FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main missions of the Direction générale de la création artistique?

The Direction générale de la création artistique (DGCA) defines, coordinates and evaluates the State’s policy relating to the visual arts and the performing arts, integrating it into a broader logic of planning and development of the territory. Its missions cover, in the areas of its competence, support for creation, support for professional integration, enrichment of public collections, expansion of audiences and dissemination networks...
 

DGCA supports creation at different levels

- it animates and coordinates, throughout the territory, creation, production and dissemination bodies and networks; (regional orchestras, national centres for musical creation, contemporary music scenes, national drama centres, national stages, national choreographic centres, centres for choreographic development, national circus arts centres, national street arts centres, regional contemporary art funds, art centres, etc.);

- it encourages the organization of national events dedicated to contemporary creation (festivals and biennials of national and international importance) and supports associations strongly committed to the dissemination of contemporary art and performing arts;

- it develops a policy of purchasing and ordering works, in particular by means of public orders, and accompanies the 1% of artistic works (1% of the amount of work in a public building reserved for the creation of a work of art);

- it guarantees the conservation and exploitation of public funds for contemporary art, public collections, cultural objects entrusted to institutions and the performing arts, in particular by developing a policy of digitisation (Numeridanse.tv, Cinémathèque de la danse, etc.);

- it monitors the contemporary art market and proposes measures to promote its development and maintains an ongoing dialogue with artists and professional networks to change the artistic and cultural challenges of their practice;

- it supervises public establishments in the arts and performing arts.

DGCA supports professional integration and audiences

- it defines and implements the regulations relating to higher education in the visual arts and to initial and higher education in the fields of live performance;

- it coordinates and supports the network of art and higher education schools, promotes research and monitors issues relating to vocational integration;

- it structures employment and deals with related social, legal and fiscal issues;

- it encourages the networking of French and foreign professionals and the circulation of works;

- it develops and conducts a policy in favour of amateur practices, arts and cultural education, enlargement of the public and accessibility for people with disabilities;

- it promotes the meeting of audiences with all artistic disciplines and animates the network of multidisciplinary institutions;

- it is also the initiator of major national events such as Monumenta and the Fête de la Musique.

What aid is granted by the State in the field of theatre? 

> Help with creating dramatic texts
 Since January 2007, the Centre national du Théâtre has been managing the Aide à la création de textes dramatiques program, which the Ministry of Culture and Communication used to manage.  http://www.cnt.asso.fr/auteurs/dispositif.cfm
 Aids from the National Book Centre
 -writing aids:
 -writing grants and preparatory credits  www.centrenationaldulivre.fr
 translation aids:
 -Translation credits and grants for foreign translators  www.centrenationaldulivre.fr    
 Aid from the Association Beaumarchais - SACD  
 -writing aids  www.beaumarchais.asso.fr
 -aid for completed texts  www.beaumarchais.asso.fr
 Les aides de la Maison Antoine Vitez
- www.maisonantoinevitez.fr   

> Assistance for companionship
  . device 2015
  . dossier author 2015
  . 2015 artist file

> Specific support for multimedia creation
 -The Device for Multimedia Artistic Creation  www.cnc.fr
 -Support from Société Civile des Auteurs Multimédia  www.scam.fr
 To see the details of each device, we invite you to consult the links to the websites of the organizations mentioned.
Help guide on the following sites:

The Interregional Federation of Books and Reading (FILL)
- www.fill.fr

The House of Writers and Literature (MEL)
- www.m-e-l.fr
 

What is the state aid for circus arts? 

The Ministry of Culture and Communication supports higher education, creation, dissemination and public awareness of the circus arts through several support mechanisms.

> Higher education
Three higher education schools are recognized by the State: the Centre National des Arts du Cirque (CNAC) in Châlons-en-Champagne, the Ecole Nationale des Arts du Cirque de Rosny-sous-Bois (ENACR) and the Fratellini Academy in Saint-Denis. A DNSP – Circus Artist (National Advanced and Professional Diploma) will soon be implemented.
 The State also accompanies the French Federation of Circus Schools for its work of observation and control of leisure schools. 5 schools offering pre-professional training courses - the Lido in Toulouse, Balthazar in Montpellier, And you find it funny in Lomme, Piste d'Azur in Mougins and Arc en cirque in Chambéry – are supported by the State, as well as the Chatellerault National Circus School, which offers a circus arts option at the bac L in collaboration with the Lycée Marcelin Berthelot.
 
