A Ji.hlava, Vladimíra Chytilová ha analizzato le opportunità di finanziamento per i documentaristi che fanno domanda a Europa Creativa #finsubito prestito immediato

On 31 October, the Ji.hlava International Documentary Festival’s Industry Hub hosted a session titled “Creative Europe MEDIA: Funding Opportunities for Producers and Other Documentary Professionals.”

On stage, Vladimíra Chytilová of the Czech Creative Europe MEDIA Desk first addressed the scope of the European Union’s Creative Europe programme, currently running through its 2021-2027 period. The initiative backs cultural and creative sectors across three strands: the MEDIA sub-programme (aimed at supporting the audiovisual industry), the Culture sub-programme (backing performing arts, literature, and music), and the Cross-sectoral sub-programme (promoting innovation and cross-cultural collaborations). It is a “no envelope programme,” Chytilová underscored, meaning it is directly managed by the EU.

In it, the European Commission sets policy issues, priorities, and types of support, while the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) is responsible for contacting beneficiaries, administering grants, and monitoring and reporting on the projects. Meanwhile, national Creative Europe Desks help applicants along the way. For 2021-2027, the programme’s overall budget rose by 63%, reaching €2.44 billion – allocated to the MEDIA sub-programme (58%), the Culture sub-programme (33%), and the Cross-sectoral sub-programme (9%). The effort’s key priorities include pursuing green and sustainable practices, gender equality, diversity, and inclusion, as well as promoting collaboration at a European level through eGrants, financing, and lump sums.

Later, Chytilová explained how the MEDIA sub-programme consists of three “clusters” – content, business, and audience. In terms of content, MEDIA promotes European co-development, European slate and mini-slate development, video games and immersive content development, as well as TV and online content. The Business cluster covers skills and training development, marketing and networking, film distribution, film sales, innovative tools and business models, and MEDIA 360. Finally, the Audience cluster supports festivals, networks of festivals, VoD players, audience development, and film education, among others.

The programme’s countries include the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Georgia and Ukraine as partial members (with Ukraine potentially gaining full membership in 2025).

For documentary filmmakers, development funding is accessible for projects with a minimum runtime of 50 minutes for one-off/series projects, or 60 minutes for features set to hit theatres. Documentaries can be part of both slate and mini-slate applications, comprising 3-5 projects plus 1 short and 2-3 projects plus 1 short, respectively. Backing is provided through lump sums – €30,000 for documentary films and €35,000 for documentary series. To apply for the MEDIA slate, applicants must have a track record of two works released in three foreign countries as of 2018, while for the mini-slate, one work released in three countries as of 2018 is sufficient.

Co-development funding can be requested for one project at a time, requiring two applicants from two different MEDIA countries – one as a coordinator and the other as a partner. The track record requirements align with those of the mini-slate.

Finally, TV and online content applications require two broadcasters or VoD players from at least two MEDIA countries, with a minimum of 40% of financing guaranteed (of which half must come from MEDIA countries) and “significant participation of European professionals.” Documentaries should be one-off or series projects with a minimum runtime of 50 minutes, and lump sums can cover up to 20% of the budget or €300,000.

In the last part of her presentation, Chytilová touched on the technicalities of the other two clusters. The event was rounded off by a Q&A session.