The Audiovisual Training Forum welcomes the 10 new members of the EU plus Bulgaria to this year’s conference. All photographs courtesy of Cartoon Movie.

On May 1, 2004 the European Union grows from 15 member states to 25 and its total population increases from 378 million to 453 million. This massive expansion brings eight former communist Eastern European countries into the fold along with the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta.

The full list of accession states is: Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta. All are now full members of the European Media program. In addition Bulgaria has negotiated a bilateral arrangement with Media, although it has not yet become a full member of the European Union.

Representatives from the audiovisual industries of these new partners countries were recently invited to a meeting in Warsaw in preparation for playing their part in the European media industry. The Audiovisual Training Forum provided a combination of training, networking and sharing experiences between experienced producers and newer participants. Although the event was organized by Cartoon — the branch of the Media program specifically responsible for animation — it covered the whole range of moving-image markets with sessions on feature films, interactive media, documentaries, television, scriptwriting and animation.

Jacques Delmoly (center), retiring head of European Media, speaks about issues facing the new EU countries at the opening session.

The new member countries currently represent only a small proportion of the value of the European industry. Cinema box office receipts in the 10 new countries account for only four per cent of the European total. Television advertising is only eight per cent of the total. But there is massive potential for growth — something which is of great interest both to western European entrepreneurs and producers from the East. Also remember that Eastern Europe has a strong tradition in animation and filmmaking. The craft skills are already there but a new financial model is being put in place and a new breed of producers has a lot to learn if the former centralized systems are to be replaced.

“There has been a massive decline in cinemas in the new countries since 1990 — although cable television penetration is close to the European average,” reported Tim Westott of the European Audiovisual Observatory.

“Two-thirds of homes have more than just a basic terrestrial service, although VCR penetration is low and the DVD market is still very small. So far as the TV markets are concerned, Poland is far and away the most important, followed by Hungary and the Czech Republic.

“There has been a massive decline in cinema admissions since 1990 — in Poland down from over 90 million to 26 million; in Lithuania down from 49 million to just two million. There has been a major impact caused by the rise of television and the increase in cinema admission prices. There has also been a big drop in film production since 1990.