In an interview granted to Eric Deffet for the newspaper Le Soir, Minister Willy Borsus detailed the new strengthened position of Wallimage at the heart of the reform of the Walloon economic tools.
Since the beginning of his mandate, the Regional Minister of Economy has been working hard to optimize the sector under his responsibility. In this field, all the actions that the Minister has put in place aim at the same principle: to propose to the economic actors present on the Walloon territory clearly identified devices, carried by entities which proved their competence and their control of a sector. It is also a question, within these organizations, of rationalizing the work, ultimately increasing their efficiency.
A SINGLE ENTITY
The main axis of this reflection concerning Wallimage is the announcement of the merger of the two entities Wallimage and Wallimage Entreprises. Two investment committees will remain, one dedicated to investments in works, the other to investments in companies, but a single board of directors will manage the company.
Practical consequence on the field: the teams working under the label “Wallimage” will be merged. Everyone will obviously remain focused on their own area of expertise, but interaction within the institution will thus be greatly enhanced.
Under the sole management of Virginie Nouvelle, who took over from Philippe Reynaert on December 1, three sectors dedicated respectively to corporate investment, audiovisual co-production and filming will now form a single entity. In all, there are fifteen people (some working part-time) who work together today, in the two Wallimage offices, in Mons and in Liège (even if, of course, in these delicate times, telecommuting and videoconferencing remain the norm).
THREE DEPARTMENTS
Wallimage Coproductions remains endowed with an annual budget of 6.5 million, dedicated to the financing of audiovisual works (feature films, live action or animation and VR works) that generate significant expenditure in the Walloon Region. Over the last five years, the multiplier effect of these investments has reached a ratio of 5.6, and has above all allowed the development of a series of successful companies and the creation of well-paid jobs for Walloon professionals in the sector.
Wallimage Entreprises directly supports Walloon audiovisual companies through capital participation or loans. It also offers conditionally recoverable advances for the gaming industry. Since its creation, Wallimage Entreprises has invested almost 28 million public money in 106 SMEs. For the moment, 43 of them are supported by Wallimage, either through investments or through loans. Wallimage’s analysts also sit on the boards of directors of its portfolio companies.
It goes without saying that, for these two departments, each file submitted is subject to a thorough qualitative evaluation and careful financial analysis.
For its part, Wallimage Tournages does not offer economic support, but rather services: identifying potential filming locations, obtaining authorizations, putting different actors in the field in touch with each other…. This sector, which covers the whole of Wallonia, is the indispensable complement to Wallimage Coproductions, but can also help works not supported by the fund. Since its creation in January 2019, following the merger of four autonomous provincial entities, 193 shoots have been organized for an annual average of about 500 days of work. And this, despite the sanitary conditions that we know.
The common action of these three departments aims at the durability of Walloon audiovisual structures and the support of Walloon artists and technicians.
MORE PUNCH FOR THE FUTURE
In order to face the next years, which will bring many changes, Wallimage will have to help Walloon actors to strengthen their international positions, work so that VOD platforms become recurrent partners and offer alternatives to the more and more attractive offers of foreign public organizations willing to strengthen their audiovisual industry. One of the first projects initiated in this sense and supported by Wallimage Entreprises is the economic development fund for audiovisual projects recently presented to the profession.
But there is a future sector that Wallonia also intends to develop on its land: gaming! And it is also Wallimage that has been entrusted with the exciting task of supporting the structural development of the region in this sector. In recent years, Wallimage has already invested in several studios and the new federated entity will strengthen its action in this industry with strong growth potential.
After twenty years of a wonderful adventure that has put Wallonia in a good position on the world audiovisual map, Wallimage, boosted by the confidence of its Minister Willy Borsus, is looking to the future with determination.
The missions entrusted to us are important and we intend to carry them out with the seriousness and the will that characterize us. At the service of a region in full economic redeployment!
