACD sont heureuses d’accueillir lundi 20 février à 20h au Cinéma des Cinéastes, le réalisateur norvégien Joachim Trier, pour l’avant-première de son film Oslo 31 août, à l'occasion de la première édition du cycle de soirées Les cinéastes invitent… l’ami européen.

L’objectif de ces soirées est d’encourager les échanges culturels entre la France et les autres pays européens à travers la projection d’un film en avant-première, suivie d’un débat avec le réalisateur invité, sur l’aspect artistique du film, comme sur les spécificités des différents cinémas européens : conditions de financement et aides pour réaliser un film dans le pays concerné, circulation des films de ce pays en Europe, circulation des films français dans ce pays, problématiques des coproductions entre la France et le pays invité, application du droit d’auteur...

Ainsi, à l’issue de la projection, une discussion avec Joachim Trier sera animée par Janine Lorente, Directrice Générale Adjointe de la SACD et Présidente de la SAA, et Jean-Paul Salomé, Président de L’ARP.

L'ARP, la SAA et la SACD remercient chaleureusement Memento Films, distributeur du film en France, et l’Ambassade de Norvège en France, partenaire de cette soirée.

Une deuxième soirée accueillera le cinéaste italien Emanuele Crialese, pour l’avant-première de Terra Ferma, mardi 13 mars 2012 à 20h.

Paris, le 15 février 2012

Contacts presse :

L’ARP – Marc Legrand – mlegrand@larp.fr – 01 53 42 40 01

SAA – James Taylor – j.taylor@saa-authors.eu – +32 (0)2 894 93 30

SACD – Agnès Mazet – agnes.mazet@sacd.fr – 01 40 23 45 11

The conference will be held on 29^th November from 2pm to 6pm at the Concert Noble in Brussels followed by a reception and a screening of "Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro" by Robert Guédiguian, this year's LUX Price winning film, at Flagey.

Please click here to see the day's programme and here for more information on the afternoon's speakers.  To register, please click here.  For practical information on the venues, please click here.

Leading European directors and screenwriters Fred Breinersdorfer (Sophie Scholl), Stijn Coninx (Koko Flanel, Soeur Sourire), Bertrand Tavernier (Un dimanche à la campagne, La Princesse de Montpensier), Jaco Van Dormael (Toto the Hero, Mr Nobody), Virgina Yagüe (Aráyan, El Súper) and CEOs of SAA collective management societies met Commissioner Vassiliou yesterday to present the SAA’s White Paper on Audiovisual Authors’ Rights and Remuneration in Europe and discuss some of the key issues it raises.

SAA representatives welcomed the European Commission Communication on a Single Market for Intellectual Property Rights adopted on 24^th May.  The Communication clarifies that the Audiovisual Green paper, due in the second half of 2011, will address “the status of audiovisual authors and their participation in the benefits of online revenue streams”. SAA’s proposal for new mechanisms to respect authors’ rights and to remunerate authors for the online exploitation of their works should be central to the Green Paper.

In their conversation with Commissioner Vassiliou, SAA authors presented the way audiovisual authors work in Europe and the time and energy they spend in creating, developing and producing films in a legal environment which in many countries does not reward their personal investment. They also underlined the need for rules to ensure that market players who benefit from the exposure of films invest in cinema and television production. At a time when distribution channels are multiplying and European films face tough competition with US films, enhanced efforts in distribution are key to the visibility of European works and helping them find an audience both in- and outside of their country of origin.

The Commissioner welcomed these fruitful exchanges with such a high-level and diverse group of authors and re-iterated her support for the MEDIA programme, in particular its development and distribution trends. She highlighted the link between films and education, culture and multilingualism and underlined her efforts for more synergies between them.

Quotes

Bertrand Tavernier, the award-winning French director said: “VoD and the internet are not only opportunities for my works to reach new audiences but also technical tools that should bring transparency to the exploitation of films.  It should not be a fight for authors to have their rights respected and receive additional remuneration based on the success of their works.”

