After the videoconference meeting this Thursday with ministers Bruno Le Maire, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Roselyne Bachelot, the representatives of the performing arts are still worried.
"We have no visibility and we do not know if we can restart our activities after January 24,
regrets Malika Seguineau, general manager of PRODISS which represents producers and owners of private theaters.
When we ban the big gauges which represent 60% of the sector's ticketing revenues, the impact goes well beyond the big shows ”.
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Orelsan, Gims, Michel Jonasz, Les Cowboys Fringants, Alain Souchon and all the other artists on the roads between the end of January and the end of February therefore remain on the alert. They do not know if they should also postpone these concerts and when to postpone them.
PRODISS nonetheless welcomed Bruno Le Maire's decision to initiate emergency measures to compensate for the bans decided by the government at the end of December: limitation of the gauges to 2,000 seats, closure of bars in theaters and no concert with standing spectators. in the pit.
"It is the return to emergency measures for a sector once again prevented from working
", underlines Malika Séguineau. Bercy is therefore reactivating the simple and effective partial activity measures which have worked very well since the start of the pandemic two years ago.
On this point, in order not to leave intermittents hired on canceled or postponed tours, the date of their contracts which allows them to be eligible for partial activity is postponed from December 10, 2020 to December 27, 2021.
The fixed costs support system has been extended to include health restrictions.
Performing arts companies, 60% of which have subscribed to a loan guaranteed by the State (PEG), may also ask to postpone the date of the start of repayment (a priori until the end of 2022) or request a staggering of the loan. repayment which could go up to 10 years;
a way to reduce monthly payments.
“Beyond these emergency measures that we welcome, we talked about perspectives and visibility
,” says Malika Seguineau.
We have had stop-and-go for two years, even after everything we have put in place. As soon as they hear about new restrictions, like those at the end of December, the French stop buying tickets for shows. Every announcement, every number given on a daily basis increases anxiety. We fear for the concerts and shows scheduled for the first quarter of 2022. The longer it takes to reopen the halls the more difficult it is for the artists to find their audience. As we saw in October 2021, the recovery was not as rapid as hoped. "
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Bruno Le Maire did not say no to the creation of an interministerial committee.
The idea of PRODISS is to bring together the economy, work and culture in a committee made up of technicians, to work on adapted and long-term measures because the crisis affecting the performing arts would not end with the lifting of health restrictions.
When the meeting ended, a last very delicate point remained unanswered: in the bill on the vaccination pass, a clause indicates that, in a certain number of places, it would be necessary to show one's vaccination pass accompanied by a antigen test.
It is not yet decided whether cinemas, theaters and performance halls will be affected by this measure.
"If this decree affects theaters, it's a disaster, it will be double the penalty.
The spectators who already reserve at the last moment and are sometimes a little afraid to go out, will not come any more
, worries seriously Malika Séguineau.
The next date for meeting with the government has not been set.
