France’s Windowing Will Be Revamped By July 1 With Shorter Windows For Generous Streamers

Streaming services that invest heavily in French movies may be able to access fresh local film releases starting in July.France’s major film guilds, including Blic (Bureau of Cinema Industries), Bloc (Bureau of Cinema Organizations) and Arp, have drafted proposals to amend France’s notoriously strict windowing schedule. The guilds on Tuesday submitted proposals to the French government, which has to enact new regulations by July 1 as part of Europe’s groundbreaking Audiovisual Media Services Directive.The proposals submitted by the film orgs would give a six-month window to pay TV groups, including Canal Plus Group, as well as streaming services that invest at least 75% of their annual revenue in France in films that will premiere in French theaters. Other subscription-based streaming services would access films at 12 months and 15 months, depending on their investments.Major film guilds, TV groups and streamers had until March 30 to reach an agreement over ...