On the initiative of the Prime Minister, Robert Golob, the Union of Slovenian Filmmakers’ Societies (DSFU) is preparing a comprehensive strategic plan for the development of the Slovenian audiovisual industry until 2030.
The vision is for the audiovisual (AV) industry in Slovenia to become the driving force of Slovenian culture and an important pillar of the Slovenian economy by 2030, they say.
As can be seen from the starting document for the mentioned strategic plan, which was provided to the public today, the designers set five strategic goals for the realization of the set vision and also defined the key measures for their realization, which should bring the planned ambitious results.
The latter are 600 million euros of revenues of the sector, organized strong central film institution, guaranteed 50 million euros of public program funds, regular inclusion of Slovenian films in the official programs of the most influential festivals and a widely accessible collection of quality Slovenian films.
The results of the analysis show that, despite all the challenges and limitations, the AV industry in Slovenia is already important today part of the Slovenian economy, which has an above-average gross added value per employee of 87,000 euros, which is 146.5 percent of the Slovenian average, and a high multiplier of economic and fiscal effects, which is 1.8 times.
The revenues of the AV industry in Slovenia amounted to 196 million euros in 2021. In the same year, the Slovenian AV industry made a profit of 24 million euros. Direct fiscal and the effect of the sector was 45 million euros in 2021.
Drafters of the starting document like the most important limitation of the Slovenian AV industry is precisely the insufficient sources of public funding. While the AV industry saw a 46 percent increase in revenue between 2014 and 2019, the amount of public funding increased by only 24 percent.
At the same time, the drafters of the document also state that the budget of the Slovenian Film Center (SFC) for this year amounts to 8.78 million euros, which is more like in the past years, but it is not sufficient to achieve the desired level of development of the Slovenian AV industry. At the same time, they add that the national program for culture for the period between 2014 and 2017 determined that the AV industry in Slovenia would need at least 11 million euros in program funds for co-financing SFC and Viba film Ljubljana and an additional million euros for the annual co-financing of AV-part. Slovenia also has no additional funding sources, like known to some other countries, such as the levies of commercial stakeholders in the AV industry.
According to the director of the Slovenian Film Center, the year was 2022 Nataša Bučar the most successful year for Slovenian film and a record for the number of domestic film viewers in cinemas like after international successes. Last year, seven feature-length films, 12 feature-length documentaries, 21 animated films, six series, and approximately 500 advertisements and 400 video spots were produced in Slovenia.
In addition to representatives of ZDSFU and its members, representatives of the Institute for the Enforcement of the Rights of Authors, Performers and Producers of Audiovisual Works also participated in the preparation of the document part Slovenia (AIPA) and of the SFC.
In March, a public presentation of the Association’s study should follow DSFU, which should bring an answer to the question about the limits of the development of the audiovisual sector, if we act strategically and take advantage of all potentials. The strategic plan itself is expected to be drawn up by the end of March. Summaries and guidelines of the document is the Association DSFU submitted to the Cabinet of the Prime Minister a few days ago.
Source: Rtvslo
