SAA - Society of Audiovisual Authors

Over the past decades, MEDIA has supported and promoted Europe's culture on a global scale, encouraging cultural exchange, artistic freedom, diverse creative voices and independent entrepreneurship across the continent. The AgoraEU Programme must build on the proven success of Creative Europe MEDIA and its consistent and meaningful objectives, not retreat from it.

Therefore, we respectfully:

• Urge the European Parliament and the Member States to preserve the identity and the core objectives of the Creative Europe - MEDIA programme, reinforce its impact on the entire film value chain and ensure that the "intrinsic and artistic value of culture" remain "at the heart of the programme".

As recommended by the European Parliament back in January 2024, the MEDIA Programme should remain “the main European instrument providing strategic support to the independent audiovisual sector”, supporting and promoting cultural diversity, the creation and circulation of European works, the strengthening of the European film and audiovisual sector, especially its SMEs, including screenwriters, directors, independent production companies, film sales agents, film distributors, cinema operators, festivals, markets, trainings and networks.

All these elements are essential to preserve the sector's competitiveness and adaptability to the challenges it faces.

• Urge the European Parliament and the Member States to clearly define the objectives of MEDIA+ and the focus on audiovisual strand (article 5) in support of the film and audiovisual industries which are cultural and creative sectors, unlike news media. While fully supporting freedom of speech, independence of journalism and fight against disinformation, we must stress that the film and audiovisual sector has different missions and business models than news media. Therefore, the film and audiovisual strand must be clearly distinct from news media in budgetary and operational terms.
• Call on the European Parliament and the Member States to secure budgetary predictability for European film and audiovisual professionals, with an identifiable, secured and ring-fenced envelope for the funding allocated to the film and audiovisual sector (article 5). Its dedicated budget must be substantially increased to achieve its objectives and adapt to emerging needs of the film and audiovisual sector.
• Stress that the flexibility requested by the European Commission should apply only in cases of force majeure, in order to protect the stability and predictability of the programme’s support schemes. Flexibility should complement stability, not replace it.
• Request that the European Commission engage in regular, transparent and structured dialogue with representatives of European film and audiovisual stakeholders across the entire value chain, as well as with the European Parliament and the Member States, as recommended in the Creative Europe review. Such dialogue is crucial to ensure that policies remain aligned with market realities and deliver their intended impact.

The full statement can be downloaded below.

Signatories

• ATC – Audiovisual Training Coalition
• CEE Animation – Central and Eastern Europe Animation
• CEPI – European Audiovisual Production Association
• CICAE – International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas
• Collective of Film Festivals
• EPC – The European Producers Club
• Eurocinema – Association de Producteurs de Cinéma et de Télévision
• Europa Distribution – International Association of Independent Film Publishers and Distributors
• Europa International – Association of European Film Sales Agents
• FAME – Film and Audiovisual Markets in Europe
• FERA – Federation of European Screen Directors
• FIAD – International Federation of Film Distributors’ and Publishers’ Associations
• FIAPF – International Federation of Film Producers Associations
• FSE – Federation of Screenwriters in Europe
• IVF – International Video Federation
• UNIC – International Union of Cinemas
• SAA – Society of Audiovisual Authors