EURIMAGES, the Council of Europe’s fund for the production and distribution of European films, has announced the selection of leading financial services company Freeway Entertainment, as its official preferred collection agency.
The new partnership, which follows an open call for tenders, is valid for three 3 years[TM1] [EM2] . During this time, Freeway Entertainment will offer favourable conditions for those producers which have received Eurimages support.
Martijn Meerstadt, Freeway’s Director, Collection Account Management, said: “We’re delighted to have been chosen as the official preferred collection agency for Eurimages. Revenue collection is becoming more crucial for investors and producers, and setting-up a collection account management agreement supports Eurimages’ policy to protect co-producers’ interests and its aims to further grow the market for European film.
"A collection account management agreement provides financial transparency and equality of treatment between the beneficiaries receiving revenue streams. It is a financial protection tool for producers, in particular minority co-producers, and it also ensures follow-up of the exploitation of the film in the long-term without producers having to deal with it themselves. An agreement also ensures that parties involved in the distribution chain cannot retain fees and expenses from generated revenues before such expenses have actually been earned or incurred.”
Since the beginning of this year (1 January 2009), the use of collection accounts has been compulsory for co-productions with budgets equal to or greater than €3 million. For projects with a budget of less than €3 million, Eurimages reserves the right to demand the setting up of a collection account by a collection agency. The collection account management agreement must be made before the payment of the first instalment of the support granted by Eurimages is made. However, it is also specified that Freeway Entertainment reserves the right to adapt these favourable conditions when some territories or media are excluded from the scope of the collection agreement besides those items indicated in the list of deductions.