The European Commission has published in the Official Journal of the European Union on February 7th 2009 two Calls for Proposals related to the Programme of support for the European audiovisual sector, MEDIA 2007 and to the Preparatory Action MEDIA International part of the said Programme. The total budget allocated to these Calls amounts to 6,86 M€.

One of the objectives of the Programme of support for the European audiovisual sector MEDIA 2007 is to encourage exchanges and cooperation, in supporting the networking of European training players, in particular Higher educations institutions, training organisations and partners of the audiovisual sector and to encourage the mobility of students and trainers in Europe. Within this framework, the European Commission has launched Call for Proposals EACEA/36/08, which aims to support networking and mobility of students and trainers in Europe.

The actions to be funded under this Call will be aimed at developing  the capacity of future audiovisual professionals to understand and integrate a European dimension to their work by improving expertise. More specifically, actions will be funded in the following fields:

• Training in economic, financial and commercial management.
• Training in new audiovisual technologies.
• Training in script project development.

The actions must take place between September 1st 2009 and June 30th 2011, and its duration will be of 12 months (up to 18 months maximum when dully justified). The total budget available is 1,9 M€, taking into account that the financial contribution awarded is a subsidy, and the financial support from the Commission cannot exceed 50 % or 75 % of the total eligible costs.

Applications must be submitted to the Executive Agency (EACEA) no later than March 27th 2009 at the following address:

Education, Audiovisual and Culture Agency (EACEA)
Call for proposals EACEA 36/2008/‘MEDIA Support for the networking and mobility of students
and trainers in Europe’
Mr Constantin Daskalakis
BOUR 03/30
Avenue du Bourget 1
B-1140 Brussels

Full text of the guidelines as well as the application forms for Call EACEA/23/08 can be found at the Exhibitors page in the MEDIA website.

The Commission has also published in the same date a second Call for Proposals related to the Preparatory Action MEDIA International, within the framework of the MEDIA Programme 2007 which aims to examine and test cooperation activities between European film professionals and professionals of third countries .

The following activities will be funded under this Call for Proposals:

• Support for training.
• Support for distribution.
• Support for promotion.
• Support for the development of cinema networks.
• Support for increasing audience demand.

The call is open to proposals from legal entities in the 27 EU Member States and any third country. The specific conditions are set out in the Work Programme for the Preparatory Action MEDIA International for 2009.

The available budget for this Call for Proposals is 4,96 M€. In this case, the financial support from the Commission cannot exceed 50 %, 75 % or 80 % of the total eligible costs, depending on the nature of the activity, and the financial contribution will be awarded in the form of a grant.

Applications must be sent at the latest by June 2nd 2009 to:
 
Ms Aviva Silver
European Commission
Directorate-General Information Society and Media
Directorate A — Audiovisual, Media and Internet
Unit A2 — MEDIA programme and media literacy
Office BU33 02/005
B-1049 Brussels

The full text of the call for proposals, the Work Programme for the Preparatory Action MEDIA International for 2009, as well as guidelines and application forms, can be found at the MEDIA website.