Thierry Baujard

I think it’s really interesting because in fact, we speak with a lot of companies and we also do a lot of studies which show that in fact, the schools, let’s say, specialize in a sector. For example, in music or audiovisual, the cinema in fact very often helps pupils to have a clear idea of this sector and to know how to produce and design projects. But very often, they lack a bit of hindsight, the perspective to understand how to manage, how to develop businesses in the medium term, beyond the production of a project, and therefore to have this aspect a little more management. On how to develop in terms of business, a company in the creative sector? So, whether it’s actually fundraising, but also distribution, sales, screenings, all that is communication, etc.
And very often, it’s a little covered, but in a fairly light way. And that’s not what the students remember. And therefore, effectively, to have a master’s degree which can be broader and also include this “pro-sectoral” aspect. I think that’s a pretty good idea.

We recently did a study for Business Finland for the Finnish government on some of these issues, let’s say the creative industries in 360 degrees. There was a question precisely about the needs in terms of companies and in fact, very often, we spoke to several production, video game or VR companies in Europe and very often, they told us that a bit by saying yes to people coming out of school, a specialized school, a sector, they really missed this management aspect. And so, suddenly, there was a need to bring them into the company and it would take a few months or even several years before it was really operational for us.

I think that upstream, indeed, you have to understand how to develop projects, both projects on the ground, but also projects that we call portfolio, that is to say with several types of projects. See how one can use his expertise, his experience to work, to develop several projects which are coherent and which will in fact develop the future income of the company. So it’s interesting, especially with new technologies, to try to understand which new technologies we’re going to use to do it as best as possible, to rationalize the production and development of projects as best as possible. So that once they are finished in distribution, they work well in the market.

Then, what I was saying at the management level, so effectively, having a good strategy for funding policies, to do it on time to be ready to be able to develop projects properly and then downstream on distribution, since it is very often today. What is also missing is that the projects are developed, but the whole distribution, sales and marketing part is often… It is there, but it must be more developed, more strategic. And so, suddenly, you have to have people who understand better and who understand both upstream and downstream. Today, it may be a little too separate. On one side there are people producing, on the other side there are people looking for money and in the end there are people trying to sell. And today, I think there is a need for someone who is a little more in the middle of that, and what adds today, which is really important, is the technological aspect which, I finds, is very much lacking in creative societies. Now, I think they are quite aware that they have to look at all that is sales and distribution. This business side. Even if they’re not perfect on it, but at least they understand it, I think access to technologies, to the right technologies, to the right technologies for them, is maybe something that’s still missing. So I think that too is important.

“Current issues cover an enormous number of skills and, without being completely specialist, what is lacking is a vision and perspective on the whole. »

The problem, I think there are many things. In fact, it covers a lot of skills. Afterwards, I’m not sure that people have to be pure specialists, be competent and very, very strong, especially because there are a lot of things. So when you look at whether it’s video games, cinema or VR today or music, it includes a lot of different skills. Indeed, I don’t think the question is really whether people have to specialize? What is missing today is a bit of people who have a vision of how it works? How does it relate to them? And to take a step back. Personally, I think it’s quite important to have this perspective on things and putting things into perspective. Putting it into perspective, there is this effectively financial, accounting and project organization aspect. But there is also OK… How is this project positioned in the market, in life, in social life? How it can be interesting for different audiences. Understanding audiences is really a very important point and actually understanding the different distribution technologies and where is all this going? In fact, it’s a lot of anticipation, which is a little bit the opposite of developing a project, developing a project means getting into something and doing it as well as possible.
Anticipation is trying to understand how this project or the following projects will be interesting to develop in the future. Following the pandemic, etc. A lot of things are happening online more and more. And so, suddenly, we can very well work with people who are on the other side of the world, in another culture. So effectively, it is also to understand that. So I think that’s a skill that’s really important. Again, I think it’s a skill that is not specialized on a project, on the development of a project, but which is something of how do you make it work? It’s project management, yes, but in my opinion, it’s more than that today.

In the creative industries, it is the sector that is growing the most in Europe and in the world compared to other activities. The problem is that it’s defined by a lot of very strong fragmentations. So there are a lot of small businesses, small or medium-sized businesses, let’s say, there really is a need to structure these businesses more to support them, perhaps to make them work together and get them to collaborate. And since there is very, very strong competition, because there is a bit of a bottleneck at the distribution level since today, all these aspects of content, we are very open about the production and the design that everyone can develop projects that will be increasingly simple with technological tools, it’s less and less expensive to do. But on the other hand, there are these distribution gatekeepers, whether in music, video games or cinema, where there is a problem of how we are distributed, always distributed, but of having this visibility. So, suddenly, it’s really important to have competition, finally to have a much more, much stronger competitiveness and to bring innovation.

All these aspects of innovation and competitiveness are very important aspects to add to this perspective I was talking about. So, I think that after a license which is perhaps more specialized on a sector or more on a type of project, to have after something broader on “creative media”, I think it’s really something that can be interesting.

