PROA denounces lack of consensus in the new CCMA framework

Ferran Cera, president of BOW, has participated in the Commission for Control of the Actions of the Catalan Corporation of Audiovisual Media (CCMA) to publicize the Federation's position regarding the publication of a new framework for collaboration with audiovisual production.

Cera, although it has recognized the progress achieved after 15 months of negotiation (such as an improvement in the “industrial profit” of the production companies or a rethinking of the payment schedule for productions), regrets the “step back” which the new proposal entails for film productions, such as “the obligation to share part of the property rights of the projects with the CCMA.”

"The sector has grown and transformed, budgets have increased and so have the available funding sources. On the other hand, the contribution of the CCMA has remained stable, while its demands have increased: greater participation in profits, excessive extension of the periods of emission rights - well above the limits set by European regulations, which they reject - and an editorial presence that is not always accompanied by an effective involvement in the dissemination or projection. This disproportion between the contribution and the conditions is unsustainable,” stressed PROA, who demands that the Catalan corporation assume its role as one more partner within the production ecosystem and not “aim to maintain the central position it had in the 90s, when it was the main or only financier.” In this way, the Federation demands that the CCMA “understand” its role in a production: “that of being a public booster y accompany in the communication strategy”.

For these reasons, PROA has requested that they be applied immediately 21 of the 23 points consensual elements of the new framework agreed at the negotiating table. At the same time, Cera requests that the two fundamental questions that remain unresolved: “the temporal limitation of broadcasting rights, in accordance with European regulations,” and “the negative impact that the presented framework has on the ability of film production companies to retain property rights over their projects, also reducing their financing capacity.”

Finally, Cera has highlighted the need for TV3 and the CCMA stop treating production companies as simple service providers and start considering them true creative and industrial partners. Furthermore, he requested the depoliticization of the CCMA Governing Council, arguing that only in this way can a strong, innovative Catalan audiovisual industry be built, capable of competing on a global scale.