Canal+ has pledged more than $1 billion for French and European cinema over five years in a fresh deal with France’s BLOC group, gathering film guilds, SRF, the SPI, the UPC, DIRE, the SDI and Animfrance, as well as director body ARP.
The Paris-based pay-TV giant heralded the deal – which begins in 2028 and applies to Canal+ and CINÉ+ OCS – as unprecedented for its scale and duration.
It added that it reaffirmed the group’s commitment to its founding principle of supporting French cultural exception, under which cinema is classed as a creative art form that requires a specific approach to funding, support and distribution.
The accord comes amid pushback from parts of the French film industry in recent months over concerns of the perceived influence of conservative media tycoon Vincent Bolloré on the Paris-based pay-TV giant via the 30% stake of his Bolloré Group.
Emotions spilled over at Cannes Film Festival in May with the launch of a petition entitled “Time To Switch-Off Bolloré” signed by hundreds of French and European artists who expressed fears that diversity and pluralism could be at risk at Canal+.
They cited the populist, rightwing trajectory of news channel CNews and Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche after Vivendi, in which the Bolloré Group retains a 29.3% a stake, took control of their parent companies.
Both Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada and Bolloré Group CEO Cyril Bolloré have since batted back suggestions of political interference at Canal+.
In Thursday’s announcement, Canal+ highlighted that the new deal would also see a strengthening of its support for new filmmakers and new styles of filmmaking; debut films and emerging talent; diversity film and animated films.
The pay-TV giant would also include measures to support medium budget mainstream films – referred to as ‘films du milieu’ which it said were “ essential to the renewal of French cinema and its economic stability”, as well as ambitious works aimed at a wide audience.
The agreement also includes several qualitative commitments aimed at improving the visibility of movies and supporting diversity in film productions.
“I am delighted with this new agreement, which highlights the longstanding ties between Canal+ and cinema. By investing a record amount of nearly 1 billion euros over an unprecedented five-year term, we are proud to reaffirm our support for cinema, its power, creativity, and diversity,” said Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada.
The amount pledged by the pay-TV giant also see Canal+ benefit from a six-media window in France’s strict media chronology system.
“The very best of cinema is on Canal+ just six months after its theatrical release and will remain so for many years to come,” said Saada.
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