UK agrees to European co-prod treaty
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The UK has signed up to a new version of the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production (ECCC).
The new agreement updates the convention originally put in place in 1994 by making it easier for European signatories to work with co-production partners in the rest of the world, regardless of whether they have bilateral co-production treaties.
Under the revised terms, countries will need to supply only 5% of the budget of shoots they get involved with in order to be officially recognised as a co-production partner, Screen reports.
This figure represents a decrease from the minimum of 10% for multilateral productions and 20% for bilateral arrangements as outlined in the 1994 convention.
The UK is the 24th country to sign up to the revised convention but the agreement still needs to be ratified by Parliament before it becomes official.
Only nine of the 23 other European nation signatories have in fact had the convention ratified by their respective governments. The original terms of the 1994 convention will continue to apply until official ratification takes place.
There remain dramatic uncertainties in terms of how Brexit will affect the production industry and the UK’s international relationships, but a continued commitment to the ECCC is being viewed as a gesture that the UK screen sector remains outward looking.
Co-productions accounted for £24m of the overall production spend in the UK in 2018, according to BFI figures.
Images: FreeImages.com/Elvis Santana/Jose A Warlett
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