A suitable case for treatment: Austrian cinema – a snapshot of the challenges facing us in Europe by Jonathan Davis

Why a case study about Austria?
To develop our understanding of the challenges for cinema in Europe, the ThinkTank is preparing case studies focusing on specific national markets, cinematographies and links in the film “food chain.”

The first such case study, prepared in collaboration with the Austrian Film Institute (ÖFI), looks at Austrian cinema. This case study will feed into discussions between Austrian professionals which the ThinkTank is preparing together with the ?FI and the Austrian Film Chamber.

Austrian cinema is exemplary of European cinema in its reliance on public funding. In 2006, the ÖFI reports that the value of film production was €23.2 million (Filmwirtschaftsbericht Österreich – Facts and Figures 2007, Table 1b). In that same year, the contribution to production costs of the eight film funds was €10.7 million (ibid, Table 4.3a).  

The data published by the ÖFI in Facts & Figures 04, 05 and 06, indicate that of the 100 Austrian films backed by the public funds between 2004 and 2006, 44 had been released by September 2007. Collectively they had sold 615,000 tickets in Austria: an average of just under 14,000 tickets per title. This suggests that the films would have generated around €5 million at the Austrian box office. There would have been some home video revenues – for which there are no data – and 21 of the titles had been transmitted on Austrian television attracting a total audience of 2.05 million. The public service broadcaster, ÖRF, in 2006 contributed €6.1 million (in relation to films made in that year, not the films transmitted). There will also have been some revenues from overseas markets: co-production finance principally. In 2006, 11 of the 34 Austrian feature films and documentaries released theatrically in Austria were co-productions. The 20 Austrian films released in other territories accumulated 2.72 million admissions. Taking all these revenue streams into account, it is highly improbable that their total would exceed the €22.2 million of public money invested in these 44 titles by ÖFI, the Vienna Film Fund and the other Austrian regional funds, representing an average of €503,000 per title. 
Details of the 44 films released are shown in Table 1 in the Annex.

The ÖFI in its Facts and Figures for 2004 and 2005 lists 100 individual fiction films and feature-length documentaries that were produced with public support. 53 production companies or producers were listed. One company – Amour Fou Films – produced nine films. It received total public funds of €3.6 million. The three next most active companies – Coop 99, Dor Film and Lotus Films – each produced six films and received €3.8, €4.0 and €4.4 million, respectively. Two companies produced four films a piece –Navigator Film and Wega Film. They received €0.4 million and €3.1 million in public funding. Three companies, Allegro Film, Extra Film and Mischief Film, each produced three films. They received a total of €6 million. Eight companies produced two films each. The other 35 companies or producers made one film each. In total, the public support totalled €37.5 million.

The distribution story

Table 1 shows a breakdown of the 44 Austrian films released, 24 features and 20 documentaries, by distributor.

Filmladen Verleih accounts for nearly half of all Austrian films released. Polyfilmverlieh accounts for seven titles. Pool Film and Sixpack are the other two active players, with four titles each.

When it comes to tickets sold, Filmladen’s dominance is reinforced, accounting for two out of every three tickets sold to Austrian films (Table 2).

Austrian films on Austrian television
The ÖFI identifies 21 Austrian films transmitted on Austrian television by Austrian public service broadcaster, ÖRF, between 26 June 2005 and 11 November 2007. (See Annex, Table 3).
These 21 films achieved 549,000 admissions in Austrian cinemas. The total television audience for these films was 2.05 million. Three of the films – the only ones in the sample broadcast in prime time – accounted for more than half of the total audience. All the others were broadcast after 22.30 except for one, transmitted at 10 in the morning.

The obvious question is: does ÖRF tend to show Austrian films – in which it has invested – in off-peak slots because they attract small audiences, or do these films tend to attract small audiences because they are shown in off-peak slots, in general very late at night? And does the small size of the television audience have something to do with the films usually being four years old by the time they are transmitted by ÖRF?

The structural problems that make it slow for Austrian films to get into the market place
ÖRF is not allowed to broadcast a film until about 18 months after its theatrical release. Theatrical release often comes more than a year after a film has been completed. Austrian films tend to be released in two chunks during the year: in March/April and in September. There were 26 weeks of the year in which no Austrian film was released.

It is unusual for a film to be released in foreign markets before it has been released in its home market, so the delay in releasing films in Austria has an impact on the performance of those films in other markets.

• Too many film-makers who make too few films, so that they lack the opportunity to develop their skills and talent

113 different directors are credited for the 100 films in the sample. One film (Über die Grenze - Fünf Anschichten von Nachbarn) has five directors credited. Eight films have co-directors. Eight directors have credits for two films. 
There are no data relating to writers and to others involved in the films. The question to be addressed is: are they working as infrequently as the directors?

• Most production and distribution companies too small and fragile to respond to the opportunities and challenges of the market, including the need to be more international and to embrace the new distribution technologies
• A lack of cohesion between how films are financed and how films realise their artistic, social and economic value

The analysis here is largely confined to the theatrical release of Austrian films in Austria. Data only relate to the amount and source of investment by the public funds in Austria. 41 of the 100 films were co-production with at least one other country, 22 involving Germany; six, Switzerland; five, Luxembourg; four. France; four, Hungary; three, the UK; two, Italy, two, Canada; two, Spain; two, the Czech Republic; two, Bulgaria; one, the Netherlands; one, Sweden; two, Serbia and Montenegro, one, Slovenia; two, Croatia; one, Latvia; one, Lithuania and one, the US. 11 of the films have been released theatrically outside of Austria. Of these 11, eight were released in at least one co-producing country. Three films (Caché, Grbavica and Taxidermia) were released in all co-producing countries.

• An inadequate knowledge of who the audience is, what the markets are and how best to reach both audiences and markets
• A dysfunctional relationship between film-makers and broadcasters (does either side know what the other wants? Does it care?)

Films take a long time between being released theatrically and being shown on television, if they are transmitted at all. It would seem that there is little connect between what the film-makers and public film-funders, on the one side, and the broadcasters on the other, are doing.

• Neither film-makers nor film-funders taking responsibility for the film’s success.

Who concerns him or herself with when and how, or even whether the films are released or transmitted? With how well the films perform? Whether they are seen outside of Austria or seen at all? The answers to none of these questions are evident from the ÖFI data.

Annexes  here