Extension of rights and “White Year” for intermittents du spectacle

Everyone is fond of live shows, cinema or audiovisual and it is thanks to the intermittents of the show that this can be achieved, unfortunately following the pandemic, they are in difficulty.

Whether they work in front of or behind the camera, whether they are artists (actors, singers, dancers …), technicians (stage managers, electricians, make-up artists, dressers …) or occupy other positions in entertainment companies , intermittents du spectacle (IDS) whose number reaches 100,000 people, are in danger following the general confinement of the population and the ban on gatherings throughout the territory. Following cancellations of shows and festivals (Fnac Live, Solidays, Cannes, Avignon, La Rochelle, Les Vieilles Charrues, etc …), the closure of museums, theaters and cinemas …, the situation of world of culture is hypothetical and the recovery remains uncertain: in the fall if not in the spring of 2021.

Intermittent workers will therefore have to turn to Assedic to benefit from unemployment benefits (in March, Unédic estimated that each month of inactivity of all intermittent workers would entail an additional cost of at least 70 million euros) .

For this, they must prove a certain number of hours at least in a given period is 507 hours or 43 stamps over a period of 12 months of work, to open rights valid for one year, something difficult this year, seen l unable to work during the summer. This is why, through a tribune published on April 30, many cultural figures including Clara Luciani, Jean Dujardin or Catherine Deneuve, had asked the president “an action in favor of a sector, which supports 1.3 million people “, claiming the automatic extension of the rights of intermittent workers until the summer of 2021, via a” white year “, ie a reset of the counters for the settlement of rights. For her part, actress Isabelle Adjani addressed an open letter to the President asking her to declare “the state of cultural emergency” and encourage the government to mobilize in favor of intermittent workers.

Faced with this, the Minister of Culture, Franck Riestler took the emergency decision to postpone for three months the deadline to look at the number of hours obtained by the intermittent of the show to benefit from their insurance plan- unemployment and their social protection (specific French scheme). He was to meet with the Minister of Labor, Muriel Pénicaud and the government to extend the system during the summer and avoid penalizing intermittent workers. After a videoconference with a dozen artists (filmmakers, writers, musicians: singer Catherine Ringer, directors Eric Tolédano and Olivier Nakache, director Stanislas Nordey, actress Sandrine Kiberlain, rapper Abd al Malik, writer Aurélien Bellanger, choreographer Mathilde Monnier, artist Laurent Grasso, conductor Sébastien Daucé, soprano Sabine Devieilhe, theater actress Norah Krief, and artist Camille Decourtye) of the Republic announced Wednesday, May 6, measures for the world of culture in the presence of the Minister of Culture Franck Riester, the Economy Bruno Le Maire and Labor Muriel Pénicaud.

Forgotten from the plan for progressive deconfinement planned for May 11, culture was at the center of new announcements by Emmanuel Macron. Among the most important decisions:

• The resumption of rehearsals then the reception of the public in the theaters surely “late May early June”.
• Re-opening of small museums, bookstores, record stores and art galleries.
• Resumption of administrative functions and meet up with the limit of 10 people while respecting health safety standards (limit number to be reviewed at the end of May).
• Gatherings of 5,000 people cannot be expected before the end of August
• No festivals for the moment but the creation of a “festival fund” (music, dance, theater, circus, cinema …), “in connection with local authorities”. The National Music Center, created in 2020, will benefit from an envelope of 50 million euros to “support music players”.
• Cinemas and concert halls will remain closed.
• Establishment of a compensation fund for series and film shoots not achievable during a pandemic.
• Compensation by the State and insurers on a case-by-case basis. However, an adaptation of the scripts and shooting conditions will increase the cost by 10% to 30% on average, according to the Association of Communication Consulting Agencies (AACC) and the Alliance of Advertising Film Producers (APFP)
• The rights of intermittent workers extended by one year beyond the 6 months when their activity has been impossible or very degraded, that is until the end of August 2021.
• Launch of a large “public commission program” for young artists, hoping for a “learning and cultural summer” where artists would have their place in schools. (“Let’s put the package, whether for the arts and crafts, live shows, literature, the plastic arts” … “I am thinking in particular of creators under the age of 30”).
• The creation of a “festival fund” (music, dance, theater, circus, cinema …), “in connection with local authorities”. The National Music Center, created in 2020, will benefit from an envelope of 50 million euros to “support music players”
• The artists authors, will profit from the exemption from the contributions for 4 months.
• “White year” but rather “give and take.” (“I don’t like the idea of ​​a white year, because it suggests that nothing is being done,” said the President.) To keep their status, intermittent workers will have to participate in new forms of entertainment or cultural expression in the coming months. (“We have to get on the tiger” he asserted … “We will give, with many projects, the hours that will allow intermittent workers to” not activate these devices “). They could be mobilized during the time extracurricular students. By being ready to give one to two hours per week, a way to count them will be found. (“We are going to need intermittents, artists everywhere in France, now. I need people who can do things, invent for young people. Let’s use this period to make a revolution in access to culture and art “).
• An appeal to artists to participate in cultural animation invites the world of culture to “reinvent” a “different summer” and “learning” for the “millions of young people” who will not go on holiday.

On Thursday, May 7, the Ministers of Culture and National Education chaired the High Council for Artistic and Cultural Education “to work on what could be a platform for them to reach out to the students”.

For the intermittent, the announcement of a blank year is a victory, it avoids the collapse of part of the profession and festivals that are first and foremost the losers of the crisis. For the Avignon Festival (In and Off), which draws 700,000 spectators every year and brings 2,000 people to life (1 in 4 lives from the event), at least €100 million in economic benefits will be almost impossible to compensate.

The opening of theaters, however, remains linked to health constraints and, above all, to a date that has not yet been mentioned in Emmanuel Macron’s speech. A new meeting is expected to take place at the end of May to set new measures.

“Until the decommissioning process takes place, we will have to create an emergency in relation to the public by creating the best shows to encourage it,” said Jean-Marc Dumontet, President of JMD Production.

In this plan for culture, the forgotten ones are the press (film) attachés because they do not enter into any device. Since March 16, the majority of them (mostly women) are not entitled to partial unemployment and no measures have been imagined for them because a majority have independent status, which is why the Clap (Circle Libre des Attachés de Presse de Cinéma) was created despite the support of the CNC (National Center for Cinema) for intermittent people.

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VERONIQUE YANG

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