Policies supporting audiovisual production. Some first evidences on the possible effects in Italy

This article analyze the Italian policy in support of the audiovisual industry. In the last years the increased subsidies generated a greater number of movie produced with a lower average budget. Despite many outstanding cases Italian movies were not able to gain a solid position in the international market and our export both in movie and in television content appears lower compared with other European countries. Italian regulation remain pervasive detailed and cumbersome with little public discussion of different possible goals, very few solid ex post evaluation and low availability of independent data. The potential risks of this approach include: a lower competitiveness of the Italian audiovisual industry both on the domestic market and in exports; a lower orientation to the viewer on the part of Italian producers with the consequence of creating products that fail to be successful in international markets