International Co-Productions

Co-productions first became popular in the 1970s, and became seen as a more convenient financing option as production costs continued to rise over the 1980s and 1990s. The financing deal involves two or more production companies co-financing and producing a film or television programme, and has traditionally been most common across different countries. In such a co-production, each company owns the domestic rights to their territory, and shares the rights to all countries outside the agreement with the other partners. Co-productions are particularly successful where each producer can utilise their own country's national tax breaks or government film production subsidies as a result of co-production.

Kirch is perhaps the European corporation most involved in co-productions. It has had a long-term relationship with Mediaset in Italy and TF1 in France, with further co-production partnerships with ARD, RAI, Taurus Film and ZDF. In 1999 it partnered with Munich Animation, Rothkirch Cartoon Film, Studio Studio and Warner Brothers to produce the animation Tobia Totz.

Hallmark has been active in a number of European co-productions, including Gulliver's Travels which was produced with the UK's Channel 4 Films and Jim Henson Productions and another US company, RHI Entertainment. Hallmark also co-produced Merlin with NBC, and utilised contacts from previous co-productions, such as Channel 4 in the UK, to secure broadcast.

The UK is signatory to seven official bilateral co-production treaties enabling qualifying productions to assume the nationality of both co-producers and access any subsidies available in each country. Seven such treaties are in force with Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Norway. Each of these countries have government funding support available provided a strict set of conditions are met (see Bilateral Co-Production Treaties).

In the event that a UK co-produced film does not qualify as British under the conditions of the Films Act 1985, it will be deemed British if made in accordance with the Bilateral Treaties or the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production. Use can then be made of sale and leaseback of the completed co-production (see Sale and Leaseback).