What are the major problems facing European powers today in today’s international markets? During a panel during the conference of creative investors at the San Sebastian Film Festival, the key figures for Europe’s production and distribution spoke about the need for a joint continent’s thinking, how the serious challenges facing the US co-production market will affect the euro landscape, and the need to regulate platforms like YouTube in the digital market.
Christian Vesper, CEO of Fremantle’s global drama, said British multinationals are “very good” to make “mainly small, disciplined European films.” Their main challenge is that it resembles a photograph of Irish film studio elements in Fremantle, with executives highlighting how impressive it is to be behind films like Yorgos Lantimos’ “Bagonia” and Harry Lightton’s “Pirion” within the same calendar year. “We need to find diversity at this level of scale in order for us to flourish.”
Elizabeth Dalvue, managing director of French Media One Photography, praises the current European market and calls it “nearly perfect.” “The US co-production market has been largely closed for the past three years,” she said. “Now there’s almost everything in Europe. There’s an amazing pool of creative talent in every category, great location, cutting-edge technical teams, studio facilities.”
It’s all been repeated and combined with two European advantages in subsidies and regulations, primarily protecting creators and independent producers. “All of that combinations work very efficiently. The proof is that major US powers can emerge in front of US studios. Today, some of the biggest production companies are Europe.”
Rodolphe Buet, Chief Distribution Director of Studio TF1, divided the main challenges into three categories: This is the instability of funding from traditional players such as Linear Television, which historically supports European production and currently faces cost reductions across the continent. Box office numbers that have not recovered since Covid. And what he calls the “US situation” refers to how independent distributions in the US have been under pressure in recent years, further reducing the slots in the distribution of European arthouse films.
Emma Stonestars from Yorgos Lantimos’ “Bagonia” (Nishijima’s courtesy/focus function)
Atshushi Island/Focus function
One of the burning issues that emerged from conversations was the threat of YouTube as a growing player in Europe. David Atlan-Jackson, Chief Content Officer of Vuelta Group, portrayed the platform as one of its “major competitors.” “The fragmentation of the landscape from a distribution perspective makes the audience very selective and knowledgeable. There is no more space for lukewarm content.”
Buet called YouTube “one of the important threats” in Europe. “They capture important parts of their audience without contributing to the global ecosystem. YouTube counts more views than all platforms (Europe), but tends to contribute only 50% of the production cost of creators. And creators who make great European television and films.”
Executives were asked about the statement released by the European Producers Club on Sunday, highlighting concerns that they would propose on behalf of Creative Europe, a European Union program that supports and promotes culture and the media. According to the EPC, the proposed changes raise “serious concerns about the future of independent European audiovisual creation.”
“I’m not worried,” Buett said. “I think the European Commission understands that culture is key to protecting and defending European values. For an independent European community, who should have access to support. Rather than not preventing it from accessing creative Europe’s support,” he added.
On the fundraising side, Vesper spoke about how “celebrities” and famous projects are important when it comes to securing early fundraising, but for Fremantle, it’s about how to best support their production companies to make the films they want to make. Executives cited “Bagonia” as a recent example, saying, alongside a photograph of the elements, they were able to illuminate the green light before Fremantle put the project on the market. “We put our weight behind the project. It’s a lot of work to get the board to support it. But we believe in them and want to be able to create as much leverage as possible in the market.” In the case of Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut, “The Chronology of Water,” Fremantle moved filming from Oregon to Latvia, allowing the actor-turned-director to “make the film she wants to make because it didn’t cost much.”
“We are lending films. We like to go to the market with CAA or Film Nation and invest in stocks where we need it,” he concluded.
Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut: “Water Chronology”
Courtesy of the Cannes Film Festival
Of course, another way to help with revenue is to expand your audience reach. Plus, Buet mentioned Studio TF1’s recent contract with Netflix. Starting in the summer of 2026, all Netflix members in France will be able to watch TF1 channels and on-demand content directly from TF1+ on Netflix in a transaction signed last June.
“People aren’t watching TV. We’re facing a platform competition,” Buett said. “If you look at the French figures, 50% of Netflix subscribers have never seen TF1 Plus, mainly because they don’t have similar demographics. It’s important to be in a position to reach film and television funding.
