This article was produced by Olswang LLP, which joined with CMS on 1 May 2017.
- Netflix to launch in Germany and other European countries in September
- Senator Entertainment and Wild Bunch join forces to launch distribution and production group
- German Public Film Funding 2013: Federal Film Board grants funds amounting to 75.5 million Euro
- Levy under the Film Funding Act for Video-on-Demand (VOD) providers without a seat in Germany on hold
Netflix to launch in Germany and other European countries in September
In its quarterly earning statement of 21 July, Netflix revealed that it will launch its services in Germany in September, along with France, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg. Previously, Netflix announced that it would launch in May without providing any details about the exact start dates. According to the statement, Netflix believes that "this launch into markets with over 60 million broadband households will significantly increase our European presence and raise our current international addressable market to over 180 million broadband households".
Netflix did not provide details about the exact amount of the monthly subscription fee in Germany or in the other countries. In the US, the fee for the service is $ 7.99 per month (appr. € 5.90). Such a low price would result in additional price pressure in the German SVOD market, leading to yet another round of price competition.
Senator Entertainment (Germany) and Wild Bunch (France) join forces to launch distribution and production group
On 24 July, European firms Senator Entertainment and Wild Bunch announced that they are joining forces to launch an independent film distribution and production group, which will be active in four European markets and manage a library of around 2,200 films.
The new company will help Wild Bunch secure its pan-European presence. The Paris-based company already directly distributes in France, Spain (via Vertigo) and Italy (via Bim) and, in addition to a solid track record in international sales, also has its own SVOD/VOD platform, FilmoTV. Senator has completed its financial restructuring and will now gain access to new digital marketing platforms. Senator estimates the joint venture to have consolidated revenues in excess of 185 million Euro, based on 2013 figures. It will be led by the existing management teams of Wild Bunch and Senator Entertainment: Wild Bunch founders Vincent Grimond and Brahim Chioua will be CEOs, Vincent Maraval COO and Senator Entertainment Management board member Max Sturm will be CFO.
The business alliance will be facilitated by capital increase, where all shares of Wild Bunch are consolidated into Senator Entertainment. The joint venture is subject to approval by Senator Entertainment's shareholders.
German Public Film Funding 2013: Federal Film Board grants funds amounting to 75.5 Million Euro
The German Federal Film Board ("Filmförderungsanstalt - FFA") has published its annual report (German language only) on 4 July, according to which the Board granted 75.7 million Euro in funds to the German Film Industry during 2013 (previous year 2012: 78.7 million Euro). 32.6 million Euro were granted for film funding, with 16.2 million Euro going to the production of 56 German films, and 13.4 million Euro allotted to reference funding (awarded to the producers of successful reference films for the production of new films).
In total, 49% of the 223 films that premiered in Germany in 2013 benefitted from funding. Together, they made up for almost 90% of moviegoers of German films.
Levy under the Film Funding Act for Video-on-Demand (VOD) providers without a seat in Germany on hold
The obligation to pay a levy to the German film funding fund, introduced with the latest amendment of the German Film Funding Act ("Filmförderungsetz - FFG") as of 2014 for VOD providers without a seat in Germany, remains on hold. The levy only applies to providers that offer films online in the German language, and only relating to revenues generated from customers in Germany.
It remains disputed by the European Commission whether this new provision violates European Union law. In particular, the Commission remains unclear whether the new levy infringes the country of origin principle as laid down in the Audiovisual Media Directive. As a consequence, the Federal Government Representative for Culture and Media adopted a non-application decree ("Nichtanwendungserlass") relating to the amendment of the Film Funding Act until the European Commission has decided whether the new levy is in line with European Union Law.
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