Die Presse­mit­teilung (mit dem Wortlaut des Schreibens an Manuel Barroso) von Cartoon im Wortlaut (Unter­zeichner-Namen auf der Cartoon-Website)

More than 6,500 animation film professionals have signed the petition to keep the MEDIA Programme as it is now

At the close of the last edition of CARTOON MOVIE in Lyon, the European animation film industry came out in large numbers to strongly express its support of the European Union’s MEDIA Programme and to keep it as it exists today.

More than 6,500 profes­sionals from 35 European countries, supported by non-European profes­sionals (coming from 20 countries including the U.S., China, India, Australia, Brazil, Japan, …) signed a petition addressed to Mr. Barroso, President of the European Commission, to express their deepest fear that the MEDIA Programme will see its specific resources reduced in the future and diluted within a cultural programme with a larger scope.

European profes­sionals unani­mously agree that the MEDIA Programme is one of the European Commission’s exemplary programmes, of which it should be proud and it should ensure its develo­pment rather than trying to arbitrarily modify it. Since its launch 20 years ago, this programme has been shaped in colla­bo­ration with the industry and it follows very closely the market trends in technology and in the needs of European profes­sionals.

Its effec­ti­veness has already been proven by the many pan-European audio­visual and film co-produc­tions, by the conti­nuous speed in the distri­bution of works within the larger European market, and by the specta­cular growth in sales in the rest of the world.

Animation profes­sionals ardently want the speci­ficity and consis­tency of the MEDIA Programme to be maintained in its present state. They proclaim the need to continue the MEDIA Programme and to give it more means.

They cannot accept that the growth of their industry could be called into question by a possible dilution into a wider programme that would force an unnecessary overhaul of the MEDIA Programme. Profes­sionals would prefer to put their energies and their time into co-producing and directing ambitious films and series and distri­buting them around the world, rather than trying to convince the European Commission not to change a Programme that is unani­mously recognized and appre­ciated by the audio­visual industry.

The greatest directors of European animation films have signed this petition: Nick Park (Wallace & Gromit), Luc Besson (Arthur and the Minimoys), Marjane Strapi (Perse­polis), Sylvain Chomet (The Illusionist), Jacques-Remy Girerd (Mia and the Migoo), Pierre Coffin (Despi­cable Me), Patrice Leconte (The Suicide Shop), Michel Ocelot (Kirikou), Ben Stassen (Sammy’s Adven­tures).
They join forces with all the European broad­casters (TF1, ZDF, BBC, France Télévi­sions, M6, Super RTL-Disney, RAI, WDR, Canal+, RTL, ITV, RTVE, …) and the major European distri­butors (Gaumont, Hit Enter­tainment, EuropaCorp, Moonscoop, Vivendi, Marathon Media, Filmax, Cake, Telescreen, Universal, UGC …), as well as all of the European production (UFA, Lagardère, Aardman, Bavaria Film, Studio 100 Media, and thousands of producers, directors and artists working in this sector).

Here is a copy of the letter sent to Mr. Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission:

To the great dismay of European profes­sionals of animation film for television and cinema, the European Commission is considering ending, cutting and diluting the MEDIA Programme, whose actions are nonetheless essential for the sustaina­bility and compe­ti­ti­veness of the cultural indus­tries within and outside the Union.

We are extremely concerned by the disas­trous conse­quences on the economic and cultural level, which the calling into question of the MEDIA Programme, as it exists now, will give rise to in our sector.

For 20 years, the renewed support of the MEDIA Programme has directly contri­buted to the economic growth and the intra- and extra-European compe­ti­ti­veness of the animation industry. Due, in parti­cular, to MEDIA’s action in terms of promotion, production and distri­bution of works, as well as training, our companies and creators have moved from the stage of a fragmented craft industry to a globa­lized and diver­sified industry at the forefront of the most advanced techno­logies. This is an unqua­lified success due to a certain extent to the European Commission and its MEDIA Programme.

As a result, in 20 years, more than 6,000 hours of TV animation and 150 animated feature films have been produced within the Union, for a total investment of more that 3 billion euros as well as the creation of more than 10,000 jobs. The training courses on offer for animation film profes­sionals are incre­asingly successful both with the students, the profes­sionals and the trainers. All these actions contribute to an increased synergy between producers, buyers, broad­casters and distri­butors in Europe and in the world.

The impressive European creativity shows through at the many markets, festivals and co-production forums for television and cinema. In the animation field in parti­cular, the MEDIA Programme has had a decisive impact through its additional networking actions, such as those run by CARTOON and by the MIFA/Annecy Festival.

Supporting economic growth and the develo­pment of an industry involved in the creation, production and distri­bution of television programmes and films for young people answers a socio-cultural need of utmost importance, namely giving our children life values that we believe are essential for their future within the Union. It is the Commission’s duty to strengthen this cultural uniqueness, not to weaken it. If this were the case, the children of the Union would again, like 30 years ago, become dependent for their enter­tainment on the supply of programmes and films from outside of Europe, and this to the detriment of families. Nothing could justify such a decline at this crucial time in the develo­pment of the European Union.

More than ever, the Commission must therefore continue the support policy it has been running for the last 20 years in favour of all the cultural indus­tries in the Union including animation.

We will oppose with the utmost force, the ending, cutting and diluting of the MEDIA Programme with its succession of disas­trous conse­quences in the medium and long term, or any other form of adminis­trative curtailment, namely the inclusion and overhaul of the current MEDIA Programme within another of the Commission’s programmes.

Our claim is supported by the govern­ments of the countries of the Union affected to varying degrees by the develo­pment of the animation industry.

Respectfully yours,

Christian Davin,
President of the European Association of Animation Film

Annexe to the letter: list of the 6,500 signa­tories of the petition to save the MEDIA Programme as it exists today.