Sixteen months before the opening of the canteen for the athletes of the Olympic Games (JO) in Paris, a conflict escalates between tenants and owner. More specifically between the production company EuropaCorp, founded by producer and filmmaker Luc Besson, and La Nef Lumière, an 87.5% subsidiary of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC), and 12.5% of Vinci. The old power plant rehabilitated in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), which hosts the Cité du Cinéma, must be requisitioned to constitute the epicenter of the village of the Olympics.
The tenants – both EuropaCorp but also its nine sub-tenants, companies all linked to the film and audiovisual industry such as the Next Shot camera rental company, the Maratier uniform specialist or The Oligarchs Productions – know that they will have to leave the premises. The owner is also aware that he will have to compensate them, but the two parties fail to reach an agreement, while time is running out. On Wednesday April 5, if the current lease is not terminated, it will be tacitly renewed one year later, from April 5, 2024. The Organizing Committee for the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games (OCOG) has already promised that he would not call on the police to dislodge the occupants of the Cité du Cinéma.
The main tenant, EuropaCorp, has initiated proceedings against the owners of the Cité du Cinéma, claiming 14 million euros in eviction compensation (including 11.5 million for its sub-tenants). And asked “formally the termination of the main lease”.
The case is slipping as another dispute has been settled smoothly. The Paris Studios, which EuropaCorp had to sell for 33 million euros and which adjoin the Cité du Cinéma, were compensated without difficulty up to 9 million euros by the OCOG to pack their bags. But the group founded by Luc Besson and controlled by the American fund Vine must negotiate with the CDC and not with the COJO.
“A deep contempt”
Neither EuropaCorp nor the sub-tenants officially know when they will have to leave and if they will be able to return. “This refusal by the CDC and the OCOG to provide us with an answer and a solution reveals a deep contempt for the world of cinema”, annoys the spokesperson for EuropaCorp. He accuses them of“suffocate an ecosystem at the origin of the two greatest worldwide audiovisual successes: The Office of Legends And Lucy ». By wondering if, with the real estate transformation of the district, the CDC does not wish ” (THE) exhaust so that(they) leave the premises” and enjoy it “to replace overly demanding street performers who are not profitable enough, with more “gray” but more profitable tenants”.
You have 41.28% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.
