CRESCINE – INCREASING THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS OF THE FILM INDUSTRY IN SMALL EUROPEAN MARKETS

Project Information

CresCine

Grant agreement ID: 101094988

DOI

10.3030/101094988

Project closed

EC signature date 12 December 2022

Start date 1 March 2023

End date 28 February 2026

Funded under

• Culture, creativity and inclusive society

Total cost

€ 3 997 683,75

EU contribution

€ 3 997 683,50

Coordinated by

COFAC COOPERATIVA DE FORMACAO E ANIMACAO CULTURAL CRL
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CresCine (CRESCINE – INCREASING THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS OF THE FILM INDUSTRY IN SMALL EUROPEAN MARKETS)

Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2024-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

CRESCINE’s overall objective is to enhance the competitiveness and the cultural diversity of the European film industry. This is being achieved by understanding, engaging with, empowering, and ultimately transforming European small markets through original research and piloting the results in 7 countries. The countries within the scope of the project are Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium (Flanders), Croatia, and Portugal. In their “smallness", these countries and markets underline the challenges and drivers one must consider in order to increase the competitiveness of the EU film industry. Through its work, CRESCINE provides an integrated comparative perspective of small film production and distribution markets in Europe. Markets remain organised at a national level and tackling the long-standing dilemma of how to foster free market trade in media goods and services within the European common market, while maintaining the richness of European national cultures, requires turning European inherent diversity into an advantage.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the period covered by this report, CRESCINE systematically addressed the film production, distribution, and consumption ecosystem across seven studied countries. The foundational work carried out allowed CRESCINE to develop and pilot new tools, methods, and strategic approaches, building on the concept of smallness and its positive impact on the competitiveness of the European film industry. All outcomes and activities were addressed through the lens of exemplary European Small Film Markets, the majority in the EU. Work in the period, across the different work packages, focused on laying the structural conditions for pilots and developments. WP2 pooled data on European film industries and markets from public and private databases, informed by advances in cultural data analysis, computational social science, digital humanities, and machine learning. WP3 explored the seven studied markets through comparative and cross-sectional analysis, gathering empirical evidence to help stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers better understand these markets. The research report “Small European Film Markets: Portraits and Comparisons,” published in May 2024, was a key achievement. WP3 also contributed to market transformation via D.3.4 Policy Brief on the systemic policy conditions for increased competitiveness. WP4 focused on existing film-related innovations in small EU territories, in particular the identification and promotion of green innovations and the analysis of innovative private financing models and transformative business models in small film market territories. WP5 explored cooperation models, skills development, and the impact of Covid-19 on film production to identify growth factors and promote entrepreneurship across these ecosystems. This was achieved through training initiatives on green production and entrepreneurship, engaging stakeholders across markets at events such as Berlinale and the Poff – Black Nights Film Festival. WP5 also produced the tailored study "The European Industry Skills Report" under D.5.2 addressing changing technological, societal, and regulatory needs. WP6 identified challenges and drivers of change for content distribution and exhibition from small EU markets. WP7 engaged audiences, n Europe and internationally, to understand their motives for consuming films from small countries. Lastly, WP8 ensured high project visibility and community engagement through our Communication & Dissemination Plan, including the launch of the "State of European Film" interactive platform, another key achievement in the period.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Key results in the period beyond the state of the art included the Production of the interactive visual report “Small European Film Markets: Portraits and Comparisons” that showcases integrative view and comparative categories of strengths and weaknesses of the SEFMs relative to each other as well as in a larger European and international context and produced novel knowledge on small markets and key trends across the European ecosystem in terms of production and distribution of film but also exports and increase in platforms dominance. From this resulted a Policy toolkit for comparative analysis of how policy frameworks support or hinder competitiveness of CresCine ecosystems and the evaluation of the extent to which policy measures in small markets are aligned to support competitiveness and support future strategies of screen agencies and policymakers. Knowledge and data beyond the state of the art was also produced in relation with skills and talent development in Europe, along with other key topics for the future sustainability of this industry such as innovative private financing models and their applicability and impact in small European countries, or the green production landscape in Europe. CRESCINE also added to the literature in terms of increasing knowledge about the motivations, opinions and social practices of domestic audiences in the studied seven markets and original evaluation of AI based solutions for audiences’ engagement in film development and distribution was conducted. Knowledge about the importance of entrepreneurship related skills and mindset for the film industry competitiveness was also increased via the testing of a Toolkit for training programs that includes actions to improve the entrepreneurial viability and competitiveness of European producers. The relevance of industry stakeholder’s empowerment was further stressed via the tools and affordances of the “State of the European Film” dashboard developed in the period. The dashboard provides mechanisms/protocols to the industry and policymakers to improve the resilience of small film industries in times of crisis. Relevant results in the period also included the assessment of Covid’s impact on small film markets and ways forward in the context of a broader discussion of the current status of the film and audiovisual industry in the seven studied countries.

CresCine thematic organisation