Hello everyone, 

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I would have very much liked to be with you today, but I am nonetheless very pleased to address a few words to you on the occasion of this inauguration, which is an important moment for the region and for the entire industry.

 

V Studios is the first studio supported by the Grande Fabrique de l Image to enter into operation, after only 14 months of construction.

I believe this speed says a great deal. First, it reflects the urgency for the French industry to scale up, modernize its tools, and adapt its production capacity to a sector that has undergone profound change. In just ten years, production activity in France has doubled, rising from 1.5 to 3 billion euros in annual expenditure.

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We needed infrastructure capable of matching this transformation.

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V Studios responds precisely to this convergence of needs: the upscaling of French creation, which now shines far beyond our borders; the evolution of working methods, with new requirements, particularly environmental ones; and the growth of international productions, driven by the arrival of platforms as well as by an incentive framework that we have recently strengthened.

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This rapid delivery also reflects the remarkable mobilization of both public and private partners around this project: france.tv studio and the local authorities, first and foremost the Region and the Metropole. I would like to commend this collective effort, in which the CNC is very pleased and very proud to have played its part alongside the General Secretariat for Investment.

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These studios are not simply sound stages. They represent a genuine territorial engine, a complete ecosystem that generates activity and employment. It is a place where productions, training, post production, visual effects, research, and innovation will come together, all with a shared objective: to strengthen the overall attractiveness of the Montpellier Metropole and the Occitanie region at both national and international levels.

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I happened to be in Vendargues this autumn as part of my tour of the French regions, and I was struck by seeing, side by side, the teams working on the daily series for france tv, the specialists from Les Tontons Truqueurs working on French feature films, and, just around the corner, the ZQSD teams preparing a live Twitch stream as the cast of Un Si Grand Soleil had just left the set. It is precisely this coexistence, this creative energy, that embodies the richness of the French model and now defines the DNA of V Studios.

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This site brings together all our strengths: a strong network of independent producers, some of the best technicians in the world, renowned training institutions, and territories that are themselves exceptional filming locations.

At a time when the industry is facing turbulence due to increased international competition and a more uncertain global market, the opening of V Studios sends a clear signal: France is equipping itself to remain competitive and even to gain market share.

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This requires us to be not only defensive but also resolutely proactive. The recent announcements concerning improvements to the international tax rebate move in exactly that direction. They correct the competitiveness gap that had widened over the past two years with our neighboring and competing countries, and they align perfectly with structural investments such as the one we are inaugurating today.

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Vendargues 2 therefore comes at exactly the right moment. It is also intended to serve as a laboratory to renew production methods and to push further our ambition for productions of all kinds: cinema, series, hybrid content for video sharing platforms, premium fiction for streaming platforms, and, we hope, all under the bright light of Un Si Grand Soleil.

Allow me a final word. As someone from Montpellier and Occitanie, and proud to remain so, I am particularly proud to see our region once again standing out at the national level, and I look forward to works born here continuing to shine across the world.

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Congratulations to all of you for making this possible. Let us continue. You can count on the CNC to lead the next battles alongside you.