| SINGAPORE:
The number of co-productions in Canada has shrunk to 64 from over 100 five years
back. As
a result of this, the co-production policy is being reviewed by the Canadian Film
and Television Production Association (CFTPA) and the Department of Canadian Heritage.
The new policy should be out later this year. It
is also hoping to sign a co-production treaty with India as it would give them
access to the subcontinent. CFTPA VP business affairs Susanne Vaas made this point
during a session `Co-production, trends and opportunities in Canada.' One
advantage of a co-production with Canada is that it is considered a national production.
So the partner gets access to all financial avenues. The production and location
costs are generally less compared with the US and Europe.
The upcoming policy
will look at giving more financing options as well as reducing the points system
that currently exists. It will also give Canadian partners access to US independent
studios that constantly look for partners. In
Asia, Canada has co-production treaties with China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan,
Phillipines and South Korea. With China it has done 22 projects. Now though it
does not cover television, CFPTA is talking with the Chinese authorities.
In Singapore,
however, only four projects have been done in nine years. More work is needed
here. Eleven projects have been done in Hong Kong. Telephone Canada helps with
the certification process of a co-production. The Department of Canadian Heritage
has to co-sign. With India it is just that there is uncertainty about who the
counterpart will be. She
also dwelt on the state of Canadian film and television. It produced 8000 hours
of content last year at a cost of two billion. English content costs 1.3 million
an hour while French content is cheaper as it does not have an international market.
So what
makes for a healthy co-production? Terminal City Pictures producer Christine Haebler
says that there should also be a cultural fit in determining a firm to partner
with. Co-productions are about building relationships like a marriage. One has
to do due diligence on the firm one is partnering with. Co-production
details should be hammered out in person. There should be a worksplit which would
determine the budget of a project. There should also be a post production supervisor
who knows about the different delivery platforms. Nelvana
executive VP, GM, Scott Dyer says that the firm is doing a co-production with
Singapore called The Future is Wild. This is a kids show and the partner
is IVL Animation. Discovery Kids in the US and Telefon in Canada are broadcast
partners for the show which goes on air next year. The
partnership with the channels is beyond just airing the show. The main thing for
any firm whishing to be successful in co-production is to focus on 50:50 deals.
Just doing service deals will not work anymore, according to him. They made sure
that the Singaporean firm had room to offer creative inputs. IP has to be international
as does the content. One must also not forget the ancillary market - home video
and merchandise. | 
