European films falling short in int’l VOD market

European films are less successful in international video-on-demand markets than US movies, according to research by the European Audiovisual Observatory.

The observatory’s report How do films circulate on VOD and in cinemas in the European Union, found that films produced in the EU are available on average on VOD in 2.8 countries each, compared with 6.8 countries for US films.

EU co-productions perform better than EU films as a whole, being available on average in 3.6 countries. However, half of EU-produced films are only available in one country.

Some 80% of EU films are available in three countries or fewer, while films do better on average, with 80% being available in 11 countries or fewer.

While older EU-produced films are available in fewer countries than new films, the age of US films has no discernable impact on the number of countries in which they are available, according to the report.

In addition to VOD, EU films travel less well than US films in terms of cinema distribution. On average EIU films released between 2005 and 2014 were released in cinemas in 2.6 countries on average, while US films were available in 9.7 countries on average. Some 63% of European films were only released in their own country.