The first step was taken with flying colors for the creation of a unique body for the representation of French cinema and series internationally. On March 12, during its steering committee, Unifrance, the association responsible for promoting French cinema outside our borders, validated, by 42 votes out of 45, the principle of a merger with TV France International (TVFI), which defends the colors of French audiovisual programs for export.
“Until now we had taken it like sleeves”, admits Serge Toubiana, president of Unifrance. Spurred on by a report from the Court of Auditors which pointed to the low efficiency of public support for exports in these two sectors, the National Cinema Center (CNC) had commissioned a report on a merger of the two structures in 2014. But it was ‘was always faced with opposition. “This reform is possible today because it is linked to the evolution of markets and artistic practices”, emphasizes Serge Toubiana.
” A boon “
For years, the small world of the French seventh art stared at its colleagues on the small screen. But the phenomenal craze for series, broadcast on televisions or international platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, has changed the situation. To the point that the notoriety abroad of actors and directors sometimes flourishes more thanks to series than to feature films.
TVFI has yet to give the green light to its own dissolution, in order to integrate Unifrance through a merger treaty. The operation should be finalized at the end of June. The new entity, which will keep the single name Unifrance, will benefit from more substantial resources than today. To the annual budgets of Unifrance (8.4 million euros) and TVFI (3.6 million), the CNC will provide 3 million in one go, to which could be added public aid for exports. “This will make it possible to weigh heavier”, assures Daniela Elstner, Managing Director of Unifrance. Hervé Michel, president of TVFI sees it ” a boon “. “Our job is that a Texan can make the connection – through Omar Sy – between the series Lupine streamed on Netflix and Police by Anne Fontaine “, explains Daniela Elstner.
A letter from the teams denounced in August 2020 “a deleterious atmosphere and uneasiness at work for a majority of employees”
No one is hiding that there was resistance, opposition. This merger worried Unifrance employees. A letter from the teams castigated in August 2020 the lack of explanation on the reorganization and the strategy. He also denounced “ a deleterious atmosphere and uneasiness at work for a majority of employees ”. Mme Elstner, from the seraglio of international film sellers, assured staff representatives at the end of January that all jobs would be preserved with the merger. Since his arrival in October 2019, six departures – including two forced – on a team of thirty-five have yet been recorded. “There have been departures and arrivals but a certain turnover is healthy”, replies the manager who has reorganized the teams, all of whom have been working from home for a year.
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