Film Policy and Film Production: The Potential of Baltic Co-Productions and New Film Fund

The film industry can be considered the most important in creative industries since it possesses the characteristics of industrial organization, a high degree of demand uncertainty, contractual agreements, and business practices. What is more, the film industry strongly influences the other sub-sectors, because of the broad-based advantages that it delivers in terms of employment and economic growth. On the other hand, the economic value of creative industries does not arise from their relative contribution to economic value, but from the co-ordination of new ideas and technologies thereby influencing change in economic and cultural processes. Since European film industries are fragmented, there is a constant need to rethink possible model for their continuous growth. This is especially relevant in the context of smaller film industries in Europe such as in the Baltic States, because their budgets for film production are relatively small compared to bigger film industries. Therefore, in order to foster new industry development, which would also reflect the regional context of the Baltic States and its location strengths, the potential of co-productions - mission-economy approach is proposed as it emphasizes market co-creation, co-shaping, partnerships between business and public sector and other managerial and technological innovations. Research purpose and objectives. The aim of the study is to provide new recommendations for the film centres in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia regarding film policy based on the mission-economy approach. In order to achieve the aim two objectives were set: 1) to analyse the current financial support model for the national film production and co-productions in the Baltic film industries and 2) to investigate whether the Baltic co-productions can have a new value for the audience. Design / Methodology / Approach. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods for data extraction and analysis. Firstly, descriptive statistics as a method was used to analyse the financial support for national film production in Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian film industries during 2018-2023 and the releases of co-produced films between the Baltic States. Furthermore, 6 semi-structured interviews with experts from the Baltic film industries were conducted. Findings. As a result of the research, the authors conclude that there is long-term potential in the Baltic co-production films, but they have to be more oriented towards the audience and reflect the genre as in the case of Nordic films. Moreover, financial support models for co-productions in the Baltic film industries are different in regard to applications and their management. Therefore, a potentially new “Baltic Film and TV Fund” could be established to foster regional co-productions. Originality / Value / Practical implications. As a result of the study, the authors have developed recommendations for the film policy that would reflect the new value of the Baltic co-productions. The results of the research can be used by the Lithuanian Film Centre, the National Film Centre of Latvia, and the Estonian Film Institute to continue establishing the “Baltic Film and TV Fund”. The research results will be partly used for further research within the framework of Audrius Dabrovolskas’ doctoral thesis.