Publicity image for French-language thriller “A l’ombre des forts.” Image credit: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ will invest more in developing European and French audio and video content in France under a new deal it has signed with the French government.
While in line with its previous spending in the country, the new agreement commits Apple TV+ to investing 20 percent of its previous year’s net sales in France into the initiative. Those net sales will presumably be chiefly from subscription sales, but it’s possible that they will also include revenues from other deals, such as the one with France’s Canal+.
The money will be used to develop and produce audiovisual content for France, and the rest of the European Union, according to according to media trade site Deadline. Of the revenue collected under the four-year agreement, 70 percent of the total will be earmarked for independent productions.
Various French audiovisual creation and distribution groups, including AnimFrance, SATEV, SEDPA, SPI, USPA, and SACD have collectively issued a statement celebrating Apple’s joining the agreement. “This agreement confirms Apple TV+’s desire to take a further step in its integration into the French regulatory system,” the groups said.
“It reflects a vision shared between the parties on the diversity, renewal and influence of French audiovisual creation,” the statement added. According to France’s industry regulator Arcom, other services such as Netflix and Amazon have already signed similar agreements.
The deal encourages more non-English productions in France and the rest of Europe, which are free to be distributed in other countries. French, as an example, is widely spoken in Belgium, Canada, Haiti, Madagascar, Switzerland, and a number of African nations.
France and EU want more native-language audiovisual content
In 2021, the government of France passed a decree requiring that foreign-owned free, paid or subscription services operating in France must contribute a portion of their net proceeds from within the country to help finance more French and European original content.
Under previous agreements, services like Apple TV+ were required to have a certain percentage of its content in France made there. Streamers were able to comply by simply reducing the available library of non-French productions.
Apple has previously made a modest number of French-language original productions, including the fashion drama series “La Maison,” the London-set thriller “Liason,” and the six-part mini-series “A L’ombre Des Forets” (In the Shade of the Forests). It has steadily increased the number of productions set in Europe, and funded shows that are bilingual with English — such as “Now and Then” — or entirely made in European languages.
“La Maison,” a French-language Apple TV+ production. Image: Apple TV+
In part, the agreement will help Apple TV+ comply with a 2018 European Union mandate that 30 percent of offerings on a streaming or Video-On-Demand (VOD) service operating in the EU must be produced within the EU.
Other EU countries could use the agreement in France as a model for their own accords, encouraging more non-English audiovisual content production overall by various streaming services.
