Eastern Partnership Culture Programme DAB Harmonisation Project Co-Production and the Eastern Partnership Region - Obstacles, Opportunities and Harmonisation Tbilisi International Film Festival, 5/6 December 2013

Co-Production and the Eastern Partnership Region - Obstacles, Opportunities and Harmonisation - The DAB Harmonisation Project is a component of a wider DAB Project under the EuroEast Culture Programme - The aim of the DAB Harmonisation Project is to clarify the issues and promote options for increasing and improving the possibilities for international co-production activity both within the region and between countries in the region and European Union member states - The core of the project is research-based information gathering focussed on the six countries of the Eastern Partnership Region supplemented by research on wider issues related to international co-production activity 2

Co-Production and the Eastern Partnership Region - Obstacles, Opportunities and Harmonisation How the Project has Developed - The original thinking was that the best path to improving and expanding international co-production opportunities was through harmonisation of national legislation within the region - It became clear that general legislative constraints in most countries of the region, as well as country-specific issues related to film/cinema/audiovisual legislation, meant such an approach could only be long-term and the practical results the project could realistically achieve would be limited - The lack of practical knowledge and understanding in the region hitherto of how to use the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production was very obvious in the early stages of the research and an important 'regional weakness' - The planned revision of the European Convention on Cinematographic Co- production, the negotiations, scheduled for 2014, have provided an obvious focus for the project's orientation 3

The Three Main Ways to Facilitate Enhanced International Co- production Opportunities - 'Friendly' national legislation, tax rules and funding mechanisms which create a helpful working climate for producers and film-makers - Bilateral agreements between countries encouraging and facilitating co- production activity - Practical use of the European Convention on Cinematographic Co- production 4 Co-Production and the Eastern Partnership Region - Obstacles, Opportunities and Harmonisation

National legislation, tax rules and funding mechanisms - national legislation is sometimes out of date, 'unfriendly' or simply non-existent/partial producing bureaucratic barriers, contradictions and an unhelpful environment for exploration of co-production activity - passing new legislation or revising old legislation takes a long time (e.g. Armenia) because of a backlog of legislation but also a lack of internal national consensus - the possibilities of 'harmonising' the national legislation of the countries of the region are extremely limited given there is often absence of domestic national consensus - there are no real incentives or drivers within the Eastern Partnership region for the countries of the region to 'harmonise' with each other, given that there appears to be more interest to engage in co-production activity with countries outside of the region than with neighbours - any possibilities for some degree of harmonisation of national legislation could realistically only come through use of European or international conventions or mechanisms 5

Co-Production and the Eastern Partnership Region - Obstacles, Opportunities and Harmonisation Bilateral agreements between countries encouraging and facilitating co- production activity - motivation for such agreements is often political or diplomatic rather than practical and technical - practical provisions including budgetary dimensions are often not covered in such agreements - some will obviously work better than others but not clear whether there exists a useful model relevant to the region - the proposed bilateral agreement between Ukraine and Georgia could be interesting in this context - it is difficult to see what can in practical terms be achieved through such agreements that cannot be achieved through use of the European Convention 6

Co-Production and the Eastern Partnership Region - Obstacles, Opportunities and Harmonisation Practical Use of the European Convention on Cinematographic Co- production - Even without envisaged revision it works (e.g. Georgia's experience) - The fact that governments in the region have ratified it (even if they do not know what they have ratified!) means that it is a politically acceptable instrument - It represents a neutral, common mechanism through which the countries of the region can actively work together to support their interests during the coming revision negotiations - While the other two areas should not be neglected, for the DAB Harmonisation Project the upcoming revision of the Convention is the most practical focus for achieving the original practical aims of the project 7

Co-Production and the Eastern Partnership Region - Obstacles, Opportunities and Harmonisation The DAB Harmonisation Project - Other Points - The work will be completed by late January At that time we will publish seven practical Reports - six country- focussed reports and one 'regional' report - The Regional Report will contain a small number of strategic and practical observations and recommendations with suggestions on how they could be taken forward and suggestions for a timetable for action 8

Thank you for your attention! If you have any comments, questions or contributions that you can make to this particular project, please contact me Terry Sandell DAB Harmonisation Project Leader Director, Cultural Futures LLP Senior Associate, St Antony's College, Oxford University Tel. +44 (0)