A group of 24 European film and TV markets are uniting under the banner of the F.A.M.E. (Film and Audiovisual Markets in Europe) Alliance to promote and bolster the role they play in Europe’s audiovisual sector.
The alliance has been born out of a series of three think tank meetings in 2023 on the future of European Film Markets.
Members of the new group include Agora TiFF and Agora TidF (Thessaloniki), CineLink Industry Days (Sarajevo), CPH:DOX Docs, Göteborg Film Festival Industry, the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the Les Arcs Industry Village, Locarno Pro, Mifa (Annecy) and the Zurich Film Festival.
The alliance is launching in a fast-changing landscape for physical film and TV markets after the Covid-19 pandemic hastened an uptake in virtual meeting technology, while current challenges include concerns over the environmental impact of global travel and rising costs.
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Highlighting the role its members play in supporting the development and financing of film and TV projects, the group described the alliance’s creation as “a pivotal moment”.
“Markets are unique industry hubs that support the entire lifecycle of audiovisual works from their initial development, their research of finance to their future circulation,” it said in a statement.
“They are essential platforms for meetings, exchanges and business transactions between professionals from around the world. They evaluate, host, coach and showcase not less than 3.000 projects and audiovisual works each year,” it continued.
“This vibrant network of formal and informal contacts fuels the transformation of promising projects into great films, documentaries, series, programs, games or virtual worlds. It is in festivals, theaters, televisions and streaming platforms that these projects will find their way to the public. But most of them will have passed, months earlier, through one or more Markets.”
The alliance said its members also created opportunities for networking; fostered exchange through panels, roundtables and conferences; provided training and acted as laboratories for the emergence of new narratives, new media, and new technologies.
It stressed the continued relevance of physical markets as well as the fact that the sector’s diversity was its strength.
“The sector needs small, medium and large markets spread chronologically and geographically across the continent. Those markets, regardless of their size or orientation, are essential to a diversified audiovisual industry, creating jobs and wealth,” it said.
“Without this diversity, the entire production chain, in which these markets form the first link, would be disrupted. Prioritize regional needs is the only way to respond to the unique demands and cultural expressions of the European mosaic,” it continued.
The alliance said it was also vital that its members continued to support a variety of genres, formats and technologies that would in turn build and sustain a prosperous and inclusive industry.
Other objectives include the creation of a platform gathering data and updates about its members to create a strategic tool that gives a joint perspective for the future as well as providing a comprehensive view of the production and distribution sectors for the benefit of the whole European industry.
The alliance said it would act as a lobby group for its members, communicating with national and European funding agencies, and advocating about the benefits of the diverse market ecosystem.
Full List of Founding Members:
- Agora TiFF Thessaloniki, Greece
- Agora TiDF Thessaloniki, Greece
- Animation Production Days Stuttgart, Germany
- Beldocs Industry Days Belgrade, Serbia
- CineLink Industry Days Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- CPH:DOX Copenhagen, Denmark
- DocsBarcelona Industry Barcelona, Spain
- DOK Leipzig Leipzig, Germany
- DOK.fest Munich, Germany
- FIPADOC Biarritz, France
- Glasgow Film Festival Industry Focus Glasgow, UK
- Göteborg Film Festival Industry Göteborg, Sweden
- IDFA Amsterdam, Holland
- Les Arcs Industry Village Les Arcs – Bourg-Saint-Maurice, France
- Locarno Pro Locarno, Switzerland
- m:brane forum Malmö, Sweden
- Mifa Annecy, France
- New Nordic Films, Haugesund Haugesund, Norway
- NewImages Festival Paris, France
- Short Film Market Clermont Ferrand, France
- Sunny Side of the Doc La Rochelle, France
- Weird Market Valencia, Spain
- Young Horizons Industry Warsaw, Poland
- Zurich Film Festival Zurich, Switzerland
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