During the 30th edition of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous, held for the first time in Le Havre, the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC) and Unifrance released their annual report on the export of French audiovisual programs.
According the whitepaper, in 2023, sales of French audiovisual programs remained robust, reaching €203.4 million, a slight decrease of 5.3% compared to 2022. This marks the third time in 30 years that sales have exceeded the €200 million threshold, following €205.2 million in 2017 and a record €214.8 million in 2022. Despite challenges in the international market—such as tighter acquisition budgets, a shrinking North American market, and longer negotiation processes—French exports have proven resilient.
Total exports, including sales, pre-sales, and co-production contributions, fell slightly by 3.3% to €309.2 million. This decline is in line with the ten-year average, which shows a modest decrease of 1.7%.
Spokenpersons from CNC thinks that currently, France is the second most represented European country on international VOD platforms and in the programming of foreign television networks. In 2023, sales to foreign platforms accounted for 31.3% of export revenues, a decrease from 43.1% in 2022 but still a significant increase from 8.9% in 2014. Linear broadcasters, particularly television networks, continued to be the main buyers of French content, with television rights representing 54.2% of all program sales in 2023, up from 49.1% in 2022.
French drama continued its strong performance in 2023, with sales reaching €74.5 million, the second-highest figure for the genre after 2022, despite a 7.7% decline. Drama remained the leading export genre for the second consecutive year, accounting for 36.6% of total sales. This success is attributed to a range of ambitious and innovative series, such as HPI, Marie Antoinette, Bardot, and BRI, as well as the enduring appeal of procedural dramas like Trópicos mortales and Astrid: Murder in Paris.
Documentaries also performed well internationally, generating €47.2 million in sales, a slight decrease of 3.0% from 2022. The year saw strong demand for documentaries that resonated with current events, as well as hybrid works combining multiple genres, such as science and history. Notable successes included Russian Oligarchs: The Great Hunt, Iznik: The Mysteries of the Sunken Basilica, and The Battle for Cobalt.
On the other hand, animation sales declined to €51.2 million in 2023, an 11.2% drop from the previous year. While French animated programs continued to enjoy global reach, the genre faced reduced investments from buyers, particularly in North America, where sales fell by 69.7% to €4.3 million. Despite these challenges, animation remained the second-largest export genre, accounting for 25.2% of the market.
Geographically, Western Europe remained the largest market for French audiovisual programs, representing 46.8% of global revenue with €95.1 million in sales, an increase of 6.1 percentage points from 2022. North America followed with €22.3 million, accounting for 10.9% of the market, while Asia/Oceania generated €14.0 million in sales. Central and Eastern Europe also saw significant activity, with sales reaching €13.1 million.
Belgium emerged as the top buyer of French audiovisual programs, with €17.1 million in purchases, driven by strong demand for drama, which accounted for 38.5% of sales, followed by documentaries at 34.0%. The UK/Ireland region was the second-largest market, with €12.9 million in sales, followed by Germany/Austria with €12.14 million. The United States, which led in 2022, fell to fifth place with €9.5 million in sales, down from €19.2 million in the previous year.
Global rights sales, which hit a record high in 2022, totaled €46.3 million in 2023, a 20.1% decrease, returning to levels seen in 2021. Drama led these sales, accounting for 29.6%, followed by animation at 27.9%. The decline is partly attributed to a shift in acquisitions focusing on specific territories, with global services favoring releases in France and French-speaking regions.
Foreign pre-financing remained stable at €105.8 million. Co-production contributions saw a significant increase to €73.2 million, up 34.5%, while foreign pre-sales dropped by 35.6% to €32.6 million. This decline affected all genres, with drama pre-sales down 68.9%, animation down 5.4%, and documentaries down 36.4%. However, the trend may reflect a shift in funding sources due to the opening of France’s automatic support fund for works intended for global VOD services, which may have diverted some foreign pre-sales to French television contributions.
Co-production investments also grew, with a 54.0% increase in animation to €36.3 million and a 50.8% rise in drama to €20.2 million. However, documentary co-production investments declined by 8.4% to €14.3 million. Western Europe remained the leading partner region, accounting for 84.3% of all co-production contributions.
