Exclusive - Council of Europe Pilot programme for series co-production now open. Co-head Alex Traila talks to us

Exclusive: Traila details for us the Council of Europe’s ground-breaking pilot programme to support the co-production of high-end series.

As of October 2, Independent European producers can apply for the brand-new ‘Pilot Programme for Series Co-Productions’, a top-up financing scheme from the Council of Europe mirroring the major Eurimages co-production support scheme for feature films.

The Council of Europe’s pilot programme run parallel to Eurimages, is co-headed by Alex Traila and Alessia Sonaglioni.

So far 13 contributing countries are supporting the programme, with the following organisations: the Flemish Minister of Media, Le Ministère de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Ministry of Culture Estonia, Ministry of Culture of the Hellenic Republic, Hungary’s National Film Institute, the Luxembourg Film Fund, Netherlands Film Fund, Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia, Portugal’s Institute of Cinema, Ministry of Culture of Republic of Serbia, Ministry of Culture of Slovak Republic, Ministry of Culture of Republic of Slovenia, and Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales in Spain.

Alex Traila details for us the scheme, its objectives, budget and conditions to apply.

What are the main reasons that led the Council of Europe to the decision to launch the pilot programme for series co-productions?
Alex Traila: We can go back to 2019, when the Council of Europe started to assess the impact of A.I. and algorithm models on the industry.

Eurimages commissioned a study which highlighted the global platforms such as Netflix‘s use of algorithm to curate their content, and their dominating position on the European market. The Council of Europe felt this position of strength might have an impact on the freedom of artistic expression.

Then Covid slowed down many things, but at the same time boosted the market position of giant streaming services.

In 2021, the process was resumed, a conference was organised in Budapest with broadcasters, producers, institutions, decision-makers etc. A conclusion paper was published with guidelines, which included the possible creation of an instrument which would provide financing to independent producers to leverage their market position in the series sector, and help them keep a certain level of IP. The paper also put forward the idea of adapting Eurimages’ standard for co-production of feature films to drama series.

We continued to work with experts on this possible financial instrument and a concept was defined at a conference of European Ministers of Culture in 2022, when they openly invited the Council of Europe to start implementing a programme, that would respond to the needs of the industry.

Today, the support for series co-production is a three-year pilot programme, running until the end of 2025. It is a cooperation project of the Council of Europe, administered by Eurimages. This means that it has its own governance structure and it is financed independently by contributions from countries who want to join the programme, so not all 39 Eurimages member states participate.

So far, how many countries are contributing members?
AT: At this stage we have 13 countries: Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Serbia, Slovak Republic.

So the Nordic countries aren’t signatories yet…
AT: No. But we are in discussions with all of them. In some cases such as Denmark, Finland and Norway, it’s a timing issue due to other priorities happening at a national level. With Sweden, there is a technical issue as the Swedish Film Institute which could be the body representing the country in our pilot programme, doesn’t have a series support system in place. With Iceland, we are in constructive talks with the new head of the Icelandic Film Centre Gísli Snær Erlingsson.

What’s your overall budget for the first year and how many projects do you hope to support?
AT: The total budget of the pilot programme is estimated at €21 million for three years. However this year we will start with slightly less than a third of the estimated budget. With our top-up money, we hope to support between 8-10 projects.

How many rounds of call for applications will you have each year?
AT: We have only one annual call for applications which just opened October 2, and will remain open for a month.

What exact sum will be available to producers?
AT: We have two types of non-recoupable grants of €250,000 and €500,000. It will be up to the applicant producer to choose the financial support. The only limitation is that the amount should not exceed 25% of the total budget of the project. This is to cater to different geographical regions of Europe where you have smaller or higher budgets for drama series.

What types of drama projects will you be looking for?
AT: We don’t have an editorial line but eligible projects can be within scripted fiction [max 10x60’], animation or documentary genres. Diversity will be a key selection criterium besides the co-production structures that follow our requirements.

What are the key criteria/conditions then for eligibility?
AT: We ask producers from a contributing country to be the initiators of the project and to hold a minimum threshold of 10% of the rights.

• Co-producers should be from an Eurimages member state to enlarge the process to a wider geographical area. They should each hold at least 5% of the rights and contribute to the creative process. They can bring any financing on board-tax rebates, broadcaster/platform, shelter equity etc.
• The applicant needs to come with a broadcaster or steaming service from his own country and bring at least 60% of the total financing.
• Another rule is that projects must come with a licensing agreement in at least one other Eurimages member state - be it a pre-sale with a broadcaster or platform or a distribution agreement for the territories outside the co-production countries.

The drama sector is in a constant state of flux so we try to remain as flexible as possible. But through our grants, we make sure the initiator of the project keeps a stronger position and some leverage in attracting other financiers.

What about US streamers like Netflix? Can they be part of the financing mix?
AT: Yes they can be co-financiers or co-producers but can’t control more than 30% of the rights. Indie producers with other partners should have the majority of the rights to have the major say in the creative process.

Who selects the projects?
AT: It’s an independent panel of experts from the sector, with experience in co-production, broadcasting, production, distribution, sales etc.

The beauty of the pilot is that we can assess the programme and see what needs to be tweaked for the next call for applications.

What can you say about the Series Co-Production Development Award?
AT: Eurimages has a long-lasting practice with the film development awards, so again we felt it would be a good idea to replicate the initiative with drama series. It’s basically a call for partnerships with events, organised in the countries part of the programme.

These events must have a section dedicated to drama series or a co-production market. They need to have a selection of TV projects in development, built as co-productions, ideally with indie producers from the Eurimages larger scope. The winning project will receive €50,000.

The call for organisations wishing to host the series co-production development award also opens October 2nd. We will hopefully support four markets per year.