The organization of the film industry is no longer limited to those who produce, direct or exhibit films in cinemas. Behind every film or audiovisual work lies a wider professional chain: studios, laboratories, screenwriting companies, casting agencies, equipment-rental companies, as well as businesses involved in equipping cinemas, festivals and film events. All of these activities are directly concerned by the new stage in the regulatory framework governing the sector.
It is against this backdrop that the Moroccan Cinematographic Centre (CCM) has issued a notice addressed to companies engaged in professional activities linked to the film industry, asking them to regularize their status according to the date on which they were established. The deadline set for completing the required procedures is September 30, 2026.
At first sight, the measure may appear administrative. Its scope, however, extends across a significant part of the professional structure supporting Morocco’s film and audiovisual production. The CCM is not addressing production companies alone. It is dealing with a broader network of activities whose professional status and information now need to be clearly identified and kept up to date with the institution responsible for organizing the sector.
For companies established before the entry into force of Law No. 18.23 on the film industry and the reorganization of the Moroccan Cinematographic Centre, the procedure involves updating the information and documents already held by the Centre. Companies established after the law came into force are required to submit a prior declaration of their activity, in accordance with the applicable legislative and regulatory provisions.
The distinction matters. The procedure does not place all companies in the same category. The new legal framework, as reflected in the process announced by the CCM, differentiates between operators that were already active before the new framework entered into force and those that joined the sector afterwards, with a different requirement applying to each category.
The list issued by the Centre also shows how broad the scope of the measure is. It covers film and audiovisual shooting studios, post-production studios, animation film production studios and film-industry laboratories. It also includes companies specializing in screenwriting and cinematic technical-service agencies, particularly those involved in casting.
The list extends further to companies renting filming equipment for films and audiovisual works, businesses specializing in cinema-theatre equipment, and companies providing equipment for festivals, film events and cinematic caravans.
The procedure therefore goes beyond a simple administrative registration. The CCM is asking the companies concerned to provide a comprehensive professional picture of their activities: their legal file, a technical sheet describing the nature of the professional activities they carry out, and the architectural plan of the studio, laboratory or space where their film-industry activities are conducted.
They must also provide a list of their employees and their qualifications, together with a list of the technical resources, equipment and facilities at their disposal, using the model table attached to the notice. They are additionally required to submit a list of the films or audiovisual works in whose production they have participated.
Those requirements give the procedure a clear professional dimension. The issue is not simply identifying a company’s legal name or address. It is also about establishing what it actually does, the human resources it employs, the technical capacity it possesses and the experience it has accumulated through the works to which it has contributed.
For companies that have been active in the sector for several years, updating this information may provide an opportunity to reorganize their professional files and present an accurate picture of how their activities have evolved. For newly established companies, the prior declaration places their entry into these professions within a clearer framework, both in terms of their activity and their relationship with the institution responsible for regulating the sector.
The measure comes at a time when Morocco’s film and audiovisual industry is seeing an increasingly diverse range of operators and a growing number of services supporting production. As this professional ecosystem expands, having a precise understanding of who operates within it, in which fields, with what resources and with what experience becomes part of the organization of the professional market itself.
The deadline set by the CCM for September 30, 2026 now gives the companies concerned a clear operational date, whether they need to update an existing file or submit a prior declaration where that procedure applies. The documentation requested means that some companies will need to undertake practical work to gather and update their professional information before the deadline.
The CCM notice does not make any prior judgment about the companies’ status, nor does it make accusations against sector professionals. It establishes a defined procedure, leaving each company to determine the steps applicable to its own situation according to its date of establishment and the nature of its activities.
What is emerging is another step toward clarifying the professional map of Morocco’s film industry. The wider that map becomes, the more important accurate and up-to-date knowledge of its operators becomes—not only for the institution responsible for organizing the sector, but also for the companies themselves, which need to position their activities within the new legal framework.
September 30 is now the practical deadline by which the response of the companies concerned to this new phase of sector organization will become clear.
