Report – Focus on Canada

Posted on: Thursday 06 July 2017 1:18pm by Amy King

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Host Jeff Norton from Awesome Media & Entertainment led this morning’s session deliberating the pitfalls and challenges of co-production, joined by a panel of Canadian producers, distributors, and broadcasters

Takeaway:

• Co-production is potentially a complex system, but if the right partnership is formed the outcome is worth it
• It’s crucial to develop a good relationship with a potential co-pro before signing off on a project

Detail: 

The interactive session promised to demystify the world of co-production and simply help delegates learn how to do business with Canada. Despite the early time slot, the panel were primed and ready to answer questions from the delegates, and to discuss their own experiences working on co-produced content.

Suzanne Wilson from Breakthrough Entertainment joined the panel to explain the inner workings of co-production, and the role of the current government in regulating the industry and supporting the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to make co-production possible.

The panel also discussed the importance of building a relationship with your co-producer. Marie McCann from the CBC advises that “face to face time is extremely valuable”, and that it’s hard to discuss creative ideas over an email. The emphasis on really knowing who you’re working with was stressed recurrently and Michelle Melanson-Cuperus from Radical Sheep joked “there should be a Tinder for this”.

Describing one of her co-productions with a UK company as a “leap of faith” driven by love for the creator and the property, Michelle illustrated the benefits of building a good relationship with a co-producer, as these relationships will help the independent production industry thrive.

Luckily for these independent producers there are specialist ‘match makers’ like Tatiana Kober from Bejuba! Entertainment, who stays on board throughout the whole project so the partnership runs effectively.

The session closed on the idea that Canadian broadcasters want more co-productions, which is encouraging news for UK companies looking to work with Canada in the future.