In Angoulême, comic book authors ready to strike pens

• The launch of the BD 2020 year in front of the Town Hall was heckled by demonstrators.
• The authors expect the government to take "concrete" steps to improve their living conditions.
• The Racine report, made public on January 22, is at the heart of the news for this 46th festival.

From our special correspondent in Angoulême

Appointment was given this Thursday at 1 p.m., in front of the town hall of Angoulême. Franck Riester, the Minister of Culture, was to officially launch BD 2020, the operation wanted by the government to "highlight" the 9th art this year.

The comic book year was to be launched this Thursday at 1 p.m. - Mathilde Loire

For the occasion, the mayor of Angoulême Xavier Bonnefont even took a singular municipal decree: “Any Angoumoisin of reading age must be provided with a Comic Strip of his choice on Thursday January 30 at 1 pm (…). Each Angoumoisin will have to read this comic strip and take immense pleasure in it ”. The meeting is regularly reminded on Thursday morning via the loudspeakers that punctuate the festival-goers' route.

With @xavierbonnefont and Franck Bondoux to launch "2020, the year of comics" and read it all together! # FIBD2020 pic.twitter.com/qjBirDtIsr

But the moment will not take place: the beginning of the speech of Franck Bondoux, the director general of the International BD Festival (FIBD) of Angoulême, is quickly interrupted by songs of demonstrators. They intone the now famous "We are here!" Protesting against the visit of the President of the Republic, scheduled for the afternoon. Some chant "Angry authors!" Angry authors! », As we can see on a video of La Charente Libre . The minister retreats, and the demonstrators continue to sing on the forecourt of the town hall. A funny way to celebrate the arrival of a President of the Republic in office at the comics festival, the first time since François Mitterrand in 1985…

Difficult condition of the authors

An electric atmosphere, but not surprising. Without even talking about pension reform, FIBD 2020 promised to be political. The reason: the report of Bruno Racine, "The author and the act of creation", made public Thursday, January 23, and which the authors of BD awaited firmly. On 141 pages, the senior official Bruno Racine reports on the situation of artist-authors, and makes 23 recommendations to improve their living and working conditions.

As the authors have been saying for several years, their economic situation is extremely precarious. And comic book authors are among the most affected. It is however one of the dynamic sectors of publishing, with a turnover of 2.67 million in 2018, according to the National Publishing Union (SNE). According to the League of Professional Authors, 53% of comic book authors live on less than the minimum wage. And women are the most vulnerable: 50% of comic strip authors live below the poverty line. The Racine report highlights this drop in income, and notes that "young people and women are particularly exposed to socio-economic difficulties".

Lewis Trondheim on the situation of the authors of #BD. # FIBD2020 pic.twitter.com/n5rHuKkJhM

The report (see box) was due on November 15, 2019, and in early January the authors regretted not seeing the color. On January 16 on France Inter, Marion Montaigne, president of the 2020 FIBD jury, addressed the minister: “This year, we want to go to the festival by reading the Racine report on the train. We want the minister to find him and release him. We do not want us to end up believing that this year of comics was only an industrial support, rather than a real reflection on the conditions of creation and the situation of authors, "she said. .

"We must transform the test"

The report was finally released a few days later. "If he did not come out on November 15, believes Marc-Antoine Boidin, BD vice-president of the National Union of Authors and Composers, it is undoubtedly because there was pressure to not not come out too quickly. The intervention of the authors' organizations made things happen more quickly on the table. "

The authors say for the most part relieved to see written black and white, in an official context, the reality of their difficulties. "But that does not mean that it is an end in itself, warns the scriptwriter Fabien Vehlmann, just awarded the Goscinny prize, and member of the collective Auteurs et Autrices en Action 2020." The report goes rather in the direction of the authors , now you have to transform the essay, and it has to be transformed by the government, not just the authors and publishers. "

Meetings with the Minister and the President

This Thursday, for the opening of the FIBD, the representatives of the authors' organizations met with the Minister of Culture Franck Riester, in the company of Bruno Racine. Then several authors, including Denis Bajram and Samantha Bailly, president and vice-president of the League of professional authors, as well as Marc-Antoine Boidin, but also the cartoonist Jul, the cartoonist Cy., And editors, had lunch with Emmanuel Macron .

According to Samantha Bailly, the minister “said very clearly that this report was made to be approved. The question is what can be done immediately, while other measures will take longer. Administrative measures or the organization of the Ministry of Culture will be easier to implement, while the order contract requires interprofessional exchanges. But we want this proposal not to disappear and remain on the agenda. We worked on it with lawyers, it's a doable thing for which there are already tools, ”she insists.

Year of struggle in perspective?

Franck Riester must speak at the beginning of February to present "the measures he chooses, the action plan and the timetable" of the first measures. “I hope there will be an awareness, that it will turn into actions. If there is no concrete, place for action, ”recalls Marc-Antoine Boidin, however. The idea of ​​a boycott of the next Angoulême festival, if the measures taken are not considered sufficient, is already on the table.

Fabien Vehlmann recalls that "more than 1,000 authors" signed the tribune "Authors of comics: the end of concessions", published by Liberation on January 29, on the eve of the festival. It calls on the government to take "concrete" action quickly. "I know that there are several of us ready to boycott if this is not satisfactory," says Fabien Vehlmann. It will not be for fun, but cannot remain the sector's adjustment variable. In the meantime, several authors have planned specific actions in the streets of Angoulême. "This FIBD 2020 is the start of a year of action for us," says Fabien Vehlmann. We will try to fight to reconstruct a terrain favorable to the authors. At 4:30 p.m., the authors are asked to put down their pencil to declutch, collectively. And show that the comic strip sector cannot do without them.

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The Racine Report Proposals

Among its 23 "recommendations" for improving the status of authors, the Racine report proposes establishing a professional status for artist-authors and a National Council of Artist-Authors. He also proposes to individually reinforce the authors to help them in the administrative jungle. Measures to change the remuneration of authors are clearly laid down. First, there: the report proposes to condition public aid to fairs and festivals to the remuneration of the authors who participate in it.

But perhaps the most striking recommendation is that on the creation of an "order contract taking into account the creative work". Currently, the authors receive an advance payment, a sum advanced for the making of the album by the publisher. The latter reimburses advances on comic book sales, up to the percentage of copyright. Authors can get their copyright - 8% on average in the comics - once the advance has been repaid, but they rarely do.

• Emmanuel Macron
• BD
• Angoulême Festival
• Copyright
• Culture
• Franck riester