Making the European Union a household name

It may have taken a selection of Europe’s most orgasmic cinema moments to make EUtube a household name, but it is not the only thing that people have been watching on the Commission’s new web channel.

A ten-minute film on the liberalisation of Europe’s energy markets, for example, has been watched more than 50,000 times, a result which pleases Elena Linczenyiova. "It got a huge audience the first day it was put on EUtube," she recalls. "It wasn’t the sexiest story but it was very newsworthy."

Elena works for Mostra Communication, the company which made Electricity and Gas: You Choose! for the European Commission. In recent years Mostra has become ubiquitous as a provider of audio-visual services to the EU institutions, even if its name rarely appears on the credits. Its work goes out under the imprint of the commissioning organisation or is used by TV journalists without any branding at all.

"I know most of our pictures by heart, so I know very well when they are being used," Elena says. "In some ways my satisfaction comes from seeing my story on the BBC, even without being credited."

Before coming to Mostra, Elena worked as a journalist in Brussels for Slovak television. Although the job she does at Mostra is different, the aim is the same. "We explain Europe to people, and that was my job as a TV correspondent as well," she says.

Her role now is similar to that of an executive producer in television, supervising all stages of an audio-visual production within Mostra. The main difference is that she is also an audio-visual consultant, advising the client - usually a Commission department - how best to communicate a message to the general public.

Her criteria are straightforward: there should be a clear message, which can be told as a story with a human angle and attractive images. There must also be room for other opinions. "If we only give the floor to Commission officials it will not be credible, so we always try to interview NGOs or independent scientific organisations as well."

The hardest subject to film is pure policy. "We did a film about the constitution back in 2005 and it was extremely difficult," she recalls. "There is no story, it is very vague and theoretical for people." In the end Mostra asked people around the EU what they knew and felt about the constitution, and compiled their comments in a 15-minute documentary along with Commission responses. The aim was not to sell the constitution, Elena insists, but to educate the public. "The outcome of the film was quite successful, the outcome of the referendum wasn’t."

The most common format Mostra uses is the video news release, 8-10 minute packages offered to TV journalists free of charge and copyright, to be broadcast as they are or used as raw material. The challenge here is to find a story with a strong EU angle. "Culture, for example, is sometimes quite difficult because there is so little common legislation and it is such a national phenomenon," Elena says. "It’s very visual, so we can make a very good-looking film, but the question is whether TV stations through the 27 EU states will be interested in broadcasting it."

But when news interest and the European dimension coincide, Mostra’s films reach a lot of people. The ‘best seller’ of 2006 was a video news report on EU research into human and avian influenza, which was picked up by 80 TV stations across the EU27, as well as in Australia, Turkey and Macedonia. While audience figures are hard to produce, Elena estimates it was seen by around 40 million people.

• Where to start:

Mostra employs a wide range of professionals, both on staff and as freelancers, for which experience in television and an understanding of EU policy are required in varying combinations. Vacancies are posted on http://www.mostra.com/content/jobs_en.htm

It may have taken a selection of Europe’s most orgasmic cinema moments to make EUtube a household name, but it is not the only thing that people have been watching on the Commission’s new web channel.