Eurimages
Eurimages,
which is part of the Council of Europe, is a feature film production
and distribution fund. It offers financial support to co-productions
between CoE member states in the form of
repayable loans.
Co-production
Around
90 per cent of Eurimages funding is awarded to co-productions. Projects
must have producers from at least two countries. None of the co-production
partners may contribute more than 80 per cent or less than 10 per cent
of the production costs. In the case of films budgeted at more than
€5m, the maximum contribution for one partner is 90 per cent. Co-productions
with non-member states are permitted, but their contribution is not
allowed to exceed 30% of the budget.
National
or legal persons from one of the Eurimages member states are able to
apply to the fund.
Films applying
must not have begun principal photography. Projects may not be re-submitted
if they have been rejected.
Awards
are made by a committee on which each member state has one representative,
on the basis of the quality of the proposal and on "whether (they)
reflect and promote diverse national components of Europe's cultural
identity".
Eurimages
loan is repayable from the first Euro of each producer's net receipts
(revenues from exploitation of the film minus distribution advances
and costs).
Eurimages
was set up with twin objectives, which it defines as cultural and economic.
Its cultural goal is to "support works which reflect the multiple
facets of a European society whose common roots are evidence of a single
culture". In parallel, it aims to foster the co-production of films
in Europe and their distribution in the cinema, on TV and in other media.
The Eurimages
board meets five times a year. Dates and submission deadlines are posted
on the organisation's website.
Eurimages
awarded €14.9m support to feature film productions in 2005, compared
to €19m in 2004 and €19.5m in 2003. Animated movies funded
in 2005 include Brendan and the Secret of Kells (awarded €500,000),
El Sueno de una Noche de San Juan (€600,000), Nocturna (€580,000)
and La Reine Soleil (€580,000).
Distribution
Eurimages
offers support for distribution of European films in countries which
are not covered by the MEDIA Programme: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,
Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Switzerland, "the former Yougoslav
Republic of Macedonia" and Turkey. Distributors will not be allocated
support for films originating in their own state. The Board of Management
of Eurimages decides on the amount of support to be awarded. Financial
assistance is given towards the distribution costs. Assistance may not
exceed 50% of the costs and the maximum contribution from the Fund may
not exceed €8,000.
Eurimages
member states:
Austria,
Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg,
the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. the Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland and Turkey.
The UK
pulled out of Eurimages in 1993.
Website
address:
www.coe.int/T/E/Cultural_Co-operation/Eurimages/
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