Theatrical film writers and directors worked on average on 1.4 films between 2015 and 2022, according to European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO) figures.
Because of the relatively few opportunities in film, more writers and directors are migrating to European drama series which have witnessed strong growth in the period, said the report.
Some 41% of European films produced each year are debut films for at least one of the directors, a figure that EAO said explained the relatively low level of activity by directors.
The research found that over 25,000 writers and over 17,000 directors were involved in the production of European theatrical and TV/SVOD fiction between 2015 and 2021.
European drama series overtook films in terms of writing and directing assignments: whereas theatrical film writers and directors worked on average on 1.4 films, TV writers participated in 1.7 TV projects and TV directors participated on average in 2.2 TV projects.
However, the EAO said the series production sector had become more precarious to work in because a growing number of screenwriters and directors were seeking work on TV dramas.
The EAO also concluded that ‘film d’auteur’ model remains dominant in European film: close to half of theatrical film writers active between 2015 and 2022 wrote only films they directed. It said the model is radically different for drama series fiction where most writers (91%) wrote for projects they did not direct.
On average, there were 1.8 writers per film between 2015 and 2022, and four writers per TV/SVOD fiction project.
Most drama series directors have a background of directing theatrical films. However, only 9% of directors active between 2015 and 2022 worked for film and drama series. Most worked only in film or series.
Originally published at https://www.screendaily.com/news/european-directors-worked-on-an-average-of-just-14-films-between-2015-2022/5191235.article