> Aid for the creation and agreements of companies, aid for roaming
 Support for creation can be obtained through central or decentralized appropriations:
 1/ aid for creation on central appropriations (National Commission for the Circus Arts) relates to research show projects, marking an effort of renewal in a homogeneous scenic ensemble.
 Projects presented by circus companies that have produced and broadcast at least two shows are eligible.
 A company cannot apply for two years in a row.
In addition, depending on the nature of the project, other creative support procedures (support for plural dramaturgies, managed by the National Theatre Centre, DICREAM device) may be requested.

  > More information

> aid for drama production on decentralized credits (DRAC)
 Circus companies (except those that are covered by the DRAC) can apply for aid for dramatic production from the DRAC in their region. Projects are submitted to the Regional Expert Committee for advice.
 Circus companies can also benefit from multi-year agreements granted by the DRAC, under the favourable opinion of the expert committees, on the basis of the company’s creation and broadcasting activities.
 Aid for roaming is granted from central appropriations (DGCA), for circus companies owning a tent and using it regularly as a tool for creation and dissemination. They must perform at least 30 performances under capitals over a 12-month tour period.
 National Circus Arts Hubs
 The circular of 30 August 2010 recognized the national centers of circus arts (PNAC) among the ten networks certified by the State.  Their missions are focused on four objectives:
 - Support creation through residencies and co-productions
 - Expand the distribution of circus performances through regular programming in a regional area;
 - Raising public awareness of this discipline in conjunction with various partners (other cultural action institutions, associations and educational bodies);
 - to encourage in-service training and the follow-up of the professional paths of associate artists, in particular that of young people starting out on a professional level.
Twelve NPCAs have been labeled: the Agora in Boulazac, the Magic Square in Lannion, Le Prato in Lille, the Elbeuf Cirque-Théâtre, La Brèche in Cherbourg-Octeville, the Cirque Jules Verne in Amiens, the Sirque in Nexon, Circuits in Auch, La Verrerie in Alès, La Cascade in Bourg-Saint-Andéol, the Théâtre Firmin Gémier/ La Piscine in Antony/ Châtenay-Malabry and Le Pôle méditerranéen des arts du cirque in Marseille/ La Seyne sur Mer.

 http://www.culturecommunication.gouv.fr/Disciplines-et-secteurs/Theatre-spectacles/Organismes/Poles-Nationaux-des-Arts-du-Cirque-PNAC

> aid for dissemination

In addition to support to the PNAC, one of the essential missions of which is the regular broadcasting of circus shows, the State supports national festivals such as CIRCA in Auch, «Janvier dans les étoiles» in Seyne-sur-Mer, as well as the Cirque de Demain festival, in Paris.

The aid for roaming dedicated to circus companies under capitals is also an important support mechanism for the dissemination and the emblematic object of the circus that is the capital..
 

What are the creative aids granted to the street arts?

Three types of aid specific to street arts can be solicited by companies:
- Aid for artist residencies or production residencies on Central Votes (DGCA), on the advice of the National Street Arts Commission. A company cannot apply for two years in a row. Applications must be submitted by 31 December of year n-1 to DGCA.
- Aid for dramatic production on deconcentrated credits (DRAC) for non-contracted companies.
- Writing aids for the street, dedicated to the writing phases upstream of productions. This device is co-funded by DGCA and SACD.
The companies of the street arts can also benefit from multi-year agreements (decentralized credits) on the basis of creation and dissemination projects and after the favorable opinion of the committees of experts.

In addition, depending on the nature of the project, other creative support procedures (support for plural dramaturgies, managed by the National Theatre Centre, DICREAM device) may be requested.
Finally, the National Centers of Street Arts (CNAR), are institutions recognized by the circular of 30 August 2010 among the ten networks labeled by the State, whose priority mission is the support to the creation, notably by the reception and residence and theproduction of street arts. There are currently 9: Le Fourneau in Brest, l'Atelier 231 in Sotteville-lès-Rouen, le Moulin Fondu in Noisy-le-Sec, la Paperie in Angers, le CNAR de Poitou-Charentes in Niort, le Parapluie in Aurillac, l'Abattoir in Chalon sur Saône, le Citron Jaune in Port Saint-Louis in Camargue. It is also important to note the presence of the Centre national des arts de la rue, Lieux Publics, located in Marseille and whose action focuses on creation and international outreach.

