Eurimages to study itself

On the eve of Cannes, Eurimages, the Council of Europe coproduction Fund, has announced it is launching a wide ranging inquiry into its own activities.

The research will be carried out on Eurimages’ behalf by London based media consultants Olsberg SPI (who have just won the tender for the job.)

Roberto Olla, Executive Director of Eurimages, is promising “a 360 degree study on Eurimages” assessing the performance of the Fund and asking whether it is reaching its objectives.

Olsberg SPI will now contact beneficiaries of Eurimages funding and member states to canvas their opinions on the effectiveness of the Fund. Sales agents and producers across Europe are expected to be involved.

The study has been commissioned now in to analyse how effective the changes introduced to the Eurimages member state subscription system in 2008/2009 have proved.

There had been vociferous complaints from some countries about the old system. Holland and Italy had threatened to withdraw from they felt they were paying more into Eurimages than they were getting out. 

When amendments were made to the subscription system to address these complaints, it was agreed that there would be a “mid-term” report on how effective they have been.

The Olsberg SPI report is expected to be completed by the late autumn and will be discussed by the Eurimages Board of Management in December.

Here in Cannes, there are six Eurimages supported features in official selection, among them The Past (France, Italy) by Asghar Farhadi, La Vie d’Adèle (France, Belgium, Spain) by Abdellatif Kechiche, Borgman (the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark) by Alex van Warmerdam and The Great Beauty/La Grande Bellezza (Italy, France) by Paolo Sorrentino.

Eurimages currently has 36 member states. Montenegro is now looking to join the Fund while Azerbaijan has also expressed an interest in coming on board.