In line with current events, Wallimage Coproductions took advantage of the usual media coverage of the recent Cannes Festival to announce its impressive business results for the last five years.
Founded in 2001, after the Dardenne brothers' film Rosetta won the Palme d’Or, and often credited with a return on investment of over 300%, Wallimage Coproductions asked the consultancy firm Ernst & Young to carry out an objective audit of its results in order to confirm these figures.
And surprise surprise! The return on investment was… 400%! In other words, every euro Wallimage invests in an audiovisual work (feature film, animated film, television series, etc.) generates four euros for the audiovisual industry: studios, equipment, post-production, etc. Such profitability levels are scarcely believable.
Between 2009 and 2013, Wallimage Coproductions invested € 16.4 million in 91 works, generating € 66.5 million in structural results for the audiovisual sector in Wallonia. And proof of this success can be seen today, as the fund has a total budget of € 6.5 million.
As an example, the best rate of economic return on investment was generated by Largo Winch II (The Burma Conspiracy) by the director Jérôme Salle. Wallimage Coproductions invested € 100,000 in this film, with a return of € 2.06 million, a rate of 2,060 %! What could be better…
Wallimage finances blockbusters as well as art house films, which are generally more challenging. It was present in Cannes this year, with films as varied as the latest feature film by the Dardenne brothers, Deux jours une nuit (Two Days, One Night), in the official competition and a major international production, Grace de Monaco (Grace of Monaco) by the film-director Olivier Dahan, which opened the 67th prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
However, this Walloon fund does not restrict itself to cinema. Wallimage will also fund the second season of the successful television series, A tort ou à raison (Right or Wrong) (1.93%), and the animated film, Bob et Bobette, les diables du Texas (Spike and Suzy: the Texas Rangers) (1.38%).
Wallimage Coproductions has also invested in international films (52%). These productions tend to generate proportionally higher economic returns than Walloon or Belgian films.
Top billing…
Wallimage's increased success at the profitability box-office led to the creation of Wallimage Entreprises in 2008. The higher numbers of film shoots have led to the emergence of a series of service companies, attracted by this great windfall.
These businesses, which specialise in handling image, sound, post-production, equipment rental, financing or distribution, often do not have sufficient funds to expand and meet the demands of producers. With a budget of over € 11.7 million, Wallimage Entreprises, 90% owned by SRIW, can intervene by offering loans (49%) or minority shareholdings (51%).
Wallimage Entreprises has been involved in 43 businesses since it was founded. It currently has a portfolio of 29 companies working in cinema (66%) and audiovisual techniques, as well as two skills clusters and two ‘digital’ agencies.
Thanks to these new opportunities and this fast pace of work, it will not be long before we see the creation of Walliwood...
