The Council of Europe’s Secretary General Alain Berset opened up Thursday at Series Mania about the Convention on the Co-Production of Audiovisual Works in the Form of Series.
“This is the very first international framework for series. It will strengthen independent producers, support cooperation and bring greater clarity and predictability to our markets in full transformation. What does it mean exactly? It is an international engagement, a concrete one, for supporting what you are doing. And to do this at national level,” he said at Series Mania, arguing that independent producers “need a framework they can trust.”
It will open for signature on March 26, with Berset at the ceremony.
“We will have our friends Georgia, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Poland and Portugal signing. After that, it’s open to all willing to join. We hope it will be possible to develop this really rapidly,” he said.
“It’s a strategic signal for the future resilience and competitiveness of European production. Join this Convention! We are stronger when policy makers, creator, public service media and industry move together. This is exactly the goal we pursue with this text.”
The Convention is open to all 46 Council of Europe members. As stated, it will “mark a significant step for the European and international audiovisual sector: It strengthens cultural cooperation, supports independent producers and enhances transparency in a fast-moving world.”
“National identity is not nationalism. Protection is not protectionism. At a moment like this, the choice is not between co-operation or competitiveness. We need both. The world outside is not waiting for culture to catch up.”
Berset praised series for relying on a “rare combination of imagination and connection.”
“We all notice a pilot that takes us by surprise, characters that we care about, cliffhangers that pull us in, one episode at a time. No other medium creates connection in quite the same way. Looking at this room, I can’t help but think that Europe, as a continent, has forgotten how to tell its own story. What Europe would give for a storytelling tool as powerful as yours? A way to remind people who we are and what we built in the past, and why it still matters.”
He asked the audience to imagine “the opening scene.”
“University of Zurich, 1946. What does it mean for Euroep, which is still in ruins? Churchill goes to the podium and argues Europe has only one way forward: Reconcile, former enemies. This in not fiction, this actually happened, and how the Council of Europe was born.”
As every day takes Europe “deeper into rapture,” testing its limits, instead of accepting it as a new reality, he called for a unified front.
“When Europe is investing in military security, what are we investing in to strengthen democratic security. It begins with institutions people can trust. It’s sounds obvious – it is not. Audiovisual sector depends on the same democratic conditions. Independent productions, creative freedom and fair access to audiences. Not access distorted by opaque algorithms and market forces that concentrate the power in the hands of the few. This is exactly where our worlds are meeting, and it’s a reason why we need to work more together.”
He underlined the importance of “coordinated investment into Europe’s capacity to create, to finance and circulate its own stories at scale.”
“We know that investment works, but it’s not enough – it also need the right framework, and for that we need rules,” he said, adding that “democracy remains the greatest story of all.”
Before Berset’s statements, Anne Bouverot – President of Series Mania – noted that “we live in the world of rising tensions.”
“Increased political polarization, increasingly rapid technological disruption, also by A.I. in this world, the audiovisual sector is not standing still, which we are very pleased about. It’s proving its resilience, forging bold new alliances, to adapt, innovate and reimagine the future.”
Bouverot observed that the U.S. –“a long-dominant force in global storytelling in our sector” – is more and more turning inwards and “focusing on its domestic market.”
“Meanwhile, other regions and markets, particularly from Asia, are stepping forward, opening new dialogues and building shared financing mechanisms, and creating new and unprecedented partnerships. In Europe? Institutions are stepping up, supporting the audiovisual sector, economically and financially, but also realizing its power as a pillar of democratic values.”
Initiatives such as the convention are “helping to strengthen an industry that’s in the midst of a very profound transformation.”
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