Netflix has made a deal with the French film guilds that will see the streaming company invest at least €40 million ($45 million) in the financing of at least 10 French and European films over the next three years, all of which will be released in theaters in France.
The deal was announced on Tuesday by French guilds ARP, BLIC, and BLOC, which together represent the interests of French producers, creatives, and cinema owners, Variety reports. This agreement will see the streaming giant investing 4% of its annual revenue made in France on the financing of French and European films, with at least €30 million invested in French-language films. All the movies backed by Netflix under this agreement will have a theatrical premiere in France and release on Netflix 15 months later. The streaming giant will have an exclusive window on these movies for a duration of seven months. This deal marks the first agreement of its kind in France with a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service.
The deal also has a providing for lower budget movies as it features a diversity clause requiring Netflix to invest at least 17% of the €40 million in financing French-language films with a budget of under €4 million ($4.54 million). Netflix will need to invest in a minimum of 10 films at the pre-financing stage, meaning the investment will come before principal photography.
“This agreement is a new step towards our virtuous integration in the unique French cinema ecosystem,” explained Netflix in a statement sent to Variety. “It reflects both our constructive contribution to the AVMS negotiation process and our commitment to be part of the French cultural exception.”
Netflix previously had to wait 36 months to access films that are theatrically released in France and hopes the current 15-month window will be decreased within the next three years.
Netflix said that it will “continue to promote an earlier window to better reflect consumers’ actual viewing habits.”
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The new deal, and the shortened window, could mean the streaming giant will return to the Cannes Film Festival. The French festival requires all of its competition titles to have a theatrical release in France, so Netflix had stopped submitting films.
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