United Kingdom
Films Co-production Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Key Points
MEDIA
Any sequence of visual images, irrespective of length or format, including animation and documentaries, produced either on film, videotape or videodisc, for distribution in theatres, on television, video-cassette, videodisc or any other form of distribution.
This treaty covers Film, Television & Digital/Web Series production.
MINIMUM PARTICIPATION
Bipartite: 20%
Multipartite: 20%
SHOOTING AND PERFORMERS – LAB WORK – VERSIONING/DUBBING
Co-production films shall be made, processed, post synchronized and mixed up to the creation of the first release print in the United Kingdom and/or Canada, and/or, where there is a third co-producer, in his country. All versions of the film may contain passages of dialogue in languages other than English and French if this is required by the script. The competent authorities shall have the power to approve location filming in a country other than the countries of the participating co-producers.
The majority of the work of making a co-production film, including studio and location shooting, processing and dubbing on the sound track shall, subject to any departure from this rule which is approved by the competent authorities, be carried out in the country of the co-producer which has made the major financial contribution. The contributions of two or more co-producers from any one country shall be aggregated for this purpose.
Individuals taking part in the making of a co-production film shall be nationals or residents of the United Kingdom, Canada, a Member State, or, where there is a third co-producer, citizens of his country. As an exception, nationals or residents of other countries may take part as leading performers in leading roles in a co-production film subject to the approval of the competent authorities.
Where the competent authorities have, under the provisions of Paragraph 6(a) of this Annex, approved location filming in a country other than that of the participating co-producers, nationals or residents of that country may be employed as additional employees whose services are necessary for the location work to be undertaken.
Resources
Application for co-production recommendation: end of Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020
The November 2019 Withdrawal Agreement (Brexit) governing the United Kingdom’s (UK) departure from the European Union (EU) established a transition period ending on December 31, 2020. After this date, UK nationals will lose EU citizenship status including for the purposes of Canada’s administration of its bilateral audiovisual coproduction agreements with EU member states.
Canadian production companies must ensure that non-Canadian nationals participating in a coproduction retain, throughout their participation in the project, their eligibility under the terms of the applicable audiovisual coproduction treaty (i.e. either as nationals of one of the coproducing states, or as non-party nationals).
Telefilm Canada reminds its clients that preliminary and final recommendations issued by Telefilm are not final decisions. It is the Department of Canadian Heritage, through the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO), that is responsible for rendering the decision on whether a project qualifies as an audiovisual treaty coproduction. Therefore, a preliminary or final recommendation by Telefilm does not guarantee the eligibility to a federal tax credit certificate or to a coproduction attestation letter.
Production companies are encouraged to contact Telefilm without delay to discuss any coproduction recommendation application they have submitted, or plan on submitting, to Telefilm that could be impacted by Brexit.
It should be noted that Brexit does not affect the bilateral audiovisual coproduction agreement between Canada and the UK. EU nationals may therefore still participate in Canada-UK treaty coproductions, subject to the terms and conditions of the treaty.
Treaty
Tools
Ready to coproduce?