A model is proposed for Finland that would oblige streaming services to invest in domestic content. Next, comments on the proposal will be collected in a statement round.
Long that was it, but now Europe is trying to tame the US streaming giants. The reason is clear: Netflix, Disney+ and others have become market leaders in many EU countries, and now governments fear for European culture.
Jobs in the industry are also partly threatened.
EU-maiden the weapon for securing one’s audiovisual content has been the so-called avms directive, which was renewed in 2018. Since then, most EU countries have imposed various obligations on streaming services to produce domestic content.
The models are different, but in practice the streaming service has been able to either pay a percentage of the turnover generated in the countries in question or increase the amount of local content in its own productions.
Judging by its popularity, the directive has worked as expected.
Now Finland is joining the same avms front with other EU countries. The hybrid model presented by the surveyor is estimated to generate nine million euros per year and the multiplier effects will rise to more than twenty million.
Chairman of Apfi, which represents Finnish producers Roope Lehtinen is, as expected, satisfied with the proposal.
“It would be peculiar if Finland did not make its own model and agreed that Finnish content would be in a worse position than the rest of Europe,” he says.
When implemented the reform would come at an opportune time for Finnish AV production. In recent years, films by Finnish producers have gained more visibility abroad than perhaps ever before, and interest in TV dramas has also been growing.
On the other hand, right now the industry is suffering from a declining economic cycle, and the job opportunities of domestic workers have suffered.
Lehtinen considers the part of the proposed measure to be successful, which reduces the amount of money to be paid based on direct production investments. In this way, domestic operators would probably be exempt from the payment.
The fee would not apply to Yleisradio in any way, as it is limited to subscription services.
Roope Lehtinen has been the chairman of Apf, the association of producers in the audiovisual sector, since January.
Whereby how would the reform improve the situation? Possibly the biggest winner would be a Finnish TV drama.
The Finnish Film Foundation has given about one million euros annually to the development of drama series, and in addition, the internationalization of the industry has been supported with production incentives managed by Business Finland. For example, 12 million euros came in last year.
According to the report, this has kept the budgets of Finnish productions at an internationally modest level.
Now, an estimated nine million euros more money would be coming in, which means an additional 10 percent increase in the turnover of companies producing series and films. The purpose is to make Finnish drama even more original, high-quality and competitive.
The increase in budgets would also bring even more international money to production.
“When more money is received from Finland, it also increases the interest of foreign financiers to invest more,” states Lehtinen.
Lehtinen knows what he is talking about, as he is the executive producer of the Fire Monkey production company and one of the company’s founders. Series produced by Fire Monkey include, among others The White Wall, Enemy of the People, California Commando, Cream, Rotten Apples and Seconds.
For example Seconds-a large part of the funding for the series comes from Germany and other Nordic countries.
According to Lehtinen, the introduction of the model could bring one or two large international productions a year to the local landscapes.
Although there seems to be consensus in the field about the main lines of the proposed model, the question of defining a cultural product will cause discussion.
Is the emphasis on the culture or the product or both?
Public money has traditionally been concentrated both in Finland and elsewhere in Europe in supporting drama, but now Holland’s stubborn interpretation of the directive has brought looseness in practice.
In its own model, the country of formats defined, in addition to films, fiction series, documentaries and animations, also various quizzes and reality TV formats as productions that meet the criteria, which raises the question elsewhere as well.
The topic is undoubtedly also of interest to Finnish companies developing formats, even though their manufacturing here is not an industry comparable to Holland.
The measure proposal does not take a direct position on the matter, but it is hoped that it will be clarified.
Minna Haapkylä is a producer, actress and director.
Whereby will Finnish drama be made more competitive than before, as required in the show?
Produced by Rabbit Films Minna Haapkylä (among other things Made in Finland and Munkkivuori) would put the money into developing the Scripts. According to him, it is still difficult to get sufficient funding for their adequate polishing, considering the international market.
“The producer’s risk is high, and when you want quick success, you easily ignore the embarrassing, surprising and even strange ideas that arise in the development process. Let’s move towards certain solutions. I believe that that ‘more competitive’ can be found precisely in those uncertain moments, which make the work unique.”
Haapkylä points out that in addition to drama productions, Rabbit Films is also constantly developing formats.
However, he does not want to use this information to take a stand on the Dutch model.
Many others certainly want to. There is also an opportunity for that in the starting opinion round.