Stijn Coninx, the renowned Belgian director, said: “It’s vital that the Commission continues to support European cinema and that we can seize the possibilities of the online world.”

Cécile Despringre, Executive Director of SAA added: “This White Paper represents a real evaluation of the current state of play for audiovisual authors like those who attended yesterday’s meeting.  The Commissioner’s interest in our issues is encouraging and we will continue to work with other stakeholders to try and build some industry consensus on how we can guarantee real returns for successful directors and screenwriters”.

The audiovisual industry makes a vital contribution to Europe both economically and culturally. There are currently approximately one million people directly working in the European audiovisual industry, an industry with more than €108 billion of growth revenues in 2009. SAA believes that the time is right to value the contribution of audiovisual authors and make sure that they are not left behind in the future when it comes to a fair reward for work. SAA’s role is to ensure that screenwriters and directors remain at the heart of the digital economy and are fairly remunerated in line with the financial success of their work.

In the light of the SAA White Paper publication, acclaimed Greek/French filmmaker Costa-Gavras commented: “Politicians’ support hasn’t been sufficiently active in finding ways to distribute European films to all European countries. In order to achieve change it is important to make collective efforts and in this context, the work of SAA is an important one.”

For Gerhard Pfennig, Chairman of the SAA Board of Directors, “Digitisation creates new challenges for authors and their collective management societies. Whilst societies are actively addressing the demands of new distribution platforms they also need the support of legislative protection at European and national level to ensure that authors continue to benefit financially for the use of and access to their works. New technologies should benefit users, the cultural industry, the communication networks – and also the creators.”

The White Paper provides information on the situation of European audiovisual authors in terms of their rights and remuneration. It highlights existing problems and presents solutions based on the experience and know-how of collective management societies.

With this White Paper, SAA wishes to open the debate at both national and European levels on the situation of audiovisual authors and on possible solutions to new challenges they face. 

Costa-Gavras, (Z, Missing, Amen, Eden à l’Ouest), Jaco Van Dormael (Toto le Héros, Le huitième jour, Mr. Nobody), Fred Breinersdorfer (Sophie Scholl, the Final Days), Stijn Coninx (Koko Flanel, Daens, Soeur Sourire), Guy Seligmann (Sartre par lui-même, La mort de Danton, Dix mythes par Claude Lévy-Strauss) a group of eminent audiovisual authors - members of the SAA Board of Patrons, met today Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services in order to discuss the issues, problems and solutions that audiovisual authors are faced with at the European level.

In the heart of the conversation were the political and legal challenges the sector is experiencing: the changing environment of the film and TV industries, the necessity of a legal environment that fosters creativity, EU political push for a digital single market, and the fact that the EU framework remains to be harmonised in order to ensure effective economic and moral rights and remuneration for audiovisual authors.

The Board of Patrons explained to the Commissioner the objectives that are of paramount importance to SAA and namely: to defend and strengthen the economic and moral rights of audiovisual authors (screenwriters and directors); to secure fair remuneration for audiovisual authors for every use of their works; to develop, promote and facilitate the management of rights by member societies.

Finally SAA participants explained that the only realistic and sustainable solutions are to foster awareness about the importance of the protection of intellectual property rights as a basis for a diverse cultural landscape targeting European stakeholders and the broad public; to establish an unwaivable right to fair remuneration of European audiovisual authors for the making available right (online rights) and finally to ensure the effective implementation through collective management societies by improving procedures and co-operation on national, European and global level.

The launch ceremony will take place:

on Tuesday 11th May at 1pm in

Résidence Palace - International Press Centre

Room Polak

Rue de la Loi 155 - Bloc C B - 1040 Brussels

The ceremony will be attended by the CEOs of the members' authors' societies and a few members of the SAA Board of Patrons, in particular Marco Tullio Giordana, director of "The Best of Youth", recipient of the prestigious Un Certain Regard award at the Cannes Film Festival and Roger Michell, British director of "Notting Hill".

Luigi Berlinguer, Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs will welcome the new organisation.  The launch ceremony will be followed by a finger food and drinks reception.