What is the body responsible for assisting the dissemination of the live performance? 

A non-profit organization, the Office national de diffusion artistique, was created in 1975. Funded by the Ministry of Culture and Communication DGCA - Direction générale de la création artistique/ DAI - (Department of International Affairs).
Onda encourages the dissemination, on the national territory, of works of live performance that are part of an approach of contemporary creation concerned with artistic requirement and renewal of forms, and stimulates exchanges on live entertainment in Europe and abroad.
Its field of intervention covers all disciplines, theatre, dance, music, circus, street arts; whether these works are created in France or abroad; whether they are for adults or children.

What is a national drama centre? 

National Drama Centres (NDCs) were created after 1945 as part of cultural decentralisation; there are 39 national and regional drama centres across the country.
They have a theatre and a permanent team. Their legal status is that of a commercial company.
Originally financed by the State alone, they have gradually acquired the financial assistance, sometimes important, of local authorities, but the State remains the main funder (at more than 40%).
The directors are appointed on the basis of a multi-year artistic project, by the Minister of Culture and Communication after favourable opinion of the local authorities. They are mostly artists, often directors, who commit themselves to fulfilling a mission of theatrical creation of public interest.
They have several missions: a mission of theatrical creation that requires them to produce, during the contract of decentralization of a duration of 3 years, 6 shows including 3 of living authors of French language; a mission of reception and opening outside (call for outside directors for the production of 3 of the 6 shows and purchase of 5 shows at least per season) and a mission of theatrical diffusion.
- Decree no. 72-904 of 2 October 1972 on contracts for dramatic decentralization
- Decree of 23 February 1995 laying down the standard contract for dramatic decentralization
 

What is a national stage?

The national scenes are associations governed, for the most part, by the law of 1901; these establishments were historically called houses of culture and are grouped, since 1992, under the label «national scene» (there are about 70 of them).
The Ministry of Culture and Communication co-finances the national scenes and ensures their supervision in collaboration with the local authorities, but it is not the majority in their financing.
The directors approved by the Ministry of Culture and Communication and the mayor are chosen by the boards of directors on the basis of a multi-year artistic project.
National stages are an important broadcasting and production network. Their purpose is to develop audiences. Their programmes, which are diverse and multidisciplinary, are primarily devoted to performing arts (music, dance, theatre, etc.)
Their missions are to organize the diffusion and confrontation of artistic forms by giving priority to contemporary creation, to assert itself as a place of artistic production of national reference and to participate in the cultural development of its area of implantation gathering a large audience.
 

What is street art?

A thousand companies now make up the street arts sector, from street theatre to urban scenic installations, from musical groups to urban dances… Street arts are characterized by a wide variety of artistic forms and approaches.
Nourished by popular traditions, but also inspired by an openness towards contemporary forms of creation, the street arts are a space of sensitive artistic experiences because they take over the public space and question the artistic practice by positioning it outside the consecrated places. This choice also implies the search for a reinvented relationship with the public, beyond the codes established by the closed theatrical scene.

To learn more:
- Runway and Street Arts Resource Centre site: www.horslesmurs.asso.fr
- Site www.lieuxpublics.com
- Federation website, professional association of street arts: www.lafederationartsdelarue.org

Where to find the lists...

... National Theatres, Dramatic and Regional Centres, National Stages, Conventioned Stages, National Centers of Circus Arts, National Centers of Street Arts?

All these lists are available on --> this page of the site

What are the Theatre Resource Centres? 

> National Theatre Centre (NTC)
The National Theatre Centre, established in 1993, is an association funded by the Ministry of Culture and Communication.

