DAB Harmonisation Project

The European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production and the Relevance of Possible

Future Developments to the Eastern Partnership Countries

Tbilisi International Film Festival, 5/6 December 2013

Co-production and the Eastern Partnership Region - Obstacles, Opportunities and

Harmonisation

What is the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production?

- The European Convention, a Council of Europe initiative, has existed since 1994 and has been ratified by 42 countries- It provides a framework which makes co-productions more systematic and easier to construct and has contributed directly to increased use and growing importance of co-production activity in Europe- The Convention framework provides a set of common rules intended to decrease restrictions and encourage European cooperation in the area of co-productions - The European Convention successfully creates the 'bridge' between the 42 legal jurisdictions of the ratifying countries, providing legal clarity and certainty for each country- For producers, amongst other things, the simplicity of the Convention and its tried and tested arrangements drive down a production's legal costs and have other benefits which allow the focus to be on technical and creative issues

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Co-production and the Eastern Partnership Region - Obstacles, Opportunities and

Harmonisation

Why is the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production being revised?

- enlargement of Europe both in terms of the EU and the Council of Europe has produced new dynamics and needs

- technological revolution, not least digital technologies, are transforming the audiovisual world producing ramifications that need to be addressed

- after seventeen years of use, practical lessons have been learnt which could be incorporated into a new Convention

- it can now be seen in retrospect that when the European Convention was originally drafted its perspective was more attuned to major, better funded film countries than to small ones

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Co-production and the Eastern Partnership Region - Obstacles, Opportunities and

Harmonisation

In which areas are changes to the European Convention potentially needed?

- Changes to the minimum and maximum financial participation 'percentages' to benefit 'small' countries

- Changes to the existing 'points system' (which tests the European elements of the film) to alter the weighting in the light of trends e.g. related to the increased importance of post production, such as visual effects and computer-generated imagery or the current anomalous absence of points for producers

- Internationalisation of the Convention and opening up the Convention and its rules to non-European countries in a greater or more flexible way than hitherto 4

Co-production and the Eastern Partnership Region - Obstacles, Opportunities and

Harmonisation

Why the EP countries individually and collectively should engage in influencing potential future

European Convention developments

- the failure to understand and exploit the possibilities presented by the Convention has been a lost opportunity in the countries of the region

- Conventions are only rarely revised and it is important actively to use such occasions to enhance legitimate national and regional interests

- the countries in the region have a direct interest in changing the Convention's current main weaknesses (e.g. financial rules disadvantageous to 'small' countries and rules limiting third party non-European co-production activity)

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Why the EP countries individually and collectively should engage in influencing potential future

European Convention developments (continued)

- By taking an active role as individual countries and as a regional 'bloc' they will not only be influential but will through the process and understand better how to use and exploit the Convention effectively

- A survey of the 42 countries (governments/authorities and producers) has shown that harmonisation (i.e. standardisation of countries' approach to co-production) should be a major focus of when looking at revision of the Convention

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Co-production and the Eastern Partnership Region - Obstacles, Opportunities and

Harmonisation

Thoughts related to the revised European Convention

- realistically it is probably the only context in which increased positive regional harmonisation/standardisation related to co-production can be achieved

-the Convention works, the new Convention will work even better so why not use it?

- intelligent use of the Convention surely makes bilateral agreements superfluous unless they are offering value-adding elements beyond the scope of the Convention

- while pursuing their national agendas and taking into account country-specific advantages and disadvantages, the countries can also work as a regional 'bloc' not only as a way of enhancing their co-production possibilities but also of raising their profiles internationally in terms of their interest in co-production opportunities

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