Written by Shona Smith on Sep 5, 2018. Posted in General Interest

European film production has almost doubled in the last 10 years

The new European co-production report published by the European Audiovisual Observatory shows a stark rise in film production between 2007 and 2016. Analysis on production volume, co-productions and the distribution of European feature films details what change took place over the 36 countries studied.

The overall volume of film production rose by 47% between 2007 and 2016. In 2007, 1,444 feature films were made. This figure rose to 2,124 in 2016, meaning that 18,000 films were produced during these ten-years. The top five producing countries (the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy) were responsible for 53.6% of these films.

French/Belgian/Spanish co-production Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013)

France, Spain and Germany were also the three top co-producing nations, with France being the most prolific performer in this arena. 566 French co-productions were completed over this period, 207 of which were in partnership with Belgium between 2010 and 2015.

Notably, 10 countries doubled their volume of production, the majority of which are Eastern European. Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Latvia are some of the countries that saw such impressive growth. A number of these nations have been making strides to further develop their production sectors. For example, the Romanian government recently approved a 35-45% tax incentive for incoming productions while Bosnia and Herzegovina signed an updated co-production agreement with France in an effort to increase relations with the most active co-producer in Europe.

Estonian film 944 (2014)

Co-productions are of central importance to the European film sector not only for production and funding purposes, but also in the pursuit of wider distribution. While the number of national productions that receive a theatrical release outside of the production country stands at 32.1%, the figure jumps to 62.9% for majority co-productions. Moreover, audiences are drawn to co-produced films, generating on average three times                  more admissions than purely national films. Over the time span of the study, 150 countries were involved in co-production agreements, 60% of which were with other European countries.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) filmed in Hungary

Although the UK remains one of the top five producing countries, they were one of the five nations that saw a decline in feature film production between the 2007-2008 and 2015-2016 period. Estonia, Belgium, Norway and Hungary also saw a decline. The analysis did not take into account inward production when a local producer was not involved in the financing of the film discounting big budget productions which a number of these countries regularly attracts. Hungary, for example has facilitated Blade Runner: 2049, Red Sparrow, and Atomic Blonde in recent years.