FERA speaks about “Sustainable Entrepreneurship in the Creative Industries” at the International Forum of Creative Industries in Skopje

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On 28 November 2023, FERA Chair and British screen director Bill Anderson participated in the International Forum of Creative Industries in the North Macedonian capital Skopje. The focus of this year’s event was “Sustainable Entrepreneurship in the Creative Industries“.

The event was organised by UMPAKI – the Union of Macedonian Professional Associations in the Creative Industries, SEECP – South East European Cooperation Process and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of North Macedonia, in partnership with the City of Skopje, Skopje 2028 – European Capital of Culture and the British Council. It was also supported by news outlet Telma, УМНО and the Danish household goods retailer JYSK. The event took place at the Cineplexx in Skopje City Mall.

Participants were welcomed to the event, amongst others, by Bisera Kostadinovska-Stijcevska, Minister of Culture of North Macedonia; Danela Arsovska, the Mayor of the City of Skopie; Claire Sears, the British Council Director for the Western Balkans; and Elena Bojadzieva-Cvetkovska, the President of UMPAKI Skopje.

In essence, all of them underlined the importance of future-proofing the creative industries in Europe in the face of climate change, inflation and other arising economic challenges.

The welcome addresses were followed by various working sessions and panels discussing recent developments and best sustainability practices in a broader cultural context, for example in the fashion industry.

One panel focused on “The Role of Collective Management Organisations – The Importance of Having an Active and Valuable CMO”. Representatives of various authors’ associations participated in this discussion about the benefits of CMOs for authors, performers and producers.

The panelists were Cécile Despringre and Barbara Hayes from SAA Europe; Gregor Štibernik from AVACI Global; Sara Lopez from AISGE Spain; Ioan Kaes from AEPO-ARTIS Europe; Nikola Sekulović from Kopriva Slovenia; Peter Kep and Uroš Rožić from Slovenian FERA member AIPA; and FERA President Bill Anderson.

In his presentation, Bill Anderson talked about the importance of a sustainable local culture for the existence of a sustainable creative industry.

He presented FERA’s 2019 income survey, an “impact assessment” of directors’ earnings, which shows that the remuneration for the exploitation of copyright to directors’ work as audiovisual authors collected through CMOs account for 10 per cent of directors’ incomes.

Considering the low median income of screen directors at the peak of their career (€18.000; €12.000 for female directors), this illustrates the importance if CMOs to allow directors to be able to make a living and feed their families, to thrive and create.

According to Cécile Despringre, this is one of the reasons why “supporting the development of AZAS, the Macedonian organisation for collective management of copyright and related film rights, is in the mission and strategic plan of SAA”. So that, in Macedonia, AZAS can start working and “put the legislation into practice”.

 

North Macedonian press coverage:
https://telma.com.mk/2023/11/27/nad-40-uchesnici-kje-se-pretstavat-na-saemot-na-kreativni-industrii
https://republika.mk/vesti/kultura/vlozhuvaneto-vo-kreativnite-luge-nosi-promeni
https://racin.mk/vesti/tret-megunaroden-forum-na-kreativni-industrii-so-nad-20-uchesniczi-od-regionot-i-evropa