Priority is given to cinema productions, with support going to their distribution in Europe and beyond. Out of ten European feature films screened in European countries other than their country of origin, nine benefit from MEDIA support.

Development is another important area of activity under the MEDIA Programme. Screenwriting and pre-production is often neglected in Europe due to a lack of funding, yet is something to which the American studios pay particular attention. Provided their activity is aimed at the international market, producers can be assisted for their overall development strategy or for a specific production (fiction, documentary, animation or multimedia).

Another highly effective aspect of the programme is training. This covers audiovisual management and production, screenwriting and multimedia: MEDIA has helped to train a whole generation of producers and other professionals and to set up some extremely active networks.

Since 1991, MEDIA has supported the development and distribution of thousands of films and contributed to the success of many. To quote some of the most famous, The class , Palme d’or in 2008 , Gomorra,Grand prix du jury, or Slumdog Millionaire awarded 8 oscars this year In spite of a modest budget, amounting to no more than the cost of one Hollywood blockbuster, MEDIA money is well spent: it is estimated that every euro of Community funding attracts €6 of private investment.