Why US filmmakers are flocking to France right now

The end of a 118-day strike by US actors and screenwriters last November is contributing to an especially busy 2024 for film and television production in France.

With the Olympics imposing varying levels of filming restrictions in Paris from March to October, activity is being concentrated in the first few months of the year.

Michel Gomez, head of the Paris film office Mission Cinema, told The Connexion: “Filming will automatically experience a slight decline due to summer constraints, but the schedule is already very busy.

“The strike stopped filming in progress or led to filming that was due to start being postponed. Thus, the second half of 2023 was deprived of US productions.”

Read more: Seven films set in France (and only one is in Paris)

15 to 20 shoots a day take place in Paris

Season four of Netflix’s hit show Emily in Paris is one of the biggest US titles to resume production. Initially slated to begin shooting last summer, it has only recently begun filming.

The Killer, an English-language remake of the 1989 Hong Kong action flick by John Woo, also started filming in January, having halted production last July due to the strike.

According to Film Paris Region, 50% of filmmaking in France takes place in and around the capital, meaning that there are 15 to 20 shoots taking place on any given day.

Mr Gomez said that 40 big projects are set to shoot in Paris before the Olympics, with locations such as the Louvre and Palais Royal already booked up.

Read more: Emily in Paris park ‘shows the two sides of Paris’

American streaming services growing in France

According to the National Center for Cinema (CNC), an agency of the French Ministry of Culture, the strike in Hollywood prevented US films returning to pre-Covid levels of prominence in France.

In 2023, 81 American films were released in French cinemas, up from 68 in 2022 but down from the 127 released each year on average from 2017 to 2019.

At the same time, however, US streaming giants have expanded their presence in France.

Figures from ARCOM, the French regulatory agency for audiovisual and digital communications, show that Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video spent a combined €345million on the production of films and series in France in 2022.

This amounted to 22% of total spending on French audiovisual and cinematic production.

Two huge Apple TV shows expected this year

Traditional French channels such as TF1, Canal+, and France Télévisions remain responsible for the lion’s share of production (around 80%) but the contribution of US services is expected to keep growing.

This is, in part, due to the 2021 ‘SMAD’ decree, which requires foreign and domestic video-on-demand services to dedicate at least 20% of their turnover in France to the production of ‘European or original French cinematographic and audiovisual works’.

Read more: Only 2% of French films cover production costs at the box office

It is also due to the arrival of Apple TV+ in France, which entered the French streaming market through a partnership with Canal+ last April.

Daphne Lora, head of Film France, a department of the CNC, highlighted Franklin and The New Look as “two huge Apple TV shows” slated for release or production in France in 2024.

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