CEETV continues its series of interviews dedicated to the NATPE Budapest 2023 market (June 19-22) featuring companies and executives that will be a part of the highly anticipated event.

Today, we talk to Sarah Hemar, Director of Audiovisual at Unifrance, which will bring one of the largest delegations, representing the French audiovisual sector during NATPE Budapest.


Sarah, Unifrance is the organization responsible for promoting French film and TV content worldwide. What are your main activities aimed at promoting French films and the television content around the world?

Unifrance represents the whole chain of content makers, from the artists, the authors, to the distributors and the producers. We are operating, as you said, in both cinema and TV, but also short films and immersive content. We also develop business intelligence, conduct studies and analyze figures to help our members to understand the markets where they operate. Furthermore, we take part in numerous events - either attending third-party events or organizing events ourselves. Our two flagships are the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris in January, and the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Biarritz in September. In January, the market welcomes both cinema and TV distributors with buyers mainly from Europe. In September, the market is entirely dedicated to TV, with buyers coming from all around the world. Between 150 and 250 buyers attend each of these events that are dedicated to French content.


How many members does Unifrance currently have?

Altogether, we have a thousand members, for cinema and TV. But talking about only TV distribution and production, we bring together between 130 and 150 members. I’d also like to mention that we’re now doing promotion for French TV projects and programs, which is quite new for TV. This is an exciting thing we are now on after the merger with Unifrance and now we are accelerating the promotion of TV content, TV programs and artists all over the world.


You are attending this year's NATPE Budapest, which is taking place between June 19-22nd. What are your plans for the event?

We have organized a specific offer for the French delegates, but it's not a pavilion per se like we do at MIP but still they will be together on the market. For now, we have around ten companies attending. It's early to say, so there might be more. We've been up to 15 or even between 15 and 20 in the past years. We are happy that NATPE Budapest is coming back in full this year.


What are your expectations for the event?

Well, we know Brunico very well because we already work with them on Kidscreen, so we know it's a very well-established and professional organization. So do our members who have decided that we will go along with NATPE Budapest, despite the change of ownership. When you go to an event, it is comfortable to know where you go, and to understand how it works. They felt confident that Brunico would do a good job, and they have the reach to get the right buyers. At the end of the day, what's important for our members is that they have the right buyers there. Eastern Europe is a key territory for French sellers and they are happy to be able to come back and see them “at home”.


What type of partnerships will you be looking for during the event?

Our members are more looking to sell content to the buyers of the region. It's an area where the French content works well and a lot of buyers are coming to our events in Biarritz. But they have faced economical restriction and it's complicated to go to every market, as there are so many.


What are the latest trends on the French film and TV market? What will international delegates see from Unifrance members at NATPE Budapest?

Regarding TV, it's more of a general trend for our content - the French fiction is very popular. It sells well in the region and we understand that people are more looking towards feel-good comedies. For instance, the French comedy Parliament, which takes place in the European Parliament was sold to Czech TV in Czech Republic. Of course, we produce a lot of crime, light crime dramas that work well. For instance, Les Petits Meurtres D'Agatha Christie was sold to bTV in Bulgaria. They also bought Capitaine Marleau, and we also had deals with Diva in Albania and LNK in Lithuania. There is a buzz around French fiction worldwide, but CEE has always been a very regular partner in that.


How has the French industry been affected by crises like COVID?

We have lived through COVID like everybody else. But what we have been lucky in France is that we have had an ongoing state support. Also the CNC, the Centre National du Cinema, has reacted very quickly after COVID started, starting funds to support producers and distributors, and also a plan for the shooting to go on. I think in France, the shooting only stopped for maybe 4 or 5 weeks, not more. It's very unique in the world. The animation production process was already very well organized and working remotely. The segment that has suffered the most and for which we can still feel the consequences is the documentary industry because professionals could not travel and it's been a bit complicated to finish the productions. Now we are facing the aftermath of this: the channels have bought a lot of programmes but production has been delayed. But still COVID has not impacted France as much as it has impacted the world. In the meantime, people have developed a lot of ideas, so there's still a lot of energy and new projects going on.


We have also observed that the interest in the region for both ready-made series and formats from France is constantly increasing. You mentioned it yourself. Do you have any specific numbers and to what do you attribute the success of French content in Central and Eastern Europe?

There is a long-lasting history of relationship between France and Eastern Europe.

The strength of the French production is its diversity. We have a lot of formats, and a lot of stories. We have comedy, we have crime, we have serious drama. We cover a lot of subjects which can reach a lot of audiences. We have common European values, that's for sure. We have a volume of production and can rely on the strong expertise of our distributors; that can complement local production too. In terms of formats, we have success stories like the sitcom Call My Agent, and even more surprising stories like Derby Girl in Germany.