The End of European Co-production? Independent Producers and Global Platforms

Streaming platforms have undeniably become integral parts of the European co-production field. The rise of their collaborations with European producers as well as the policy regulations targeting these collaborations testifies to this fact. The available statistics show that Netflix produced more than 100 original films and series in 15 European countries in 2021, while in the same year the platforms invested €245 million in French local productions alone, three times more than in 2020 (Gubbins 2022, 3). According to this tendency, European independent producers can now diversify their sources of financing and business models that for several decades had been mainly monopolised by the gatekeepers of the European public film subsidies. At the same time, the public funds, created as a bastion for protecting European cinema against Hollywood domination, have been confronted with new powerful competitors from the US.