COPRODUCTIONS INDUSTRY
How do you make an international coproduction without losing the plot? Nicola Foley chats to two experienced producers to find out
F ilm production has never been cheap, and fronting the resources to get what you need to get done, done , can be one of the biggest challenges of all. For producers, getting a project over the line increasingly means looking beyond borders for a partner to help make it happen. Coproducing, which is markedly on the rise around Europe, can open up access to finance, tax incentives and various forms of ‘soft money’, as well as bringing myriad other positives: expertise, production infrastructure, new talent, routes into distribution and potential audiences that can have a huge impact on both the film itself and its commercial chances. But with every additional partner, the tapestry gets a bit more complicated: another territory means another set of rules and regulations, different opinions to satisfy and a web of logistical considerations. The trick is making sure the value the partner brings outweighs the potential headaches of bringing them on board. WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT? At a basic level, a coproduction is a collaboration between two or more production companies. This could be a national coproduction – two companies from the same country partnering – or international – a collaboration of
producers from two or more countries joining forces on an international project. There’s also a third kind: the production services agreement (PSA), where one independent company provides production services to another for a fee. This gives more flexibility, but doesn’t tend to provide the same access to public funding and incentives as an official coproduction treaty. This way of getting films made is on the up: in 2025, around one in five films made in the UK was a coproduction, according to the British Film Institute (BFI), and the UK Global Screen Fund has now backed 68 international coproductions involving partners in 35 territories. On the face of it, it’s a shift driven by necessity. After all, securing the necessary funds can be an uphill slog right now, thanks to a patchwork of factors including Covid’s legacy, the SAG-AFTRA strikes, and general political and economic uncertainty, all of which have led to a shakier landscape. But look a little deeper and you’ll find that the drivers for coproduction are a lot more nuanced than cold hard cash. “They are becoming more popular, and I actually think the UK has been one of the last to the party,” asserts Tailored Films’ Ruth Treacy. “It used to be the case that UK producers would only consider it when it was essential, financially, but that misses the point that it can be really beneficial creatively too, and even overall for the project’s success – it’s not just that pure cost-benefit analysis anymore,” she adds. As co-founder of Dublin-based Tailored Films, Treacy brings an interesting perspective to the rise. In Ireland, international collaboration has long been the norm, rather than a new trend. Tailored has built much of its slate around international coproductions. Recent credits include The Apprentice , the Canadian-Irish-Danish production directed by Ali Abbasi, and Bring
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