Screen Directors: Shaping a Rich and Diverse Future through Stories. Make AgoraEU work for Creators

8 October 2026

AgoraEU is the proposed European Union funding programme for 2028-2034, aimed at supporting culture, media, and civil society. As such, it will determine the framework and funding environment for Europe’s audiovisual sector over the next seven years.

With negotiations moving forward, and entering a crucial phase for our sector, FERA wants to raise awareness that decisions taken today will have a direct impact on what European screen directors can create, how they can work, and the contribution they can make to Europe’s cultural and democratic life in the years to come.

At the heart of Europe’s audiovisual ecosystem, screen directors bring stories and perspectives to audiences across borders, contributing to Europe’s cultural diversity. Yet the conditions in which they work are changing. A sustainable career increasingly depends on access to appropriate funding and opportunities, fair and independent working conditions, and an audiovisual ecosystem that recognises the value of creative authorship.

AgoraEU is a unique opportunity to strengthen and improve those conditions for the years ahead, thus contributing to a resilient and independent European audiovisual sector

Yesterday, at a joined dinner organised with the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE) and the Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA), we called on EU decision-makers to reintroduce independence in the text and to support direct funding for audiovisual authors.

Today, with the support of screen directors from across Europe, we launch a campaign on social media, focused around seven priorities, and calling on EU decision-makers to ensure that the audiovisual strand of AgoraEU is ambitious, coherent and fit for purpose, and that it takes into account the particular needs of European screen directors.

FERA thanks all the European directors who accepted to lend their voice to the campaign, and support our call.

Our seven priorities
To make AgoraEU work for those who create European stories, FERA is calling for action in seven key areas:

01 – STRENGTHEN: Build on what already exists

Preserve the achievements, sector-specific logic and continuity of MEDIA.

European films need a stable ecosystem in which projects can be developed, financed, circulated and discovered across borders.

02 – CLARIFY: Precision is not a constraint to flexibility

Restore precise references to authors, independent production, film and cinema and clarify scope, beneficiaries, eligibility and governance.

Legal certainty enables creators to plan long-term projects.

03 – EARMARK: Predictability is a condition for impact

Clearly identify the audiovisual funding envelope and protect predictable support.

A film can take years to develop; directors need to know that support structures will exist.

04 – SAFEGUARD INDEPENDENCE: A prerequisite for artistic freedom

Explicitly safeguard independence throughout the audiovisual strand.

Independent production protects artistic authorship, pluralism and space for original European voices.

05 – SERVE THE ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM: Give directors direct opportunities

Create direct support opportunities for screen directors, including development, mobility, peer exchange, mentoring, networking and capacity building.

Directors are authors and artists, not only indirect beneficiaries.

06 – EMBED VALUES: Human-centred AI, fair work and equality

Make ethical AI safeguards, fair working conditions/social conditionality and gender-equality implementation part of funding criteria and monitoring.

Innovation should keep human creators at the centre and public money should support sustainable creative careers.

07 – STRENGTHEN GOVERNANCE: From ambition to accountability

Restore operational clarity, measurable objectives, monitoring, reporting and accountability.

Flexibility only works when implementation can be understood and evaluated.