There have already been many technological revolutions, there is digitalization and which has been developed very strongly. There are sectors which are completely digital, others which are absolutely not digitized in the creative industries. For example, if we take theater or design, things like that, there are still a lot of things that are missing. So there is still technological development that will take place and there will be, there will be still others. I am thinking in particular today about everything that revolves around the blockchain and therefore what are now called NFTs, etc…
So it’s effectively to understand what the new economic models are going to be. In fact, around the fact that we will be able to know who owns what in this value chain because in fact, we had a moment of transition the last 10/20 years where people created digital things on the Internet , but it was copied. There were no property rights. And suddenly, people were happy to develop things. But they don’t make a living out of it. There was no property, so that’s still a problem. Therefore. What is interesting is to see that there has been a very strong digital transformation because now we are completely digital, but that the economic models remain the old economic models of classic licenses, for example, and I think that today, we are starting to see changes with precisely this idea of blockchain, of knowing who owns what and of being able to follow what actually happened on each type of content ownership . There, we will be able to start creating different economic models. And that is new. And I think the pace is picking up because of or thanks to the pandemic. But I think it accelerated and suddenly the artists understand better. Finally, they see an opportunity here. Until it’s really something that’s fully utilized, it might take a few years, but I think it’s going to go pretty quickly, these things. I see the speed where people today are discussing this and seeing how they can develop this. There’s going to be, I think, a whole period of trial and error saying OK, we’re going to try and do this and then it’s going to work, but I think it’s going to come pretty quickly.

And on the concepts, I think there are also very, very strong changes. In particular, I think that the interaction, the interactivity on the content will become much stronger. So this more iterative side, in fact, is something that, in many creative sectors, hasn’t happened until now. If we take the example of cinema, the example of cinema is someone who writes a script from A to Z. And then the production, it produces it on demand, as it is written from A à Z. When we go to television series or video games, in fact, the approach is not really like that. The approach is rather. We develop a first part, we develop a brand, we see, according to the interaction, according to the responsiveness of the audience, how to make things evolve.

So this whole idea of authorship actually, in my opinion, is changing. Not necessarily for the worse, precisely, thanks to blockchains, to NFT, people will be able to remain authors. But I think that the way to create precisely, to design it, to conceptualize projects will be less and less like that from A to Z, but rather on participation, co-creation, etc. To also match the audience as well as possible.
And of course, all that goes into the idea too. Where can we find funding to finance all this? And I think that today, on the one hand, there will be a priori less public funding for various reasons. There will surely be more private financing which will develop because today, it is all the same very, very low. It is developing and there are a lot of public tools that are now being created, not pure aid, but rather support for leveraging private money. But on the other hand, what private money will seek will be very different from public money. And so, suddenly, there will be a need to change the economic model.

Again, as I was describing, I think so, if there were people who had both this knowledge of a certain activity and who at the same time had this strategic aspect and hindsight, frankly, that’s what ‘we search…

Again on the study of business Finland, which we did, we asked a lot of questions.
Where did they get their new employees? They are looking for young people, people without experience. That was interesting, we tried to understand why. It’s a lot for a question of price or a question of salary, but it’s also because in fact, they need to know a little about how the company works, the DNA of this company, how it works , on what type of project they want to do, etc. And so, suddenly, in fact, they told us quite well that they like to take people young enough to be able to train them internally.

After the second thing they told us is exactly what I am describing. They said in fact, we take someone who comes out of film school, for example, he is very well, he has learned the right things, but he only knows cinema and this cinematographic approach. However, today, there are very few companies that only make films, they also do advertising, they may also do documentaries, corporate, things like that.
These are people who take longer to understand that there are other choices.
Most of the production companies, for example, to whom we spoke, told us that in the end, we rather take people passionate about cinema, but coming out of a business school or passionate about cinema coming out of an IEP. Because, precisely, they had this rather strategic approach.

There is indeed this somewhat business manager side which, in my opinion, is important. It’s to give the taste, to develop, to have access to technology, therefore to understand the technology.
So not being a coder, but understanding the technology. What can we do with it? What can it open up, this financing side, etc., it’s a mess, but ultimately, it’s where there are a lot of people who are blocking, who can’t manage to move forward because of that. And then, I think you were talking about it on the experience side. I think what is called the experience economy is something that has been quite developed for about twenty years in the United States.

In fact, I think that in Europe, we don’t know that much and I think we have to. Today, we just have to transform content creation into a real experience, broader and not just of specific content, and stay in this silo. So knowing these different sectors and understanding how to make them work together, create an experience. I think it’s interesting and we have to find our European experience today. The experiences we have are American experiences, whether it’s going to Disney or doing other things that revolve around that, it’s a lot of American experiences. So in South America, I don’t really know how it can work and what is the influence that must surely be strong enough, with the United States too. But in Europe, I think there is a need to create a European experience and to define what it is, it is not easy today. Even if we can clearly see that there are things, rather local things that are developing and to see how to do them. The problem is that if we do a lot of fairly niche, fairly local things and therefore they are not big enough, not important enough in volume and therefore are too expensive, therefore not accessible, in particular to young people . And so, it doesn’t trigger, in fact, this mainstream side which is typically American, where everything is done in high volume. And so, suddenly, it will interest everyone and suddenly, it will be cheaper and people can all go there. So we have to find a method around that.
To enrich the training with a part on experience, for example, I think it really is. It would be really interesting.