Guest post by Yael Bergman
A few days at Strategic Partners, Halifax, Canada and a crash course at International Co-Production Financing.
I saw Ted in Toronto a few days before heading to Strategic Partners in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He suggested I write on his blog with what went on there. I am reporting back now…
I write this as an Australian producer who recently produced a romantic comedy in Australia called I Love You Too. It was completely financed within Australia, largely with Australian and state government investment, and the tax rebate (up to 40 per cent of Australian spend). We are fortunate in Australia to have this public funding as a resource, and whilst it is perpetually competitive, it is the way most film and television is made in Australia. It sustains the industry and ensures we continue to tell Australian stories.
My producing partner, Laura Waters, who is originally from Colorado but has lived in Australia for almost 20 years, regularly comments that she can’t believe governments actually give you money to develop and make stuff here. Well, it’s true!
To some independent American producers, this must sound like the gold pot at the end of the rainbow, but the reality is it’s a limited pool and the funding bodies (and consequently, the producers) are always trying to work out a way to make it stretch further.
One good way is via co-producing, i.e. we split the cost of making a project over two or more countries that has a vested interest, and then we can each claim it as our own as a “national film”. Arguably, the project should be culturally relevant to each producing country and there needs to be a fair split between creative elements and financial contribution, but on the whole, with a bit of juggling, it can work very well if the project calls for it. (NB: This applies for international producers entering into an official co-production with Australia, the project becomes automatically entitled to the Producer Offset rebate as an Australian project, up to 40% of Australian spend.)
