Post on 13-Apr-2017
The Exploitation of Film Heritage Works in the Digital Era
European Film Forum Festival del Cinema Ritrovato Bologna, 30 June 2016
Agenda
Definitions & Methodology
The exploitation of film heritage
• Cinemas
• TV
• DVD
• VOD
Is VOD (really) an opportunity ?
Film heritage works /
(back)catalogue films?
A problematic definition:
• >10 years old
• criteria such as historical or aesthetic value are not considered
The exploitation of film heritage: key figures
Film heritage works in cinemas
Catalogue films are about 22% of total films on
release in the EU, when considering unique films.
OBS LUMIERE
Catalogue films are about 4% of total films on
release in the EU when considering cumulated
titles with more than 1000 admissions
The circulation of film heritage (≥ 1 000
admissions) has improved since 2004.
• Film heritage works (≥ 1 000 admissions) are
released on average in 1.7 countries, whereas
films in general are released in 3.7 countries.
2 004 2 010 2 011 2 012 2 013 2 014 Avg 2010-2014
All films 2,6 3,8 3,7 3,7 3,7 3,8 3,7
Film heritage 1,5 1,7 1,5 1,7 1,8 1,9 1,7
OBS LUMIERE
The proportion of European film heritage on
release is lower than for films in general
European films account for 41% of the catalogue films on
release (≥ 1 000 admissions), down from 50% in 2004.
OBS LUMIERE
The US share of catalogue films on release is
growing due to a better circulation
In 2004, European and US catalogue films (≥ 1 000
admissions) were released on average in the same number
of EU countries (1.6). But this figure increased for US film
heritage works whereas it remained stable for European
catalogue films.
Average number of countries of release for film heritage works
2 004 2 010 2 011 2 012 2 013 2 014 Avg 2010-14
All film heritage works 1,5 1,7 1,5 1,7 1,8 1,9 1,7
European films 1,6 1,6 1,4 1,3 1,5 1,7 1,5
US films 1,6 1,7 1,6 2,1 2,0 2,1 1,9
OBS LUMIERE
Cinemas: Admissions to film heritage
works are relatively stable since 2004
Between 2010 and 2014, catalogue films accounted on
average for about 6 million admissions in the
European Union.
OBS LUMIERE
Cinemas: the age of the top grossing
catalogue films vary significantly across
the years
OBS LUMIERE
Cinemas: a concentrated market
The top 3 markets represent over 70% of total
admissions
Share of the top 3 countries of admissions to film heritage works on release in the EU. 2004 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Avg
2010-14
Share of top 3 countries 86% 74% 77% 64% 71% 74% 72%
Country 1 FR ES GB GB FR GB
Country 2 GB FR DE FR GB FR
Country 3 CZ GB FR DE IT IT
OBS LUMIERE
Cinemas: a concentrated market
The market for film heritage is also
increasingly concentrated in terms of films.
Share of the top 10 films of admissions to film heritage works on release in the EU 2004 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Avg.
2010-14 Share of top 10 films 37% 67% 82% 88% 63% 47% 70%
OBS LUMIERE
Cinemas: US film heritage works register a much
higher share of admissions (81% on average
between 2010 and 2014) than their share of the
number of catalogue films on release (46%).
Films ≥ 1 000 admissions.
OBS LUMIERE
Film heritage works on TV
Television: 47% of films broadcast are
catalogue films
MEDIAMETRIE
2011-2012 2014-2015
All day - including rebroadcasts 44%
47%
All day - unique titles 52%
52%
Prime-time - unique titles 41%
43%
Television: the number of catalogue films
broadcast has increased, due to more repeats
Variation in the number of films broadcast between the 2011-2012 and the 2014-2015 seasons
All films Film heritage works
All TV - All day Multiple broadcast
12% 24%
All TV - All day Unique Broadcast
-2% -1%
All TV - Prime time Multiple broadcast
6% 20%
MEDIAMETRIE
Television: the share of EU films is slightly
lower for film heritage than for films in general
MEDIAMETRIE
16%
14%
65%
5%
All films
National EU non-national USA Others
17%
11%
70%
2%
Film heritage
National EU non-national USA Others
Television: 57% of catalogue films broadcast
were produced between 10 to 29 years ago
MEDIAMETRIE
Film heritage works on DVD
Do DVDs still have a future for film
heritage?
