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