The European Commission’s programme Creative Europe is dedicated to supporting Europe's culture and audiovisual sectors.

The vast programme is subdivided into three strands, with the Media Strand being specifically designed to support Europe’s audiovisual industries which include film, cinema, television, video on demand, new media and videogames. The aim of the Media Strand is to encourage competitiveness, innovation and sustainability of the sector.

The focus of this strand rests on four pillars: encouraging cooperation, nurturing talents, enhancing global circulation, and supporting audience engagement and development. All this is done through a number of calls, which are divided into four clusters which incorporate calls dealing with different aspects of the industry.

The Content Cluster encourages collaboration and innovation in the creation, development and production of high-quality works; the business cluster promotes business innovation, competitiveness, scalability and talents, to strengthen Europe’s industry on a global scale; the Audience Cluster strengthens the accessibility and visibility of works for their potential audiences through distribution channels and also through audience development initiatives; and the Policy Cluster supports policy discussion and exchange fora, as well as studies and reports.

Grants include ‘Video Games and Immersive Content Development Call’ and the ‘Innovative Tools and Business Models Call’, whose deadlines are fast approaching; the ‘European Co-Development Call’, which particularly encourages transnational collaboration between European independent audiovisual companies; and the ‘Mini-Slate Development Call’, a grant dedicated to countries with a low audiovisual capacity.

Malta’s Creative Europe Desk, located in Valletta, offers assistance related to the programme, and it is its prerogative to reach out to people in various ways, such as one-to-one meetings, information sessions, online events, and participation in industry-related events.

For more information, contact Creative Europe Desk Malta on 2090 8990/1/7 and follow their Facebook Page or visit www.creativeeuropemalta.mt.