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Is this call for you?
For European sales agents coordinating a pan-European theatrical and/or online release of a recent European film with at least 7 distributors. It pays the sales agent's coordination costs and passes financial support to the distributors for promotion and advertising outside the film's country of origin.
Grant per projectNo fixed limit
EU pays90% of eligible costs
Project length12 to 24 months
Pass mark70 of 100 points
Strong fit
Sales agents appointed by the producer with the right to sell the film in at least 15 MEDIA countries
Campaigns with 7 or more committed distributors, including at least 2 from lower audiovisual capacity countries (Group A or B)
Fiction, animation or documentary films of 60 minutes or more, first copyright 2025 or later, production budget up to EUR 30M
Films released at least 10 weeks after submission, with mostly theatrical national campaigns
Not funded
Distribution in the film's own country of origin
Films with production budgets above EUR 30M, films shorter than 60 minutes, or first copyright before 2025
Alternative content (operas, concerts, performances), advertising, pornographic or racist material
Films whose rights for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and/or Ukraine are licensed to buyers established in Russia
Who can apply
Where you must be based
EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories), listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Creative Europe Programme
You must be established in a country participating fully in the MEDIA strand and be majority owned by nationals of such countries. For publicly listed entities, the stock exchange location decides if ownership cannot be established.
Alone or in a consortium
Single applicants only (affiliated entities and other participants allowed if needed). At least 7 distributors must be attached as third parties, 2 or more from Group A or Group B countries.
You must
1Legal entities (public or private bodies) established in an eligible country
2Established in a country participating fully in the MEDIA strand and owned directly or indirectly, wholly or by majority, by nationals of such countries
3European sales agent: acts as intermediary for the producer, marketing and licensing the film to distributors abroad
4Directly appointed by the film's producer through an international sales agreement giving the right to sell the film in at least 15 MEDIA countries
5Registered in the Participant Register before submission, with a PIC
Who cannot apply
Natural persons (except self-employed sole traders without separate legal personality)
EU bodies (except the Joint Research Centre)
Entities under EU restrictive measures or EU conditionality measures (currently Hungarian public interest trusts under Act IX of 2021)
Applicants in an EU exclusion situation (bankruptcy, tax or social security breaches, fraud, grave professional misconduct, etc.)
Group A and B countries+
Group A: Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Romania. Group B: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, Latvia, Cyprus, Malta, plus Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine if their participation conditions are met.
Distributors without a deal yet+
Up to 3 third parties in the budget may not yet have a finalised distribution agreement or deal memo at submission.
Third-party distributor criteria+
Each distributor must be established and majority owned in a MEDIA country, hold the theatrical and/or online rights in its country, run the release itself and pay the distribution costs directly.
Film nationality+
A film is national in the MEDIA country whose nationals or residents contributed most (points table: 19 for fiction and animation, 13 for documentary) and non-national elsewhere. More than 50% of the points must come from MEDIA country professionals.
Countries negotiating association+
Entities from countries still negotiating association may apply and can sign if negotiations conclude before grant signature and the association covers this call.
Financial capacity is checked for the coordinator during grant preparation, except public bodies, international organisations, cultural and creative sector entities with over 50% of annual revenue from public sources over the last two years, and requests of EUR 60 000 or less. Operational capacity is assessed with the Project management criterion; the same public and publicly funded entities are exempt.
The money
Budget for this topic
EUR 23 500 000 (indicatively 40% for the 1st cut-off, 60% for the 2nd; at most 40% for films with a production budget above EUR 15 000 000)
Grant per project
No limit on the requested grant amount
EU pays
90% of eligible costs
Type of grant
Actual costs, with unit cost and flat-rate elements
Project length
Normally 12 to 24 months (extensions possible through an amendment if duly justified)
Overheads
7% flat rate on eligible direct costs
Payments
Prefinancing of normally 70% of the maximum grant amount, paid 30 days from entry into force or financial guarantee (whichever is later); no interim payments; balance at the end.
Support to each distributor is capped at 70% of its promotion and advertising costs, and at most EUR 300 000 per third party
Caps per distributor for films with production budget up to EUR 15M: EUR 150 000 (FR, ES, IT, DE); EUR 60 000 (AT, BE, NL, PL); EUR 30 000 (CZ, DK, FI, EL, HU, IE, NO, PT, SE, EE, LV, LT, UA); EUR 10 000 (other territories)
Caps for animated films and films above EUR 15M: EUR 300 000 (FR, ES, IT, DE); EUR 120 000 (AT, BE, NL, PL); EUR 60 000 (CZ, DK, FI, EL, HU, IE, NO, PT, SE, EE, LV, LT, UA); EUR 20 000 (other territories)
The sales agent must confirm the support is not treated as film revenue or used to reduce recoupable distribution costs
Language versions made with MEDIA support (including English) must be available to all interested distribution platforms on request
Distributors' promotion costs cannot include personnel or travel; Eurimages-funded marketing material is ineligible for coordination costs and third-party support
Personnel, travel (unit costs), SME owner unit costs and project website communication costs are eligible; non-deductible VAT is eligible
No profit: for-profit organisations must declare revenues and any profit is deducted
Production budget conversion uses the monthly exchange rates applicable at submission
How proposals are scored
Evaluators score each proposal out of 100. You need at least 70 to be considered for funding, and the budget then goes to the highest scores first.
