Given that the European feature film industry is facing problems and that
the European Union does have a support scheme in place, this leads to the
research questions for analysis:
● What exactly are the main problems of the feature film industry in
Europe?
● How does the European Union confront these problems, i.e. what is the
structure and strategic intent of its support scheme?
● Is the support scheme likely to be effective? Will it cure the problems,
or just alleviate the symptoms?
● What could be done to improve the effectiveness of the support scheme?
Literature review
The research method used in this article is mainly a qualitative and
descriptive one. In trying to understand the problems of the European
feature film industry, several books were of great help. The book by
Goodell (1998) presents a detailed insight into the process of feature film
production, spanning all the stages from concept creation, budgeting and
financing, to shooting, post-production and distribution. Howard and
Mabley’s (1993) work focuses on the art of crafting a screenplay, but also
illustrates imperatives for development and pre-production.
Another important source of information was provided by Bizern and
Autissier (1998), which appears to be the only available literature on the
subject of public aid for film-makers. Besides containing facts about
national aid mechanisms and national monographs on public aid, the two
volumes also give an account of the MEDIA and EURIMAGE pro-
grammes. Furthermore, the European Union presents a wealth of informa-
tion on their EU Audiovisual Policy websites, for example, the complete
‘MEDIA II Programme Mid-term Evaluation’ (BIPE, 1998), the study ‘The
European Film Industry under Analysis’ (European Union, 1997), ongoing
studies and general information on the new MEDIA Plus Programme.
The MEDIA Desk website functions as the link between the MEDIA
Plus Programme and the respective national film industries. Therefore it
delivers information about the make-up of the current programme, its
goals, selection criteria and forms of support, and figures concerning
projects that have benefited so far. Since the EU does not provide an
explicit and detailed comparison of the MEDIA Plus Programme and its
predecessors, we compared the data contained in the ‘MEDIA II Mid-term
Evaluation’ and Bizern and Autissier’s work with the information available
on the MEDIA Desk website. Looking at the operational changes,
inductive reasoning showed a pattern in MEDIA’s altered approach
towards achieving its strategy of strengthening the film industry. This
230 Media, Culture & Society 27(2)