05/02/2003

Official co-productions can be undertaken with the countries with which Italy has stipulated coproduction agreements. There are 30. There are two main advantages to this system: films made for cinema list the nationality of each of the participating countries and they can thus benefit from financial support from the other participants.
Italy is a member of the European common production agreement for films for cinema which regulates coproductions between three or more countries.

In recent years coproductions, especially between European countries, have grow in importance. After a record 2001, in 2002 the number of coproductions remained largely unchanged (34 in 2002 compared to 35 of 2001) and Italy continues to coproduce with France, the United Kingdom and Spain, but also with Australia, Switzerland and Tagikistan.

Numerous coproductions are based on an authentic bilateral agreement, underwritten by the respective governments and ratified by their parliaments (as is normal for all international agreements). Here it is possible that one partner benefits from incentives for production that are operational in their counterpart’s country, with clear advantages both for the film that is being produced (a fast-lane for permissions for locations and services etc.,) and for the subsequent circulation of the film in that country and also on the international market. The constant evolution of the productive and legislative sectors in the countries involved in this system requires existing coproduction agreements to be continuously updated in order to make the process as efficient as possible.

The Italian government is a great believer in and supporter of the common European house, as emphasised by Gianni Profita, who promised: “The forthcoming reform will focus strongly on Europe and on the exportability of the product in Europe also by means of the reference system mechanism.”
“Coproduction benefits all parties,” said Riccardo Tozzi, a film producer and API member (the association that organised a conference on coproduction with Agis during the recent EFA Awards in Rome), “not least as a way of ensuring the circulation of films in territories like Spain, Great Britain and especially France”.
After many years spent producing films for Fabrica, Marco Müller, is strongly in favour of a crossbred cinema that searches out unusual alliances “from the deserts of Nevada to the Anatolian mountains”.

The list of countries with which Italy has stipulated Coproduction Agreements