As part of the 30th Unifrance Rendez-Vous held this year for the first time in Le Havre, the Centre National du Cinéma et l’Image Animée (CNC) and Unifrance released their annual report about the export of French audiovisual programs. In 2023, sales of French audiovisual programs remained at a high level, reaching €203.4 million (-5.3% compared to 2022). This is the third time in 30 years that they exceeded the €200 million threshold (previously in 2017 with €205.2 million and in 2022, a record year with €214.8 million). The export performance of French programs has held up well in a difficult international environment: lower acquisition budgets and a contraction of the North American market in particular, less risk-taking on the part of buyers, and longer negotiations between partners. Total exports of French audiovisual programs, including sales, pre-sales, and co-production contributions, were down slightly by 3.3%, to €309.2 million, compared to 2022, in line with the average for the last ten years (-1.7%).
The strong performance of French program exports reflects the quality and diversity of audiovisual works in all genres, which continue to appeal to the international market. France is the second best-represented European nation in international VOD and in foreign TV channels’ programs. Sales from the exhibition of French programs on foreign platforms continued to be a major source of revenue: 31.3% of export revenues in 2023 (43.1% in 2022 and 8.9% in 2014). Linear broadcasters (TV channels) remained the main buyers of French audiovisual programs: TV rights (including all-media rights) accounted for 54.2% of all program sales in 2023, up on 2022 (49.1%).
The success of French dramatic was confirmed in 2023, with sales of €74.5 million, the genre’s second-best year after 2022 (-7.7%) and well above the average for the last ten years (€54.9 million). It remained the leading export genre, for the second year running, with 36.6% of total sales. A range of ambitious, innovative series with strong intellectual properties, such as HIP, “Marie Antoinette,” Bardot, and “B.R.I”; and French expertise in procedural series, such as “Deadly Tropics” and “Bright Minds,” explain the success of French dramatic fiction on the international scene.
Documentaries continued their excellent international sales momentum, reaching €47.2 million (-3.0% compared to 2022, a record year). 2023 was marked by the success of programs echoing current events, as well as hybrid works combining several genres, such as science and history. These included the success of “Oligarques russes: la grande traque,” “Iznik: les mystères de la basilique engloutie” and “La Bataille du Cobalt.”
Animation sales were down again, to €51.2 million in 2023 (-11.2% compared to 2022). While French animation programs with a very high profile continued to circulate around the world, the genre suffered from the rationalization of buyers’ investments. This was due in particular to a fall in sales in North America (-69.7%, to €4.3 million) and a drop in worldwide rights to €12.9 million (-6.6%). However, animation remained the #2 export genre, with a 25.2% market share.
The geographical breakdown of sales of French programs was more or less the same as in 2022. Western Europe regained market share to account for 46.8% of worldwide revenues (+6.1 points year-on-year) and remained the leading region for the acquisition of these programs, at €95.1 million. North America came in second with €22.3 million and a market share of 10.9%, followed by Asia/Oceania at €14.0 million (a 6.9% market share). Lastly, acquisitions from Central and Eastern Europe amounted to €13.1 million (being a 6.9% market share).
Belgium became the leading buyer of French audiovisual programs, with sales of €17.1 million, thanks to dramatic fiction, the territory’s leading genre (38.5% of sales), ahead of documentaries (34.0%). The United Kingdom/Ireland region was the second-largest buyer of French programs, with sales totalling €12.9 million, ahead of Germany/Austria (€12.14 million). The USA, the leading country in 2022, dropped to fifth place among buyers of French programs in 2023, at €9.5 million (€19.2 million in 2022).
After reaching a record high in 2022, world rights sales came to €46.3 million, down 20.1% year-on-year, returning to a level close to that of 2021. The main genre to benefit was dramatic fiction, with 29.6% of these sales, ahead of animation with 27.9%. This slowdown can be explained by acquisitions that were more focused on one or more territories, and global services that favored windows for France and French-speaking territories.
At €105.8 million, foreign pre-financing was stable compared to 2022. In detail, co-production contributions were up sharply to €73.2 million (+34.5%), while foreign pre-sales were down 35.6% in 2022 to €32.6 million. This decline in foreign pre-sales concerned all genres: dramatic fiction (-68.9%), animation (-5.4%), and documentaries (-36.4%). This trend should be treated with caution, however: the opening of the automatic support fund to delegated production works intended for global subscription video-on-demand (VOD) services in 2023 may have led to some foreign pre-sales being reallocated to French broadcasters’ contributions, as they are brought in by these services. Animation still accounted for the bulk of pre-sales (59.8% of the total). Foreign pre-sales mainly came from Western Europe: 70.6% of the total, stable compared to 2022 (+0.6 points).
Co-production investment rose by 54.0% to €36.3 million in animation, and by 50.8% to €20.2m in dramatic fiction. However, it was down for documentaries (-8.4%) to €14.3 million. Western Europe also remained by far the leading co-production partner, accounting for 84.3% of total contributions.
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