45
30
10
15
Pass mark 70
Relevance
45 pts
European dimension: sales agent's pan-European experience, number, experience and involvement of distributors, geographic coverage, cultural and linguistic diversity (15 points)
International dimension and online potential: global strategy, theatrical and online outreach, partnerships with distributors, platforms or festivals outside the third-party support (10 points)
Promotion and coordination by the sales agent: cooperation with the producer, common material, release date coordination, market events, cross-border strategy, data analytics, including actions already done before applying (10 points)
Strategies for a more sustainable and environmentally-respectful industry (5 points)
Strategies for gender balance, inclusion, diversity and representativeness (5 points)
Quality of content and activities
30 pts
Potential of the film to reach a wide European audience: market potential, sales agent campaign and material, awards and festival strategy, online availability and discoverability (10 points)
National promotion strategies of the distributors: target audience, expected results, feasibility given budgets and film potential (10 points)
Cost-effectiveness of the sales agent's promotion and coordination of each national campaign, including shared material and economies of scale (10 points)
Project management
10 pts
Methodology to gather third parties' output (strategy, results and costs)
Efficiency of monitoring third parties' costs
Effectiveness of fund allocation
Transparency in managing support to third parties
Dissemination
15 pts
Other activities bringing extra revenue and strategy for markets outside the project, European or not, theatrical and/or online (5 points)
Production of an international trailer (5 points)
Dissemination of results inside and outside the grouping to raise visibility of EU support (5 points)
Ties are ranked by the Relevance score, then Dissemination, then Quality of content and activities.
Timeline
Call opens30 September 2026
1st cut-off: submission deadline21 January 2027, 17:00 Brussels time
1st cut-off: evaluationJanuary 2027 to June 2027
1st cut-off: evaluation resultsJuly 2027
2nd cut-off: submission deadline15 July 2027, 17:00 Brussels time
2nd cut-off: evaluationJuly 2027 to December 2027
1st cut-off: grant agreement signatureOctober 2027
2nd cut-off: evaluation resultsJanuary 2028
2nd cut-off: grant agreement signatureApril 2028
What to submit
Submit online through the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System via the topic page; paper submissions are not accepted. Questions: EACEA-DISTRIBUTION-SELECTIVE@ec.europa.eu.
Page limitPart B: 70 pages (evaluators ignore extra pages)
Your application
Part A: administrative data and summarised budget (online)
Part B: technical description (Portal template, uploaded as PDF)
Part C: additional project data and contribution to programme KPIs (online)
Mandatory annexes and supporting documents
Mandatory annexes
International film sales agreement
PDF with film information generated from the Creative Europe MEDIA Database
Letters of intent from distributors that acquired the theatrical rights from the sales agent, detailing promotion and advertising (P&A) costs
Declaration on independence and ownership (mandatory template)
Required work packages
WP 1: Project coordination and sales agent costs (mandatory)
WP 2: Support to third parties (mandatory)
Traps that get proposals rejected
Fewer than 7 distributors, or fewer than 2 from Group A or Group B countries, makes the project ineligible
The film must be released at earliest 10 weeks after the date you submit the application
The international sales agreement must come directly from the producer and cover at least 15 MEDIA countries
The film needs an ISAN, EIDR or similar identifier, provided by the coordinator
Production budget over EUR 30M, first copyright before 2025, or under 50% financing from MEDIA countries rules the film out
Distributor support above 70% of its P&A costs or above the territory cap is not funded; P&A cannot include personnel or travel
The proposal must explain why third-party support is needed, how it is managed, the selection criteria for distributors and the activities funded
Several proposals for very similar projects: only one is evaluated and you will be asked to withdraw the others
Read from the official call document (V1.0, 30.09.2026). The call document is the legal reference: check it before you submit.
What this call funds
Objective
The Films on the Move action shall encourage and support the wider distribution of recent non-national European films by encouraging sales agents and theatrical distributors in particular to invest in promotion and adequate distribution of non- national European films.
Expected Results:
Development of pan-European theatrical and/or online distribution strategies for non-national European films.
Increased investment in theatrical and/or online promotion and distribution of non-national European films in view of expanding audience reach.
Develop links between the production and distribution sector thus improving the competitive position of non-national European films on a global market
Description of the activities to be funded under the call for proposals:
The activities to be funded are campaigns for the pan-European theatrical and/or online distribution of eligible European films, coordinated by the sales agent of the film.
Applications should present adequate strategies to ensure more sustainable and more environmentally-respectful industry and to ensure gender balance, inclusion, diversity and representativeness.
Source: EU Funding & Tenders Portal · synced 2026-11-09
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