Aix-Marseille’s cinema and audiovisual sector gets fresh boost with new investments

Five France 2030 investment projects will provide significant support for the film industry in Provence

There’s more good news for Aix-Marseille when it comes to national investment. First, in January 2023, the French government announced financial support for four major projects in the territory as part of the “Marseille en Grand” initiative to enhance opportunities and infrastructure in France’s second-largest city. And, now, five film sector projects in the Aix-Marseille-Provence metro area have won the national “Grande Fabrique de l’Image” call for projects to enhance France’s position as a global leader in cinema production. This recognition is a tremendous achievement for the teams behind the winning projects, who were able to showcase their expertise and ambitions in the audio-visual sector, thus paving the way for more film shoots and economic spin-offs for Provence. New technical and human resources developed through the “Grande Fabrique de l’Image” program will be available for international productions, which will further spur the growth of the Aix-Marseille film industry.

At the Cannes Film Festival, the French Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, announced that 68 of the 175 projects submitted had been selected for financial support from the French government as part of “Grande fabrique de l’Image” call for projects in the framework of the France 2030 public investment strategy.

The government investment program aims to provide further stimulus for film shoots in France, while also promoting French audio-visual and digital creation.

With a budget of €350 million, the program is divided into three categories:

• infrastructure for film shoots
• animation, special effects, and post-production studios
• education and training.

The thriving Aix-Marseille film industry will play a vital role in this dynamic drive to shape the future of cinema. Four projects from the territory were approved in the education and training category, while one infrastructure investment was approved to extend existing facilities and create new ones through a project led by Olivier Marchetti, President of Provence Studios, and Micke Ristorcelli, the Director of Development for Provence Studios.

Attracting more large-scale film shoots to Provence thanks to new infrastructure

The Provence Studios infrastructure project, named the “Studios de la Méditerranée”, involves both the extension of the historic Provence Studios site in Martigues and the development of a new site in Marseille at the former Saint-Louis sugar refinery.

The Martigues site will be extended by a further 21 000 m2, including two new studios that meet international standards, and the project also encompasses the acquisition of innovative equipment and the development of post-production facilities.

In Marseille, 7000 m2 will be dedicated to establishing a unique film hub that combines schools and an underwater shooting basin. This will be a highly appealing option for producers, who will benefit from all the required shooting facilities at one site, notably for maritime and aquatic scenes with both natural sets at sea and optimal indoor facilities. The broad local network of highly trained and experienced film crews will also be an advantage.

For the filming of the American series The Serpent Queen, Provence Studios welcomed more than 450 film professionals and actors, along with a thousand extras.

Training more talented people for the film and audio-visual professions in Aix-Marseille

Thanks to the support of the “Grande Fabrique de l’Image” investment program, the Aix-Marseille-Provence metro area has the opportunity to position itself as a leading center for training film and audio-visual industry talent for the international market.

In the education and training category, four projects with a strong community dimension will receive support to develop technical, digital, and creative skills:

• Les Ateliers de L’Image et du Son training center currently offers four co-op programs, two Bachelor’s programs, and two professional diploma programs for 310 students. With the new investment, they plan to expand their catalog with ten new courses that are open to everyone, notably with a view to facilitating the professional integration of people from underprivileged backgrounds. This is part of the school’s broader commitment to equal opportunity and respect for CSR standards.

• SATIS, which is part of the Aix-Marseille University campus in Aubagne, will become the fourth-largest public film school in France and will expand its curriculum. The plan is to contribute to the development of post-production capacities in the Provence area by creating a digital special effects (VFX) and set design courses, as well as new courses focusing on post-production, executive production, and directing. This will be done while maintaining university tuition fees that are among the lowest in France, and the goal is also to gradually increase the number of students from 150 to 210.

• The Kourtrajmé Marseille equal opportunity cinema school will be relaunching its nine-month training course for technical and audio-visual professions. The school, which is free to attend, aims to welcome a larger number of people, set up a certification program, and foster even greater diversity among its students.

• La Plateforme, the Mediterranean digital campus in the north of Marseille that specializes in sourcing young talent and training adults in digital fields, is receiving support to expand its programs to promote digital entrepreneurship and raise awareness among young people aged 12 to 18 about possible careers in graphic design, animation, and video game and film production.

These schools and training organizations play a crucial role in the French film industry and contribute to the overall ambitions of the multi-billion-euro France 2030 public investment plan, which aims to train one million graduates to work in the professions of the future.

Faced with the exponential growth of audio-visual production, particularly for platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+, France needs to increase its capacity to host large-scale shoots and encourage the development of new talent.

With this goal in focus, Aix-Marseille, with its infrastructure and leading position in the Mediterranean basin, is poised to play an even bigger role in the national and international film and audio-visual industry.