Plans to Double Aid for European Film Industry

The EU’s Culture Commissioner Viviane Reding has announced plans to double future EU spending on the European film and audio-visual industry. Speaking at the 61st Venice International Film Festival, Reding presented the package "Media 2007" under which the industry could expect to see the EU budget grow from some €500 million ($603 million) to over €1 billion. The primary aim of the program is to double the number of films shown outside their country of origin, Reding said. The European industry has a domestic market-share of only 40 percent for television fiction, roughly 30 percent for cinema and just 20 percent for video. (EUobserver.com)