EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY NETWORK

WHAT IS A CO-PRODUCTION?

The exact definition of what qualifies a co-operation to be defined as a co-production is open to discussion. Here is EDNs understanding of the term and how it is to be understood in THE EDN CO-PRODUCTION GUIDE.

First of all the term is used for 2 very different co-operations: a co-operation between 2 or more production companies or a co-operation between a broadcaster and a production company.

In the EDN CO-PRODUCTION GUIDE you will find examples of both.

The headings NATIONAL FUND or OTHER FUNDS deal with co-productions between companies from different countries. The heading TV deals with co-productions between a broadcaster and a company from another country than the broadcaster.


1. CO-PRODUCTION BETWEEN COMPANIES

A co-production is defined as a co-operation between 2 or more companies, that jointly

produce, manage the production and own the rights and the physical material of the film.

This must be stated in a Co-production Agreement, signed by the co-producers that

confirms and defines the above confirms and defines the creative and technical details of the production (writer, director, length, versions) defines the distribution of the practical management and responsibility of the production between the co-producers defines the exploitation of the rights, including each co-producers share of income from this exploitation (the share of income very often equals the financial contribution of each co-producer) defines the territories in which the co-producers exclusively and/or jointly will exploit the film holds appendixes, that are as binding as the §§ of the agreement itself: Budget, Financing plan and any agreement entered with a 3rd party on behalf of the co-production.

All the countries that are represented here in the EDN CO-PRODUCTION GUIDE have signed the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production. Currently a total number of 43 countries have ratified the convention.

If a co-production applies to the guidelines of the Convention, the co-production can access national funding in the country of each participating co-producer on equal terms as a national production.

To apply to the convention the most important conditions are:

the joint management and ownership of rights between the co-producers the co-producers must represent at least 2 member states the co-production must involve no less than 3 co-producers. 2 co-producers is accepted, if no bilateral agreement exist between the countries of the 2 co-producers 1 co-producer can contribute to the financing of the production with a maximum of 70% and a minimum of 10% (with 2 co-producers it's 80% and 20%) If one of the co-producers comes from a country that has not signed the Convention, there must be at least 3 producers from member states that must contribute together with no less than 70% of the financing The production must be acknowledged as a European film, according to a table of points regarding creative, performing and technical contribution The film has to be aimed for theatrical distribution.

In THE EDN CO-PRODUCTION GUIDE you will find, that many countries has national restrictions that limit in practice the access to national funding, even if the co-production applies to the convention. This can for example be reflected in the so-called Culture Test that require a high national relevance in terms of content and/or artistic participation from the country.

The national requirements can also be a high level of expenditure and/or production days in the country.

If a co-production receives funding from EURIMAGES (guidelines very similar to the ones in the Convention) it is not applicable for TV-funding from Creative Europe (http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/eurimages/default_en.asp).


2. CO-PRODUCTION BETWEEN A BROADCASTER AND A COMPANY

A Co-production contract in this case is a completely different agreement than the one entered between production companies. There are no international conventions, bilateral agreements or national guidelines that regulate co-productions between broadcasters and companies; hence the contracts differ very much.

A Co-production reflects a strong involvement from the broadcaster in the production. Compared to a Pre-sale, this would very often involve:

a contract entered at an early state of production frequent involvement of the broadcaster in both artistic, production and financial matters. The contract will define a minimum for this involvement: script, production plan, budget and financing plan as part of the contract discussions about and/or acceptance of rough cut(s) and final cut acceptance of major changes in the production a higher amount of contribution from the broadcasters side distribution of rights between the production company and the broadcaster

Some broadcasters only enter co-productions with companies from their own country. This is especially the case in countries with a small production capacity in the independent sector and a broadcaster that only engage in few co-productions.

In the EDN CO-PRODUCTION GUIDE we have only included co-productions where the majority producer comes from another country than the broadcaster.