Ted Sarandos met Emmanuel Macron at the top “Choose France”

French President Emmanuel Macron did not joke when he said Variety The country would fight to bring “Emily to Paris” to France after the Roman getaway from the successful Netflix program.

The boss of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, was one of the few best American players invited by Macron to participate in the eighth edition of Choose France, a summit dedicated to the promotion of the country’s attractiveness to draw investments. Held on May 19 in Versailles, the event marked the first time that the choice of France included an emphasis on cinema and audiovisual.

Although the summit cultural program was launched long before US President Trump offered a 100% price on foreign films in the midst of growing tensions between French and American guilds, it turned out to be a favorable timing for a transatlantic meeting. As we know little about Trump’s plan so far, participants have continued to focus on increasing the production of France’s production.

Macron sat down at a table alongside Sarandos, CEO and president of Mediawan, Pierre-Antoine Capton, the co-founder of the A24, Daniel Katz, the Apple world video chief, Jamie Erlicht, Russell Grandinetti, please for the international stores of Amazon, the Minister of Culture of France Rachida Dati, the president of CNC Gaetan and Pecresse, the president of life. French producers such as Alexia Laroche-Joubert, CEO of Banijay France, Pascal Breton of Federation, Breton and executive producers Raphael Benoliel and John Bernard.

The biggest problem raised by Sarandos during the discussion was the need for France to strengthen its tax incentive for international productions. Currently, France has a tax discount of 30% on spending below the line engaged in France (and up to 40% if the visual effects are carried out locally), but the Sarandos and other executives, such as Benoliel and Bernard, call on the country to extend expenses eligible for costs higher than the line, such as the wages of the actors. Although the problem has been resolved before in vain, Macron suggested that it could be envisaged this time.

“It was the first time since the creation of the international tax discount (in 2009) that we could discuss these expenses above the line and believed that our arguments had been heard,” said Benoliel. “There has been a slowdown in production everywhere and if we want to remain competitive with countries like Italy and the United Kingdom, we must put this in place because it will benefit all our economy and our ecosystem, including crew members and the talent basin and ensure that all the infrastructures we build in France will be useful,” said Benoliel.

During the discussion, Macron underlined what France has set up to enhance its profile as a hot destination for international productions, including an investment of 1 billion euros (including 300 million euros are public funding) to strengthen filming infrastructure, high-level technicians and high-level labor in animation and VFX, as part of France 2030 of the government. In echo in Macron, the French delegation also spoke of emblematic monuments such as the Palace of Versailles or the Louvre Museum which have praised the shootings in recent years. Even “the support”, the winner of Coralie Fargeat, produced by the working title and universal, filmed entirely in the south of France, although the film takes place in Los Angeles.

“At the heart of Monday’s discussions, France 2030,” explains Bruel. “As part of this plan, we have doubled our turning capacity with new studios, reproducing Paris, new schools, etc.”

A few days before the meeting in Versailles, the CNC and the mission cinema of the French army organized a historic event on May 17 in Cannes and gathered a handful of American leaders aboard a frigate of the French Navy.

“It was a way to show them how well integrated the films for films are well integrated and how the French system works in a very fluid way, where we can solve any problem and find creative solutions, and obtain the total support of our highest authorities,” said Bruel.

Laroche-Joubert says that although Great Britain has a greater tax reimbursement than France and has the advantage of being an English-speaking nation, the American leaders present at the Round Table Choose France have suggested that the British shooting facilities and workforce were already saturated. “And to be very clear, Great Britain does not have the Eiffel Tower, Versailles or the Champs-Élysées. And either Italy! ” Said Laroche-Joubert, whose company, Banijay France, recently worked with Apple on “Lent”, a French historical drama of the 19th century which was part to Versailles and Royal Palais.

“Erlicht told me something fantastic,” explains Laroche-Joubert. “He said:” If I had to shoot this series, “Lent”, in the United States, it would have cost me four to six times more with the production value you have implemented. “”

French lobbying to attract filming has thwarted some to the ranks of American films guilds such as the DGA and the MPA which expressed their concerns with the commercial representative of the United States on Runaway productions, but the presence of key American players such as Sarandos, Katz, Erlicht and Grandinetti in Paris at France has always transmitted a relationship between French relations and French and American films.

In fact, Sarandos was so excited by his visit to Choose France that he published a selfie with Macron on Instagram and wrote that he had “a few incredible days in Paris” and added that “France has always been at the heart of cinema and narration, and Netflix is ​​proud to continue to associate with French talent to share these unique voices in the world.”