The phenomenon of delocalization is reaching worrying proportions in France: this is just one of the pieces of information to emerge from the study “Geographical distribution of French TV drama filming in 2011” carried out by Film France. And the overall figures do not offer much comfort either.
In fact, despite an apparent stability (7143 days in 2011 versus 7147 in 2010), the study shows that production activities have dropped since 2008 when the figure was 8395 days. Combining the three year periods 2006-2008 and 2009-2011, there has been a fall of – 14% and the number of filming projects has also decreased: 186 in 2011, compared to 208 in 2010 and 248 in 2009.
There is also a new record: 10% of the filming is carried out abroad. This is the highest level recorded since 2005, the year monitoring began. Although we should remember that this percentage includes international projects for which the term “delocalization” may be incorrect, the picture is still far from reassuring. “The situation continues to be extremely worrying”, warns Nicolas Traube, president of Film France. Traube believes the main cause to be the reduction in compulsory investment quotas by private TV networks which came into force in 2009: “In the light of these results, Film France believes that the workings of the tax credit system should be urgently reviewed, with regard to both national and international productions”.
The study also shows the distribution of filming in the various regions: Ile de France constantly comes out on top, jumping to 47% (40% in 2010), followed by the PACA region (Provence –Alpes-Côte d’Azur), France’s second audiovisual center, which remains steady at 14% . The crisis has led to a greater concentration: 87% of the activities are absorbed by 6 regions (Ile de France and PACA are followed by Poitou-Charentes, Aquitaine, Nord Pas de Calais and Rhone Alpes), compared to 72% in 2010.
This year, for the first time, the Film France study also looked at studio filming of TV dramas: this was 13.75% (886 days out of a total of 6457), a much higher percentage than that of feature films which is no more than 6%. In this case, the regional distribution was more balanced: 62% in the Ile de France and 29% in the PACA region.
