{"id":497040,"date":"2025-10-13T20:41:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T20:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/497040\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T20:41:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T20:41:18","slug":"u-k-tax-credits-co-productions-discussed-at-london-film-fest-panel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/497040\/","title":{"rendered":"U.K. Tax Credits, Co-Productions Discussed at London Film Fest Panel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe U.K.\u2019s film tax credit scheme is emerging as a major draw for international co-productions, helping the country shed its reputation for challenging legal structures and complex financing requirements, according to a panel of leading producers at the BFI London Film Festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGreat Britain comes with so many opportunities,\u201d said Polish producer Klaudia \u015amieja-Rostworowska of Madants Film, noting that the British tax credit is \u201can exceptional one\u201d that has helped European filmmakers understand how to structure bigger films while maintaining cultural proximity. \u201cIt\u2019s really worth to do with UK first before you jump into bigger the U.S. market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGreat Britain is the first stop when we dream about Hollywood,\u201d \u015amieja-Rostworowska added. \u201cEveryone does have this dream, no matter how much you try to avoid. Yes, everyone wants to go there because the money seems to be great. Everyone wants to have their films to be distributed in the States. And it\u2019s very natural that we want to have this.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThe praise for U.K. incentives came during a discussion on international co-productions at the festival\u2019s industry forum, featuring producers behind several festival titles including \u201cSentimental Value<\/a>,\u201d \u201cOrphan,\u201d \u201cDreamers,\u201d and \u201cDiamonds in the Sand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEmily Morgan of London-based Quiddity Films emphasized the attraction of U.K. financing sources, particularly for minority co-producers. \u201cThe sources of money that come from here are attractive these days, and I think the crews are brilliant,\u201d she said, while acknowledging that \u201cthere\u2019s no denying that the legals are intense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMorgan, whose credits include \u201cThe Settlers\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m Not a Witch,\u201d is wrapping production on \u201cThe Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands\u201d in Belfast, bringing a Swedish-Icelandic-Belgian production to Northern Ireland. The U.K. component represented 30% of the financing, leveraging the country\u2019s tax credit along with the BFI\u2019s Global Screen Fund and Northern Ireland Screen support.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Global Screen Fund, established after Brexit to replace Creative Europe funding, has proven particularly valuable for U.K. producers seeking to participate in international projects. \u201cWhen Brexit happened, I was about to move to Amsterdam to be a European producer,\u201d Morgan revealed. \u201cBut then the global screen fund\u2026 started making my co-producing dreams come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe panel illuminated the complex realities of assembling international co-productions, with producers describing structures ranging from two countries to as many as nine on a single film.<\/p>\n

\n\tMaria Ekerhovd of Norway\u2019s Mer Film detailed the financing of \u201cSentimental Value,\u201d the new film from Joachim Trier (\u201cThe Worst Person in the World\u201d), which brought together five countries. Norway held 60% of the budget, with France at 20%, and Sweden, Denmark, and Germany splitting the remainder. Crucially, approximately 70% came from soft money \u2013 public funding sources \u2013 ensuring creative freedom.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe started the financing really before we had anything,\u201d Ekerhovd explained. The project\u2019s prestigious pedigree allowed the producers to be strategic about which partners to invite, rather than having to convince reluctant financiers.<\/p>\n

\n\tProducer and Asian Film Alliance Network Secretary General Lorna Tee described even more complex arrangements, including work on the Cannes title \u201cViet and Nam<\/a>\u201d that required coordinating nine co-producers. For \u201cDiamonds in the Sand,\u201d her current film at the festival, she assembled a Philippines-Japan co-production with 70% Filipino financing and 30% Japanese funding.<\/p>\n

\n\tDespite the technical complexities, all four producers emphasized that personal connections and trust matter more than contractual frameworks when selecting co-production partners.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI hate this loneliness in the business,\u201d \u015amieja-Rostworowska said, explaining her preference for horizontal partnership structures where all producers maintain equal creative input, rather than vertical arrangements with a single decision-maker. \u201cChoosing the partners, those partners, physical partners that will be your colleagues for another five years, is a crucial thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTee stressed the importance of informal vetting: \u201cEating together is really important in Asia\u2026 you get to know people very differently when you see them at a state of relaxation.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThe producers cautioned against pursuing co-productions solely for financial reasons. \u201cI\u2019m not so sure whether convincing people to do five, six countries is such a good idea,\u201d \u015amieja-Rostworowska said, noting that administrative burdens and delayed cash flows can outweigh the benefits of additional funding.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe panel offered frank assessments of relationships with sales agents, describing them as \u201cinstrumental\u201d but acknowledging tensions in the partnership dynamics.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSometimes, as a producer, you feel it\u2019s very unfair, because both [sales agents] and distributors, they come in often quite late, and they get out early, and they always earn money on the project, and very rarely we do,\u201d Ekerhovd said. However, she credited MK2 Films\u2019 early involvement in \u201cSentimental Value\u201d as crucial to achieving the necessary budget level through pre-sales and bringing in additional financiers.<\/p>\n

\n\tTee noted the current challenges facing sales companies while warning producers to research how agents treat debut directors. \u201cSome sales agents\u2026 really suck at dealing with a first time debut director, because they want 2000 euros per screening fee for every festival,\u201d she said, adding that this can conflict with a producer\u2019s goal of maximizing festival exposure.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe discussion briefly touched on potential U.S. tariffs but producers largely dismissed immediate concerns, with \u015amieja-Rostworowska noting that after \u201ca week of panic,\u201d the industry moved on.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen asked about favorite co-production markets, Rotterdam and Berlin drew the most mentions, though \u015amieja-Rostworowska praised the London Film Festival\u2019s industry program for allowing more focused business conversations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The U.K.\u2019s film tax credit scheme is emerging as a major draw for international co-productions, helping the country…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[121444,748,393,4884,257,76005,16,15,163445],"class_list":{"0":"post-497040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-bfi-london-film-festival","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-london","13":"tag-sentimental-value","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-viet-and-nam"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115368800165147764","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}