- Documentation division:
the Centre makes available to the public a documentary collection focusing on all aspects of contemporary theatre: reference books, professional guides, specialized periodicals and on the variety of his writing through a vast proposal of French or foreign dramatic texts translated. All these documents can be consulted on site and free of charge. The documentation department carries out research on request. It can also accompany meetings, debates or seminars by proposing a bibliography on the subject.
Contact: Marie-Pierre Ghribi-Bianchi - 01 44 61 84 89 / documentation@cnt.asso.fr

- The author pole of the CNT notably manages the National Aid to Dramatic Creation scheme.
 Its role is to receive the original manuscripts, assess the eligibility of the texts received, coordinate the national reading commission, provide support to the authors and assist in the creation and editing of the selected texts.
Contact: Laurent Lalanne - 01 44 61 84 85 / laurent.lalanne@cnt.asso.fr

- The legal division is at the initiative of a website dedicated to the law of the living spectacle: www.scene-juridique.fr/ (studies, contract templates and forms, all legal texts, all news etc) In addition, to guide artists and their teams, the National Theatre Centre provides the public with a free legal information service on the regulations applicable to live performances via:
 - Legal information in the form of fact sheets and FAQs;
- telephone service for professionals: 01.44.61.85.33

- The audiovisual sector allows you to view films at the CnT video library. It offers screenings as part of the Mois du Film Documentaire and the Scènes Grand Écran festival. It also publishes a collection of educational booklets.
Contact: Cléo Jacque - 01 44 61 84 98 / videotheque@cnt.asso.fr

- The business and training division offers information on the performing arts (artistic, technical and administrative), advises and guides on training and professional streams.
Contact: Naïma Benkhelifa - 01 44 61 84 94 / metiers@cnt.asso.fr

National Theatre Centre (NTC)
  134, rue Legendre - 75017 Paris
 Tel: 01 44 61 84 85 - Fax: 01 44 61 84 86
 www.cnt.asso.fr

What are the circus and street arts resource centres?

> The National Circus Arts Centre (CNAC) 
Establishment of the Ministry of Culture under the General Directorate of Artistic Creation the National Center of Circus Arts (CNAC) identifies itself as an international training center. Its mission is to participate in the evolution of circus arts.
 Open to all, the NACC Resource Centre includes:
 - 5000 works on circus arts as well as "brother arts"
 - 500 videos from circus companies
- 700 videos of shows and school work of the CNAC 

as well as other specific audiovisual funds, magazines, memoirs...
 A searchable database on www.cnac.fr search by artist, discipline, accessory.
 Open to the public Monday to Thursday from 9am to 8pm, Friday from 9am to 6pm
 Resource Centre 

National Circus Arts Centre
1 rue du cirque
51000 - CHAMPAGNE CHALONS
Tel.: (33) 3 26 21 89 86
Email: ressources@artsducirque.fr
Website: http://www.cnac.fr
 

> HorsLesMurs
HorsLesMurs is the national resource centre for street and circus arts. Created in 1993 by the Ministry of Culture, it develops missions of observation and accompaniment of artistic practices outside the walls through information, documentation, training, study, research and publishing activities.

The heading Resources of the site offers information sheets, bibliographies and a selection of links on places of residencies, festivals, companies, aids as well as training in the fields of street arts and circus.

The documentation centre is open to professionals (journalists, researchers, artists and companies) and students.
Consultation on site and by appointment from Monday to Thursday from 10am to 1pm and from 2pm to 6pm, on Friday from 10am to 1pm and from 2pm to 5pm.

To make an appointment at the documentation

- Street Arts: sophie.perrin@horslesmurs.fr
- Cirque: magali.libong@horslesmurs.fr

HorsLesMurs
68 rue de la Folie Méricourt - 75011 Paris
+ 33 (0) 1 55 28 10 10
www.horslesmurs.fr

What are the resource centres related to puppetry? 

> International Puppetry Institute (MDI)
The documentary collection of the Documentation Centre of the International Puppetry Institute gathers multilingual resources, dating from the nineteenth century for the oldest, and presented in different media: books, periodicals, iconographic or multimedia documents, documentary records, archives.

The Institute has archives of puppeteers and a collection of puppets:
 The Documentation Centre of the International Puppetry Institute is accessible, by appointment, to puppeteers, students and researchers in residence, professionals or amateurs, students and pedagogues, and more broadly to anyone interested in puppetry.

