New look at French programming finance needed, says minister

The way French TV channels finance programming should be looked at again, according to culture minister Aurélie Filippetti.

Speaking at the Festival International des Programmes (FIPA) in Biarritz at the end of last week, Filippetti said that the way channels contribute to programme production in France should be simplified. The current system leaves ownership of rights in the hands of producers rather than the channels that commission series and films.

Obligations to support the production of TV series and films in France have been imposed on channels thanks to a series of regulations that were most recently revised in 2008 to direct finance towards fiction, documentary and animation programming.