Certificate of co-production status
General
The Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production was drafted in 1992. In Finland, the competent authority indicated in Article 5 of the Convention is the Ministry of Education and Culture which has authorized the Finnish Film Foundation to approve applications for co-production status.
The European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production (pdf) was updated in 2017 to better serve the changing film industry. Finland has approved the updated Convention and it has come into effect on November 1, 2022.
The Convention defines whether a production is considered of European origin and if it can be granted national status in more than one country.
A certified co-production status means receiving a national status required for certain public funding. For example Eurimages, among other funds, requires that supported projects have official co-production status.
The main production country approves the co-production status in its entirety first, followed by countries with smaller funding shares. The main production country is established first and foremost by funding share.
Bilateral approval
Finland has a bilateral agreement with Canada and France.
Application for co-production status
Before applying, please read the Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production (renewed in 2017, pdf).
The production must fulfill the conditions of the Convention in order to receive an approval and a certificate.
To begin the application process, email Pirjo Koskelo at: pirjo.koskelo@ses.fi You will be given access to a OneDrive folder, where you can upload both the application form and the required production documents.
Please do not send the application form or appendices by email!
Provisional co-production status / Provisional recognition
Submit the application form and the required production document appendices for a provisional co-production status no less than a month before the start of filming or animating.
Upload the application form and the production document appendices to a OneDrive folder provided by the Finnish Film Foundation.
The production documents as specified in Appendix I – Application procedure (p. 15) of the Convention:
- a declaration of the situation of the authors’ rights
- a synopsis of the film
- a provisional list of the technical and artistic contributions from each of the countries involved
→ See Appendix II – Definition of a qualifying cinematographic work and Weighting points (p. 17) in the Convention
- a provisional production schedule
- a budget and a provisional financing plan
- the co-production agreement or a short-form agreement (deal memo) made between the co-producers. This document must include clauses providing for the distribution of receipts or territories between the co-producers.
Final co-production status / Definitive recognition
The final co-production status is granted once the film is finished and the national authorities have processed the final production documents.
Upload the application form and the production documents to a OneDrive folder provided by the Finnish Film Foundation.
The final production documents as specified in Appendix I – Application procedure (p. 16) of the Convention:
- a complete chain of title
- a final script
- a definitive list of the technical and artistic contributions from each of the countries involved
- a final cost report
- a definitive financing plan
- the co-production agreement made between the co-producers. This contract must include clauses providing for the distribution of receipts or territories between the co-producers.