Belgium (Belgian Communities)
Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Canada and the Respective Governments of the Flemish, French and the German-Speaking Communities of the Kingdom of Belgium concerning Audiovisual Coproduction
Productions that comply with the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Canada and the Respective Governments of the Flemish, French and German-Speaking Communities of the Kingdom of Belgium Concerning Audiovisual Coproduction (MoU) are now eligible to apply for all the benefits granted to audiovisual treaty coproductions, including the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit co-administered by the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) and the Canada Revenue Agency.
As of June 27, 2019, the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium on Assistance to the Film Industry (Agreement) is suspended and will no longer be available for coproducing with Belgian producers. Only the MoU is now accessible.
It should be noted that projects for which an application for a preliminary recommendation has already been submitted to Telefilm Canada as of the date of the suspension and that comply with the provisions of the Agreement may submit an application for certification to CAVCO on the basis of this recommendation in order to be eligible for all the benefits accorded to audiovisual treaty coproductions.
Official text of the Canada-Belgium Treaty signed February 24, 1984 – SUSPENDED
Key points
MEDIA
Film, television and/or video work on any existing or future production medium, of any genre (fiction, animation, documentary), in accordance with the legislative and regulatory terms and conditions respectively applicable in Canada and the Belgian Communities, for any distribution platform intended for viewing.
MINIMUM PARTICIPATION
Bipartite: 15%
Multipartite: 10%
SHOOTING AND PERFORMERS – LAB WORK – VERSIONING/DUBBING
A work will be coproduced in the territory of one of the coproducing Participants.
The administrative coproduction authorities of the coproducing Participants may, by joint written consent, permit a work to be coproduced in the territory of a non-Participant for storyline and/or creative reasons.
The administrative coproduction authorities of the coproducing Participants may, by joint written consent, permit technical services to be provided in the territory of one or more non-Participants, provided that producers demonstrate the non-availability of those services in any territory of the coproducing Participants, and provided that the value of such services does not exceed twenty-five (25) percent of the total production budget of the work.
(a) “Key Position” means the following eight (8) positions, set out below by type of work:
(i) animation: author-director or director, screenwriter, music composer or sound designer, lead actor (voice) or second lead (voice), chief of animation/animation director, character model, supervisor/storyboard supervisor or chief picture editor/picture editor, special effects director or stereoscopy director and layout director;
(ii) documentary: author-director or director, screenwriter or researcher, music composer, lead actor or narrator, second lead actor or narrator, director of photography, art director or production designer and chief picture editor/picture editor;
(iii) fiction: author-director or director, screenwriter, music composer, lead actor, second lead actor, director of photography, art director or production designer and chief picture editor/picture editor;
(iv) for types of works, other than those listed above, such as non-linear digital works, the positions to be included in the key positions will be determined by joint written consent of the administrative coproduction authorities;
(b) “author-director” for the Belgian Communities means the person who directs all the technical and artistic aspects of a work and, in addition, for the French Community, the person specifically responsible for the staging of the work;
(c) “director” for Canada means the person who directs all technical and artistic aspects of a work.
The key positions identified in paragraph 1 of this Annex will be filed by one or more nationals of each of the coproducing Participants.
In the case of a high-budget work, the administrative coproduction authorities of the coproducing Participants may, by joint written consent, permit a second non-Participant national to fill one of those key positions. The threshold for what constitutes a high-budget work will be defined by the administrative coproduction authorities of each coproducing Participant, and applied accordingly as jointly determined by those authorities.
All dubbing services of a work, in English, French, Dutch or German, will be performed in the territory of one of the Participants.
Resources
Treaty
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