 International Puppetry Institute (IIM)
 7 Place Winston Churchill
 08000 Charleville-Mézières
 Tel: 0033 (0)3.24.33.72.50
 www.marionnette.com

What is an intermittent show? 

The common term “intermittent” covers various legal realities. On the one hand, “intermittents” are artists or technicians who are hired under a fixed-term employment contract known as “usage”. Indeed, the rule in France is the contract of indefinite duration.For some professions, it is customary to have recourse to the contract of fixed duration of use. This is the case for technicians and performers.

In addition, these employees and their employers contribute to unemployment insurance according to specific rules, which aim to compensate for the precariousness of these professions. These rules are laid down in Annexes VIII (for technicians) and X (for artists) to the Unemployment Insurance Convention.

It should be noted that while employees in these professions can be hired on fixed-term contracts, the use of open-ended contracts remains the rule. To provide a permanent function of the company, the CDI must be used.

Finally, these “intermittent” as defined by usage should not be confused with “Intermittent Indeterminate Contract” (IIDC) hires. This type of contract takes into account the company’s seasonality and provides for periods during which the employee will not work. CDII can only be used for certain professions, as set by the social partners:

In undertakings for which an extended collective agreement or agreement or an agreement of an undertaking or establishment provides for it, indefinite intermittent employment contracts may be concluded. The aim is to fill permanent jobs, defined by this agreement or agreement, which by their nature involve alternating between periods worked and periods not worked. (Art. L. 3123-31 et seq. of the Labour Code).

In the performing arts sector, the use of this type of contract is reserved exclusively for the jobs listed in Annexes A and B of the Interbranch Agreement on contractual policy in the public and private performing arts.

Technical Stream: Projectionist Operator - Cleaning Employee - Custodian

Administration Stream: Cashier

Communication / Public Relations Function: Reception Attaché - Information Attaché - Reception Host - Controller - Room Host - Bar Employee

Technical Stream: Projectionist Operator – Maintainer - Custodian(ne)

Administration Stream: Cashier

Communication / Public Relations Function: Control and Hospitality Manager - Information Officer - Host - Screening and Hospitality Officer, Merchandise Sellers, Dressing Room - Ticket Agent and Hospitality - Bartender

Definitions:

The performer:

To the exclusion of the complement artist, considered as such by professional usage, the performer is the person who represents, sings, recites, recites, plays or otherwise executes a literary or artistic work, a variety number, circus or puppets.”

Code de la propriété intellectuelle, article L.212-1.

The artist of the show

Are considered performing artists, including the lyric artist, the dramatic artist, the choreographic artist, the variety artist, the musician, the songwriter, the complement artist, the conductor, the orchestrator arranger, the director for the physical performance of his artistic design.”

Labour Code, Article L. 7121-2.

Amateurs and professionals

Any individual receiving remuneration for a performance activity is considered professional. Amateurs are persons who “receive no remuneration but derive their usual means of existence from wages or income foreign to the various artistic activities of the performing professions” (Decree No. 53-1253 of 19 December 1953).

Only the reimbursement of expenses actually incurred for a benefit is possible.

The employment contract:

Article L.7121-3 of the French Labour Code defines a presumption of wage for the benefit of performers when they are paid for their artistic performance. The employment contract must be individual. However, it can be common to several artists when they perform in the same number (group). The contract must then mention in name all the artists and the amount of the salary of each one, it can be signed by a single artist on condition that the latter has received a written mandate from each of the artists appearing in the contract. Each artist in the group must receive a copy.

The contracting artist under these conditions and not acting under conditions involving his registration in the Trade Register retains his status as an employee.

Intermittent technical and artistic employees in the entertainment, cinema and audiovisual industries perform their work under the Fixed-Term Contract (CDD).

Article L. 1242-12 of the French Labour Code stipulates that a fixed-term contract of employment is drawn up in writing and contains a precise definition of its reason. Otherwise, it shall be deemed to be concluded for an indefinite period.

