Leaflet State Aids Fse

/ Austria Drehbuchverband Österreich / Belgium Association des Scénaristes de l’Audiovisuel & Scenaristengilde vzw / Bulgaria Bulgarian
Association of Film, TV and Radio Scriptwriters BAFTRS / Denmark Danske Dramatikeres Forbund / Finland Suomen Näytelmäkirjailijaliitto - Finlands
Dramatikerförbund ry / France Union-Guilde des Scénaristes / Germany Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren e.V. /Greece Scritpwriters Guild of Greece
/ Hungary Hungarian Association of Screenwriters / Iceland Félag Leikskálda og Handritshöfunda / Ireland Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters
Guild / Italy Scrittori Associati di Cinema e Televisione / Netherlands Netwerk Scenarioschrijvers / Norway Norske Dramatikeres Forbund
/ Poland Stowarzyszenie Filmowcow Polskich, Koło Scenarzystów / Portugal AssociacaoPortuguesa de Argumentistas e
Dramaturgos / Serbia Nezavisnost / Spain Federación de Asociaciones de Guionistas del Audio-visual FAGA (+ Asociación
Galega de Guionistas + Escriptors Valencians de l’Audiovisual + Euskal Herriko Gidoigile Profesionalen Elkartea + Guionistes
Associats de Catalunya) & Autores Literarios de Medios Audiovisuales ALMA / Sweden Sveriges Dramatikerförbund
/ SwitzerlandScénario / Turkey SEN-DER The Scriptwriters Association of Turkey / United Kingdom Writers’ Guild of Great Britain

SCREENWRITERS UNITE!

AN FSE LEAFLET ON
EFFECTIVE STATE AID
FOR SCREENWRITING
AND DEVELOPMENT

"Stories are at the heart of humanity and are the
repository of our diverse cultural heritage. They
are told, retold and reinterpreted for new times by
storytellers. Screenwritersare the storytellers of our
time."
(European Screenwriters Manifesto – 2006)

Copyright FSE. May be quoted provided the source is acknowledged.

Fédération des Scénaristes d’Europe // Federation of Scriptwriters in Europe
Board Christina Kallas, President / Sven Baldvinnson, Vice President / Stanislav Semerdjiev, Treasurer / David Kavanag, Board Member / Gino Ventriglia, Board MemberManager Amélie Clément • Contact c/o UNI-Europa Box 9, rue de l’Hôpital 31, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium / T. 0032(0)2 234 56 54 / info@scenaristes.org / www.scenaristes.org

A n F S E l eaf le t on Ef f ective S t at e Aid f or Screenwr iting and Developmen t

1 - STATE AID FOR FILM AND TV PRODUCTION FROM THE WRITERS’
PERSPECTIVE
1.1. Everything starts with the writer, except the funding
From theperspective of writers the impact of many of the existing approaches to the support of the film and
television production is negative. In general we feel that the lack of evident success of European film and television
production support schemes is the result of excessive reliance in the design of those schemes on industrial rather
than creative models.
A widespread rationale at national,regional and EU level has been to privilege the role of the independent
producer, with the idea that state investment would bring producers to the point where they could become profitable
and state aid could be reduced or removed. However this policy has now been in operation to varying degrees for
fifteen to twenty years and cannot be said to have produced the results, which its proponentspromised.
A relatively common occurrence resulting from this emphasis on producers is the so-called deal-driven production,
where films are produced based on the timing and availability of tax-based investment or state aid, regardless of
the state of development of the script.
The emphasis on the producer has also meant, in many countries or regions, which offer financial support for the
developmentprocess as well as on the European level (Media programme), that funds are provided through the
producer, who uses them to commission the writer. This severely disadvantages the writer in the negotiation of
contracts, the retention of rights and remuneration, which ultimately leads to one-sided support of one profession
against the interests of another and subsequently against the interests...