Eurimages MD: “Co-productions are more project-driven than people-driven”

You will present for the first time in Haugesund the Eurimages Lab Project Award. Can you explain the signification of this award?
Roberto Olla: First of all, let’s go back to why this award was created. It took me about three years to get our 37 member states to agree to this project, so I’m really proud of this result.

Co-productions in Europe have increased dramatically since Eurimages was founded. Eurimages probably contributed to this, together with the European Convention and each member state’s efforts to improve co-productions with other nations. However, although films circulate better and we have many more tools to stimulate co-production, I felt that what was missing was a mechanism to allow producers to cooperate on riskier projects, or projects not dependent on scripts and traditional dramaturgy to get financial support. 

I don’t think this is right. Some projects don’t always tick the boxes that are required to get Eurimages funding, although they can be very appealing artistically. 

Then the idea of using works in progress sessions at European festivals came up. Basically, if films are made outside traditional rules of filmmaking (for instance not based on a script and at a crossroad with other art forms) but still involve a European cooperation, we will offer the best project a grant of €50,000. Besides Haugesund, we collaborate with three other festivals: Karlovy Vary, Thessaloniki and Les Arcs.

Have you abandoned the idea to create a separate fund within Eurimages, using recoupment revenue to support edgier films?
R.O.: The Eurimages Lab Project Award is a compromise and perhaps a better solution than creating a parallel fund. It can be difficult to create different categories of films and not everybody among member states agreed on what kind of edgy films the other fund should support. 

Nordic films have a strong tradition of co-production and trans-border collaboration. Have you seen any new trend in terms of co-production of the Nordic countries with other Eurimages member states? 
R.O.: Yes and no. There was a long period where Nordic countries were co-producing essentially within themselves and only the bigger companies like Zentropa were co-producing with larger territories through established partnerships and their own European production branches. However, over the last 6-8 years, an increasing number of Nordic producers are collaborating with other EU countries and co-productions are more project-driven than people-driven. I think a lot of co-production events and training contributed to this trend. 

Nordic countries perhaps felt more secure in the Nordic arena but now they have learnt the European language of production and work with who they believe is best for the project.

Your annual budget is €25m. Is the contribution from member states stable? 
R.O. Contributions fluctuate. They are based on a handful of principles of solidarity. The first principle is that the richer and bigger countries pay more. The second principle introduced a few years ago is that the more you co-produce, the more you pay. Some countries are big and rich and scarcely co-produce. It was unfair to ask them to always pay the most, when some smaller countries pay little but use the Fund a lot. 

We therefore decided to get these two parameters to fluctuate and correct each other. The richer you are the more you pay but also the more you use the fund, the more you pay. 

Our annual budget is indeed €25m, of which €1.5m- 2m come from return on investments. But of course, projects are not selected based on their ability to reimburse.

I believe Zentropa’s projects are very good at reimbursing grants…
R.O.: Absolutely. I would say Nordic films in general. Quality-wise Nordic films are often very good and get a lot of festival and critics’ attention. Then market-wise, they often have a good potential. I would say that Nordic countries are among the members that pay us back regularly. 

They are the ‘good pupils’…
R.O.: Yes both in terms of quality of output and ability to respect the rules of the game and therefore pay us back. I would say that having fabulous film schools does help, plus Nordic producers have the ability to target a specific audience, whatever the size. This means that they are coherent in their production strategy.

What recent changes have you made to Eurimages’ rules and looking ahead what are your priorities?
R.O.: The major change is that Eurimages is now legally open to non-EU countries and Canada is in an advanced stage of negotiation with us and hopefully they will join late 2016 or early 2017. This is a huge change in the philosophy of the Fund. The initial concept of EU co-production was driven by geographical boundaries. Today, co-productions are driven more by the kind of films we want to make. Canada shares with us, Europeans, the point of view of the auteur. So why not collaborate with them multilaterally when so many countries already have bilateral co-production treaties with them? Hopefully after Canada, other countries signatories of bilateral co-production treaties in Europe, will also join us, such as Israel or Argentina. I’m following a trend, not creating one.

You’ve been running Eurimages for the last 8-9 years. What are you proudest of?
R.O.: During the last eight years Eurimages has probably moved from an institution that was getting old, into something more modern and closer to the needs of the industry. We are less focused on the European cooperation objective as such and more industry-service oriented. I’m quite proud to have been part of this change.  

Going forward, I’d like to improve the treaties obligations, and the Lab Project Awards go in that direction. Treaties are essential and helped us cooperate. Now we know how to do it, we still need them but we should also be allowed sometimes to do without them.

Gender equality in film is another principle that you’ve been fighting for…
R.O.: Absolutely. Statistics are pretty bad and quite unacceptable. The Nordic countries have showed us the way, and Anna Serner [SFI CEO] in particular. I hope that at our level, we can also make a difference and show the way to our member states.