Creative Europe MEDIA — Supporting audience development for European audiovisual content

The COVID-19 crisis has dramatically affected the viewing habits of European audiences. The progressive shift from cinema to platforms that the sector has witnessed in the last year was accelerated due to the closure of cinemas theatres during lockdowns in most Member States. The challenge for the sector now is to maximise the opportunities in terms of audience outreach of the digital transition.

The objective of the audience cluster is to connect European audiovisual works with their audiences and to support audience development across Europe and beyond.

The calls for proposals for support in 2023 under the audience cluster are:

• Audience development & film education  to stimulate the interest of audiences, in particular young audiences, in European films and audiovisual works. Cooperation between film institutions and online platforms will be encouraged. Supported projects should have a pan-European audience reach. Activities to be funded shall include audience oriented events and innovative audience development or cross-border film education initiatives.
• Films on the move  to increase the circulation of European works and widen their pan-European audience by supporting theatrical and online distribution of non-national European films. Support will focus on pan-European distribution strategies coordinated by European companies for the distribution of European films with a focus on emerging talents and films for new audiences.
• European Festivals  to promote the circulation of European non-national works, foster cultural diversity and increase audience outreach for European audiovisual works.
• Subtitling of cultural content to increase the circulation of the European cultural programming across Europe. This action will support the provision of subtitles covering content in at least 3 languages on diverse European cultural content. It shall also aim at guaranteeing the online dissemination of this subtitled content.