The fixed-term employment contract shall include:

• the date of the term and, where applicable, a renewal clause where it concerns a specific term;
• the minimum duration for which it is concluded where there is no specific term;
• the designation of the work place, the job...;
• the title of the applicable collective agreement;
• the duration of any trial period;
• the amount of the remuneration and its various components, including, where available, bonuses and salary accessories;
• the name and address of the supplementary pension fund and, where applicable, those of the provident fund.

The omission of these mandatory terms, as well as the absence of writing, justifies the requalification of the contract into an indefinite contract.

The employment contract must be sent to the employee, at the latest within two days of the hiring.

The “common law” CSD is renewable only once and for a total period of up to 18 months. The employee receives at his end a precarious premium equal to 10% of the remuneration.

The CDD known as “customary” (Article L. 1242-1 3of the French Labour Code), which derogates from the above rule, is a CDD applicable to sectors of activity in which it is “customary” not to use the Permanent Contract (CDI) because of the nature of the activity and the temporary nature of the employment.

It is renewable and not subject to the precarity premium. It applies, among other things, to shows, cultural action, audiovisual, film and phonographic production and teaching (Article D.1242-1 of the Labour Code).

Attention: Unless agreed by the parties, the CDD can be broken before the expiry of the term only in case of serious misconduct or of major force or incapacity found by the occupational physician. Failure by the employer to comply with these provisions entitles the employee to damages at least equal to the remuneration he would have received up to the end of the contract. The employee’s ignorance of these provisions entitles the employer to damages corresponding to the damage suffered (Article L1243-1 of the French Labour Code).

> Read also: Intermittent, for a global agreement

__________________________________________________________________________

Documentary file "Les intermittents"

This dossier brings together the results of a documentary monitoring of intermittents carried out by the DGCA documentation with the assistance of the Bureau de l'Emploi du Spectacle Vivant (Isabelle Lévy).

Digital Publications

Employment and entertainment

http://semaphore.culture.gouv.fr/documents/116026/0/2010-2011_RAP_emploi_spectacle.pdf: Report of the Standing Committee on Employment of the National Council of Performing Professions (CNPS), 2010-2011

Employment trends in live entertainment

http://semaphore.culture.gouv.fr/documents/352660/354882/2010_tendances_emploi_sv.pdf : Department of Studies and Foresight (MCC) study, 2010

Legal documents

Legifrance labour code L1242-2

http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichCodeArticle.do?cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006072050&idArticle=LEGIARTI000006901195 : fixed-term contracts  

Legitimate Labour Code L7121

http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichCodeArticle.do?cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006072050&idArticle=LEGIARTI000006904526&dateTexte=&categorieLien=cid : presumption of wage-earning, Articles 1 to 8 

All circulars Unedic

http://www.unedic.org/Juridique/circulaires-unedic-par-annee

Websites

The Department of Studies, Statistics and Forecasting at Pôle-Emploi has been publishing summary notes since 2012. Here is the first one: 

Employers of intermittent show workers: situation at the end of September 2011

http://www.pole-emploi.org/file/galleryelement/pj/32/83/2c/f7/inermittents_spectacle_20113t4590010008612558585.pdf

CPNEF-SV

http://www.cpnefsv.org/ : National Joint Commission Employment-Training Live Entertainment

Websites of social organizations

AFDAS https://www.afdas.com/intermittents/Vocational training in entertainment (Fonds d'assurance formation des secteurs de la culture, de la communication et des loisirs)

Audiens http://www.audiens.org/ : the Social Protection Group of Performing and Audiovisual Artists and Technicians

CMB http://www.cmb-sante.fr/intermittents-du-spectacle_227.html : the Medical Center of the Exchange is the occupational medicine for the artists and technicians of the show

Entertainment holidays http://www.conges-spectacles.com/congesspectaclesite/jsp/index.jsp : Paid holidays for performing artists and technicians

Guso https://www.guso.fr/webguso/accueil : all steps taken by the casual employer of artists and live performers

Pole employment http://www.pole-emploi.fr/informations/pole-emploi-spectacle-@/spectacle/: unemployment insurance for show workers

How do you get the live entertainment entrepreneur license?

Since 1^er October 2019, the legal regime of the activity of live entertainment entrepreneur is subject to the obligation of online declaration of the activity for entrepreneurs established in France, and the obligation of online information for entrepreneurs established outside France.