This Friday morning, professionals presented the first Polynesian Federation of Audiovisual and Cinema. This was an opportunity to provide some figures, issues and perspectives thanks to the White Paper on the current situation in the sector and gain a better grasp of the economic scope of the sector for the territory.
The audiovisual sector has a bright future ahead of it in French Polynesia. A White Paper on the sector, commissioned by the professionals of the sector, and presented this Friday morning at the FIFO, enabled the public to grasp the economic scope of the sector, its issues and perspectives. The figures show that the sector is contributing and yielding: its economic spin-offs are estimated at 1.2 billion francs per year.
Alongside the country’s main export sectors, the audiovisual sector ranks third, after pearls and fishing and before vanilla and monoi. Not bad for an economy that some thought was still in its infancy. The independent experts who carried out this study also show its strong development: from three production companies and about fifteen people in 2003, the sector now has 25 production companies and 200 full-time professionals. The FIFO, which was first held in 2004, has obviously had a hand in this expansion, bringing together professionals, stimulating reflection on the professions and also distributing films. It is « the flagship event of this sector », analyses Jean-Baptiste Dupont, co-author of the White Paper.
This study also develops the distribution of economic impact on two main activities: local productions and the hosting of external filming. Thus, it is necessary to count approximately five hundred million made by local productions with the expenses for technicians and filming and six hundred and eighty million with external productions, counting in particular transport, accommodation and catering. Funding for the first comes from the purchase of content by the two local television channels, Tahiti Tourisme, ministries, advertisers, co-producers, and subsidies granted by the SCA (Support for Audiovisual Creation) and the CNC (National Centre for Cinema and Moving Image). For the second, the companies rely on external producers who have their own funding and occasional subsidies from the country and Tahiti Tourism. These two activities « maintain » and complement each other. Local production attracts external production and the latter forces Polynesian professionals to strengthen their skills. These two main activities have direct economic spin-offs, but also indirect ones, as they highlight the territory, its culture, history and heritage. It is difficult to quantify these spin-offs in terms of money.
As far as the development of the sector and its potential is concerned, much remains to be done. It is a question of going after the streaming platforms and trying to put content on them. « The industry’s potential cannot be based on TV broadcasters. We need to maintain TV broadcasting and increase non-TV broadcasting. But if the skills exist, a public fund supports creation and two channels maintain their commitments, the audience pool remains small, access to distribution and out-of-territory broadcasting is restricted, local works are short-lived and lack visibility. It was also noted that the hosting of external productions has real potential based on the requests for contact from producers in 2021. Our Pacific neighbours have understood this and are already offering incentives to invite productions to shoot in their countries. According to the authors of the White Paper, about 20 to 30% of tax credits are proposed. In French Polynesia, no incentive mechanism has yet been implemented. This is one of the Federation’s objectives: to try to solicit the government to set up such a measure. Several lines of development have been defined: creating the conditions to develop local productions and co-productions, increasing the number of external productions in Fenua and structuring and professionalizing the sector. Denis Pinson, from Archipel Prod and vice-president of the FPAC, and Claire Schwob, president of the FPAC, listed the first five objectives: to federate and give a real dynamic to this gathering, to train and support, to create a film office, to create a tax incentive for high-impact filming and to create links with Oceania.
Written by Lucie Rabreaud
French