11/10/2013 - The OLFFI platform, which has just been launched, gathers information on funding opportunities in Europe

The OLFFI platform, which has just been launched, gathers information on funding opportunities in Europe. Faced with the increasing complexity of finding funding for the production of feature films, Joëlle Levie has launched the OLFFI platform, which is aimed at professionals in the film industry.

Cineuropa: You have launched the OLFFI (Online Film Financing) platform. What are the main reasons for the creation of this new tool?
Joëlle Levie: Why OLFFI? The idea to create olffi.com came from research that Ilann Girard, (a producer), François Farrugia, (production software, Moviemagic) and myself, (a former director of public bodies), undertook faced with the increasing complexity of finding funding for the production of features.

Today, coproduction has become inevitable, it is practically impossible to finance a project without one or two coproducers from different countries or cultures. With the exclusion of the United States, film funding depends on public funds. There are many funds in Europe, and internationally, which are dedicated to production (more than 250, including tax credits). But where to find the information? On funding websites? In which language? To what level of detail? Who to contact?

The majority of production companies are independent SMEs for which turnover depends entirely on their ability to raise the necessary funding to make their projects a reality. These companies do not always have the necessary resources to employ someone to do this research. Also, the information available online is difficult to find and not very detailed if not in the country's own language.

So that's how the idea came about to create a space where information on funding could be centralised. What logically followed was the creation of a B2B website allowing professionals to have access to structured and comparable information to suit their needs.

Who are the website's target audience?
The platform will be useful to any professionals working within the film industry (we will be developing a television section next year), whether they are producers, directors, consultants, professors, film students or even employees of public organisations looking to evaluate coproduction projects or to compare their offer with those of their counterparts.

We believe that we have an international audience. For Europeans and non-Europeans alike, OLFFI EXPLORE is a way to find out how funding functions in different countries and continents and to prepare the ground when they are looking to coproduce or attend a coproduction market.

What do you think about the evolution of funding schemes for the audiovisual industries in Europe?
Funding schemes in Europe are dependent on a range of factors: a country's economic situation, the compatibility of their programmes with European directives (particularly the Cinema Communication which will undoubtedly have an effect on many different support mechanisms) and their willingness to attract international productions (and workers) into their country.

There are three large funding categories which face very different stakes: national funds whose budgets increase (as in Scandinavia) or decrease (Iceland, the Netherlands…) and which therefore have to readjust their programmes, regional funds which adjust their support in line with local spending, and finally, fiscal mechanisms which flourish in different countries in Europe and create a real competition between them (such as the new mechanisms being announced in 2014 in Macedonia, Lithuania, Georgia etc.)

It is clear, however, that many national organisations must question their role, when the films they support fail to connect with their public. Are too many films receiving funding? Should they invest more up front (development) and afterwards (promotion, distribution)? How should they position themselves faced with new modes of distribution, such as VoD and online?

While their priority is to support local talent and do everything they can to ensure that films are being seen, support for international coproductions is of high political importance. Many support programmes for minority coproduction are either in place or are in the process of being set up.

There are therefore several upcoming changes of which we still do not know the impact. It is certain that money for funding films does exist in Europe. However, it will become more and more difficult to access, considering the number of sources to apply to, and the increasing number of directors, writers and producers coming out of film school every year.

It is therefore important to choose your partners well, considering their cultural and financial environment, but also to take the time to develop a project, which, by its form or its subject, is likely to attract audiences and foreign partners.

What lies ahead for the website?
OLFFI EXPLORE is the very first "module" of OLFFI. The tip of the iceberg! We would like to "go live" as fast as possible, so we went for a fun and visual database where information is structured and organised in an identical way. The added value of OLFFI EXPLORE is that it offers more than just information on funding programmes. We have also included a list of features of different coproduction agreements, as well as useful information for producers wanting to shoot in a foreign country (visa, work permits, VAT…), not forgetting film commissions, helpdesks and local professional associations. We also have a comparison function t allows you to compare three programmes or fiscal mechanisms. From 2014 onwards, OLFFI EXPLORE will cover all European countries equally.

But our main goal, which we have already been working towards for two years, is even more ambitious. It is an application which would enable producers to evaluate the eligibility of their project with any given programme, including cultural assessments. This is OLFFI PROJECT. Far be from us to substitute ourselves for the evaluation work done by funding bodies; we consider OLFFI PROJECT as a financial tracking tool, a research aide for finding the most suitable funding schemes for a particular project. To achieve this goal, the Olffi team developed a software package, SaaS (Software as a Service) which allows a user to gauge the eligibility of their projects under certain cultural assessments, and to modify, within reason, the profile of their projects in order to maximise their chance of success. OLFFI PROJECT can be considered as a toolbox for producers, allowing them to optimise their compatibility with funding schemes. We're planning on a launch for OLFFI PROJECT with around 14 programmes for Cannes 2014.

Translated by Avalon Lyndon