The Council of Europe, home of Eurimages, introduces a new three-year Pilot Programme supporting high-quality series structured as international co-productions. The aim is to strengthen independent producers and cultivate new collaborations. Thirteen countries, through fourteen ministries and national agencies, have come together to financially back this new opportunity for series producers. The Programme covers two calls, one for projects and another for partnerships.

The Series Co-Production Support facilitates final-stage funding of series co-productions with a top-up grant of either €250,000 or €500,000. The grant is designed for co-productions between independent producers from the participating countries and those in other Eurimages member states and encourages close collaboration with broadcasters and/or streaming services. The call is now open and this year's submission deadline is 31 October 2023. Further calls will take place in 2024 and 2025.

Four series co-production markets will host the Council of Europe Series Co-production Development Award, each valued at €50,000. Each of the markets selected through the call will sign a partnership agreement for a one-off presentation of the award between 1 January 2024 and 20 December 2024. Markets may apply from 2 October 2023 and the submission deadline for applications is 17 October 2023. A subsequent call for partnerships is slated for 2024, focusing on 2025 markets.

In 2021, under the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, a group of key representatives of the European series sector met in Budapest to discuss the state of their art. Preserving independent production, enhancing diversity in European drama series, and harnessing the potential of international collaboration were central themes in their exchanges.

Two years later, almost to the day, the launch of this new Pilot Programme provides concrete support for these aims, championing shared values – not only financial, but also creative – through co-production.  It provides a new option for independent series producers looking to leverage the flexible financial strategies that align with their dynamic milieu and encourages the participation of all audiovisual media service providers in the production and distribution of culturally diverse narratives that echo globally.

The Council of Europe Pilot Programme for Series Co-Productions is currently supported by Flemish Minister of Media, Le Ministère de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Ministry of Culture Estonia, Ministry of Culture of the Hellenic Republic, National Film Institute - Hungary, Luxembourg Film Fund, Netherlands Film Fund, Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia, Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual - Portugal, Ministry of Culture of Republic of Serbia, Ministry of Culture of Slovak Republic, Ministry of Culture of Republic of Slovenia and Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA) - Spain.