Value-based co-production: A manual for fairer co-production in fiction and documentary film
Co-production makes films possible across borders. It brings together financing, creative collaboration, editorial exchange, and access to new audiences. But when rights and revenue are allowed to follow expenditure alone, unequal production conditions can turn cooperation into imbalance.
Value-based co-production offers a practical model for structuring co-production more fairly – by anchoring value in relation to the film, not only in money spent.
“Within the Society and Culture Department of ARTE France, we maintain a close working dialogue with our partners on how they intend to divide production responsibilities, costs, and funding. We ask for clarity and transparency, both of which are essential to successful co-productions for every co-producer involved.
In that sense, we were pleased to encounter the Value-Based Co-Production model, because it fits within the broader understanding of how we believe international co-productions should function.”
– Fabrice Puchault, Head of Society and Culture Department, ARTE France.
The manual was written by Henrik Underbjerg and published by IMS and The National Film School of Denmark.
