Skip to main content

Culture and Creativity

Audiovisual

The European Commission considers the film and audiovisual (AV) sector as vital to safeguarding Europe’s cultural diversity and sovereignty. Therefore, it supports the development, distribution and promotion of high-quality European works (including films, TV series, documentaries, video games and immersive content) with the aim of enhancing the competitiveness of the European AV industry at the global level.

The Creative Europe MEDIA programme

The MEDIA strand of the Creative Europe programme has supported the European film and AV industries since 1991. Over the years, this support has evolved to adapt to technological changes, putting in place measures such as

  • providing support to professionals through training and cooperation incentives
  • encouraging the development of film, video games and, more recently, immersive experiences
  • accelerating the distribution of audiovisual works across Europe and beyond
  • providing support to festivals, markets, cinemas and audience development projects
  • promoting of a holistic European audiovisual policy

Current challenges for the audiovisual sector

The European audiovisual industry is formed by a large number of highly innovative and creative independent production and distribution companies. While these companies embody the impressive creative potential of the European cultural industries, they often lack the financial strength to compete on a  global level.

During the past decade, the film and AV sectors have gone through rapid changes due to technological and digital revolutions. Such changes have reshaped how AV content is produced, distributed and consumed. To embrace these new challenges, professionals need to develop new digital skills. At the same time, companies need to adopt innovative business models and ensure that their audience have better digital access to content.

What are the next steps?

The Commission will continue to support the sector across the value chain. Under a new multi-annual financial framework from 2021 to 2027 with an increased budget, Creative Europe MEDIA will continue supporting the industry to increase collaboration across borders, embrace innovation, new technologies and new business models, and to put audiences at the core of European AV policy.