The following report presents a review and analysis of the most significant co-production treaties that South Africa has entered into with other countries for the purposes of updating the agreements.
Film co-production agreements are generally treaty-level documentssetting out two governments’ desire to facilitate cooperation between their respective film and television industries and to assist those industries to grow. The idea of cultural exchange is also central to the agreements.
When two or more international producers come together to make a film, a signed co-production treaty provides them with the opportunities to access the resources required to produce projects that can be internationally competitive. Film projects can be international in terms of storytelling and budget ranges, as they pull together both financial and human resources from the two partnering countries. In addition, films can reach wider audiences, as their stories are able to travel further afield, as well as enjoying the status of national products of both signatory territories. While conventional co-production partnerships between producers may confer some of the same benefits of international involvement, co-production treaties between governments allow for greater benefitsto long-term employment creation and domestic industry development.
Film co-production agreements operate by allowing approved film and television projects to gain the status of “official co-productions”. This status entitles a co-production film or television project to qualify for the same benefits as are accorded to national films and television programmes in each of the coproducers’ countries. Such benefits may extend to funding schemes or incentives. It is also common for the agreements to include provision for three-way and multiparty co-productions to cater for cases where the countries entering into the agreement have existing treaties with a third or more countries. Agreements may also allow for film projects to be facilitated through such measures as expedited temporary immigration processes and importation of equipment within existing regulations.
