From today, Pauline Augrain becomes a key figure in France’s ambitions to become a major global locations hub.
The long-time exec at French state film organisation the CNC has been promoted to director of digital, a role that sees her tasked with spearheading its ‘attractiveness department” - aka Film France – and delivering the CNC’s €350m France 2030 plan to boost studios and training support. Augrain will also oversee support for video games, immersive content and technology for feature film and audiovisual production.
Augrain starts in the role today and replaces Vincent Florant, who becomes audiovisual attaché at the French embassy in New York. She will work closely with Daphné Lora who was appointed in March to head Film France and help lead the organisation’s efforts to attract more blockbuster productions to the territory
Her appointment comes as France aims to transform itself into a one-stop shop for production, complete with a tax credit system that a recent study confirmed has been effective in both luring foreign projects and keeping French films shooting locally.
Tax credits
A July report from EY Consulting, commissioned by the CNC, measured the effectiveness and economic impact of four tax credits from 2017-2021: the film tax credit for local features (the CIC) that offers a 30% rebate on eligible spend; the 25% audiovisual tax credit (the CIA) for local scripted TV; the 30% international tax credit (the C21, known abroad as the “TRIP”) for inward investment films and TV that offers 40% for projects using VFX; and video game tax credit (CIJV).
The study said the tax credits generated €2.9bn in extra spending in France from 2017-2021 with the TRIP alone accounting for €1.14bn of this. It concluded that the jump in extra spending was driven by US streamers shooting in France and the 10% rebate increase for projects using VFX introduced in 2020.
The study said that between 2017 and 2023, films destined for streaming platforms were the main beneficiaries of the TRIP. They accounted for just 2% of spending in 2017 or around €4m, but took a seismic leap, jumping to 66% in 2023 or €651m.
The production boom has been a significant boost to the country’s economy, according to the study. Between 2017 and 2021, each Euro of tax expenditure associated with the international tax credit helped to localise €3.99 in France.
Citing the “fierce tax competition” and 11 countries in Europe that offer an equivalent or more advantageous tax credit, the study confirmed that the TRIP “appears essential for attracting foreign productions to France, in that it places France on a relatively equal footing with other major countries hosting film shoots (notably the UK).”
The country’s tax credit for local films, the CIC, was designed to keep French productions at home instead of fleeing to other countries with more competitive tax rebates. The study cited Martin Bourboulon’s mega-budget two-part Pathé release produced by Chapter 2 The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan and The Three Musketeers: Milady and said the tax credit was key in keeping the production on French soil for a 140-day shoot that employed a 100% French 2,000-person team. France’s film tax credit covered 19% of the two films’ combined €72 million budget for a total of €13.5 million.
The audiovisual tax has also been a huge boost and is credited with keeping 99% of local scripted dramas in the country and €1.3bn more in spending from 2017-2021 than in 2016. The study used Emily in Paris as an example of the tax credit appeal; the Netflix hit filmed its third season for 75 days in France for a total spend of €23m and used 500 local crew members for its second and third seasons.
Regional impact
According to the study, nearly two-thirds of the spending was outside of the Paris region.
French films using the CIC shot mostly in the Auverge-Rhone-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Cote-D’azur (PACA) regions. Meanwhile the TRIP drew film shoots outside of Paris to predominately the Nouvelle-Acquitaine and PACA regions, with shoots such as Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel or Melanie Laurent’s The Mad Women’s Ball in Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Tom McCarthy’s Stillwater in PACA.
Meanwhile, France continues to throw its weight at studios and training with its €350m ‘The Great Image Factory’ initiative, part of the French government’s €54bn France 2030 plan. In May, France’s culture minister unveiled plans to invest in projects including 11 film studios, 12 animation studios, 6 video game studios, five VFX and post-production studios and 34 training and educational facilities.
The ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes may put a damper on the momentum moving forward if major studio or streamer productions are forced to shut down for extended periods of time or are scrapped entirely.
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