Videoage International October 2020

8 World October 2020 V I D E O A G E was a significant bump of nearly 44 percent in contributions to international co-productions. TVFI and the CNC also detailed the numbers for the exports of animation and docu- mentary programming. Sales of French animation saw a 12.1 percent increase and reached a historic high of 77.4 million euro (U.S.$91.37 million), with animation accounting for 40 percent of all sales. The U.S. was the top buyer of French animation content. Documentary sales totaled 44 million euro (U.S.$52 million), which was a momentous in- crease of 44 percent over the previous year. Fiction con- tinues to perform well, with a slight decrease of six percent, at 46.4 million euro (U.S.$54.78 million). Overall, TVFI and the CNC noticed a diversification of territories acquiring French TV programming. Since 2016, more than half of sales have come from outside of Western Europe, where sales have dropped. The study noted that French content is receiving greater geographic exposure, with steady growth in the U.S. and China. Le Rendez-Vous was also home to the 16th edition of the Export Awards, which celebrate the distributors of French audiovisual programs with the best sales. The Export Award for Animation went to Mediatoon Distribution for The Fox-Badger Family . In the Documentary category, The Party Film Sales won for Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum . Lastly, Federation Entertainment was honored with the Fiction Export Award for the first season of The Bureau . Pictured at top left are TV France International’s Hervé Michel and Sarah Hemar. L ast month, TV France International (TVFI) held Le Rendez-Vous Bi@rritz, its annual event (which, like most markets this year, was held virtually) highlighting French television international programming sales. During this 26th edition of the market, TVFI and the Centre National du Cinema et de L’image Animée (CNC) released a joint report that included the export figures for French audiovisual content in 2019. (The figures for 2020 will be announced next year.) This year’s statistics were promising and revealed a range of growth for French content in the international marketplace. According to the report, exports in 2019 reached 325.3 million euro (U.S$384 million), which was an 18 percent increase from the year before. Sales of French content abroad had a net increase of 12.8 percent at 195.6 million euro (U.S.$231 million). In addition, sales of worldwide rights tripled over five years and earned a record level of 42.3 million euro (U.S.$50 million). Furthermore, presale numbers were up by 7.6 percent and there TVFI Shares Promising French Exports Figures (Continued from Page 6) (Continued on Page 10) ICON CINEFROMAGE & EAGLE ROCK FILMS PRESENT MUSIC THROUGH THE LENS