• The physicality of DVD box sets still appeals to
collectors and film lovers;
• The technical quality offered by digitisation is an
added value.
However:
• Niche, cinephile market.
• Territory-specific consumers habits.
Film heritage works on VOD
VOD: A new window for film
heritage
Types of on demand services:
• Transactional video on demand (TVOD).
• Subscription video on demand (SVOD).
• Free video on demand.
VOD: Catalogue films already
represent a significant proportion of
film available in TVOD
40% of cumulated titles on TVOD services
OBS
… and in SVOD
OBS
47% of cumulated titles on SVOD services
SVOD services propose more recent
catalogue films than TVOD services
OBS
Breakdown by age of production of catalogue films
Over 70% of catalogue films in
TVOD/SVOD are non-European A similar share than for film in general
Less EU film heritage works make it from cinemas to on-demand
When released in VOD, EU films were available in significantly less
countries (2) than US films (8).
Limited visibility on on-demand
services
On-demand services actively promote a limited number of recent
films, implying that film heritage only benefits from a very small
share of the promotional spots (3%). Among these 3%, only 23%
refer to EU film heritage.
OBS, MEDIAMETRIE
DE FR UK Average
Number of promotional spots 8316 6671 10024 8337
Of which spots allocated to films produced before 2006
416 117 120 218
Share of promotional spots for films aged 10 years or more
5% 2% 1% 3%
Comparing cinemas, TV and on-demand
VOD in perspective with cinema and
television
TV and SVOD rely more on film heritage than cinemas and TVOD
OBS, MEDIAMETRIE
Cinemas propose a higher share of EU film
heritage works than TV, TVOD and SVOD
Share of EU 28 films among catalogue films in cinemas, TV, TVOD
and SVOD (unique and cumulated).
OBS, MEDIAMETRIE
Catalogue films released in SVOD tend to be more recent
than those on TVOD, TV or in cinemas
Share of film heritage works aged 11 to 19 years among catalogue films in
cinemas, TV, TVOD and SVOD (cumulated)
OBS, MEDIAMETRIE
Is VOD (really) a new opportunity ?
Pressure on “traditional markets”
• Increasing competition from US catalogues films • More territories with private players active in film
heritage but a bottleneck in cinemas - > Low level of admissions per film
• New “small” free-to-air channels heavily rely on catalogue films -> Larger “traditional” broadcasters disengage from film heritage -> Prices are much lower
• The DVD crisis: the “core” target of cinephiles may be preserved but the other segments are suffering.
Mainstream or niche on-demand
services ?
Vision 1: Mainstream on-demand services: challenge for visibility
Vision 2: Film heritage as a specific genre of independent films
Vision 3: Film heritage should be marketed over specific services
=> SVOD is a better model than TVOD
Pan-European distribution
• Tastes are fragmented • Only a few -US – services may provide “pan-
European distribution” • Critical size is needed to access these platforms,
either directly or through an aggregator. And film heritage is not their core business !
• Accessing other national on-demand services is complex (commercial negotiations, technical requirements, right clearance)
• Services e.g. EuroVOD representing another way to go with pan-European distribution
The cost of promotion
• Release in cinemas seems to be key at the
moment to reach on-demand platforms • Once in VOD platforms, intensive
marketing/promotional effort is needed: • Curatorial and programming strategies (extra contents,
interviews, etc) • Creative marketing, e.g. “film as a live event” (Secret
Cinema, BFI). • Media literacy activities. • Exposure over multiple channels. • Engaging communities through social media.
No VOD-only strategy
• No recoupment of restoration costs through a
VOD-only distribution
• Multichannel distribution still necessary • To generate revenues • For cross-promotion
Key take-aways
• More interest in more countries for film heritage
• But pressure on the traditional markets
• VOD cannot be a stand-alone exploitation model (yet)
• Access to VOD is a challenge but marketing if even a bigger one.
• Pan-European distribution remains a challenge