Madam President of the CNC, dear Frédérique Bredin,
Dear Christophe Tardieu, Deputy Director General of the CNC,
Ladies and gentlemen, representatives of professional film organizations,
Dear everyone,
It is a great joy to see you here today for the signing of the agreements on the transparency of production and production accounts.
With this signature, we are celebrating in a beautiful way (albeit one day in advance) the anniversary of the law «freedom of creation, architecture, heritage», promulgated on July 7, 2016. The law gave film professionals a year to sign the agreements on transparency.
But we also celebrate, and above all, this tremendous ability of the film family to find common answers to the challenges of the sector.
It is first of all the result of a method: the negotiation of professional agreements by the representative organizations of the cinema, under the aegis of the CNC.
Behind this method, there is a philosophy: the State does not enact the norm unilaterally, it favors self-regulation, it accompanies professionals in the definition of the rules, and it only intervenes regalia as a last resort.
This method is successful, and has already enabled many advances in the past.
It is certainly demanding! In the case of the “transparency” agreements, it took more than 65 hours of full negotiations - and a lot of back and forth!
But what a beautiful result!
For this work, I would like to thank all the stakeholders: authors, agents, producers, distributors, video publishers, international vendors, and I do not forget the CNC teams.
Of course, agreements could be described as strictly technical texts. They provide a model for the presentation of production accounts and operating accounts, to which the entire function must refer. They specify the expenses that may be incurred by distributors against producers. They also specify the revenues to be allocated to producers and authors.
But behind this technicality, there is a decisive improvement in favour of transparency in the recovery of revenues, which will create a climate of trust among all the actors of the value chain. This is excellent news for rights holders, but also for performers and technicians, who will have a better understanding of the revenues derived from the exploitation of their works. It is a guarantee of fair compensation in case of success. This is also great news for the film economy, since the business climate will greatly benefit from this increased transparency of production and exploitation. There will be more trust, therefore more investment, and especially more solidarity between the actors of the value chain.
These agreements guarantee a better economic model in a digital and globalized world. They are the guarantee of a rich and varied French creation.
Last Tuesday, I was at the screening of the film “120 beats per minute”. And I know that from now on, very beautiful films like this one will benefit from better conditions for production and distribution thanks to the transparency agreements.
All these efforts therefore positively affect French cinema and I am delighted about that.
As you know, the organizations in the audiovisual sector also have until this evening to reach similar agreements on transparency on production and exploitation accounts.
The same is true in the music sector, where an agreement on a minimum wage guarantee is being negotiated, which could lead to a historic advance in value-sharing.
Let us think of them in this last line of negotiations, and let us hope to find them in the same salons on Rue de Valois for new signing ceremonies.
I thank you for your attention, and I propose that you proceed with the signing of the two agreements.