ABSTRACT
The strategic importance of partnerships when analysing the collaborative nature of filmmaking can never be overstated in the film business. Co-production (and co-financing) is an approach and strategy that has for historical reasons tended to be enshrined in the post-1960 European method of film financing and production. Film made as a co-production is any type of production that involves more than one producing party in the financing and production process – whether through official channels or unofficial. Co-productions may be made through a partnership, a joint venture or through varying types of co-operation, the most common of which fall under official co-production treaties. During the 1980s and 1990s, co-productions were particularly dominant across Europe, and still remain a vital strategy for continental territories as a means to harness additional finance and distribution potential beyond their national support systems.
