FilmChain partnered with Produzentenverband (German Producers Association) to deliver a bespoke reporting platform for the German market, enabling producers to report on revenue and audience data to creators (e.g. screenwriters, directors). Complementary to our CAM service, we have worked with German Producers Association for over a year to build, test and deliver the product in accordance with the needs of the industry. Now live in Germany, the product will soon expand to additional European territories.
The reporting software aims to reduce the administrative burden of film and TV producers and ultimately increase transparency along the value chain.
This comes in light of new EU regulations that promote transparency obligations across the entire industry.
At Berlinale — EFM 2024, FilmChain co-created with the market “Follow the Money” podcast — an important conversation about how these EU regulations impact the industry. Tine Klint, (LevelK) and Fabian Massah (Endorphine Productions) joined FilmChain on the podcast, hosted by Scott Roxborough (European Bureau Chief The Hollywood Reporter).
The European Audiovisual Observatory published in February 2024 a new in-depth analysis called “Fair remuneration for audiovisual authors and performers in licensing agreements”, which details how multiple European countries have implemented legislation on better reporting and increased remuneration.
We have seen a couple of years of tectonic shifts, with the legislation of the EU Copyright Directive and months of guilds’ strikes. Both initiatives secured transparency of revenues and increased remuneration in royalties and residuals.
The German Producers Association commissioned the product, and its members are licensing it as a SaaS model. The reporting software is not meant to be exclusive to the association’s members but is available for all producers to use.
The German Producers Association is a network with 138 members, prolific European producers. More details on our collaboration are in their press release.
Britta Knöller (23/5 Film Production) and Fabian Massah (Endorphine Productions), who are responsible for the Producers’ Association, were significantly involved in the development of the platform, had to say:
“The reporting platform streamlines bureaucratic processes and simplifies the data flow for authors and copyright holders. Theatrical, streaming and TV productions can now be tracked transparently and standardised, which was long overdue. More transparency is also necessary along the entire value chain – because transparency creates trust.”
There is no doubt that creators deserve transparent data and the opportunity to earn residuals, ensuring a sustainable future for artists in the streaming era, but how will these complexities be handled? Knowledge is power, but how will filmmakers, authors and talent leverage business insights to negotiate better deals? How will the industry transform when beneficiaries transparently access data revealing successes, flops, marketing spend, and the quality of work each distribution partner delivers?
We at FilmChain are honoured to have worked alongside such fantastic professionals to create a tool for the future. We are excited about seeing the outcomes of these efforts and the impact on European cinema in the years to come.
