Statement by Minister Joly on the Signing of a New Canada-New Zealand Audiovisual Coproduction Treaty

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sept. 12, 2016) - I am very pleased that the Government of Canada has signed a new audiovisual coproduction treaty with New Zealand. This treaty will further position Canada as a partner of choice in audiovisual coproduction and strengthen our cultural and economic ties with New Zealand.

Daniel Mellsop, High Commissioner of New Zealand to Canada, and I signed the agreement yesterday at the Toronto International Film Festival. It will replace the existing treaty from 1987.

An audiovisual coproduction treaty allows producers to combine creative and financial resources to develop coproductions that increase cultural exchanges between partner countries, let creators share expertise and contribute to economic growth.

In order for the new treaty to come into effect, each country will have to complete domestic procedures to ratify it. Once in force, the treaty will open the door to opportunities for producers from both countries by offering more creative flexibility and will better respond to new practices and technologies.

Projects coproduced under a treaty are given national status in both Canada and the partner country. This makes producers eligible for national benefits in their own countries, such as funding programs or tax incentives.

In the past 50 years, Canada has signed audiovisual coproduction treaties with 54 countries. Over the past 10 years alone, our country has produced 654 audiovisual treaty coproductions, whose production budgets total $4.8 billion.

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