Indian cabinet approves UK India Film Co production Treaty

The government of India has given its final clearance to sign the Indo-UK Film Co production Treaty. The treaty took three years of tough negotiations and more than 15 overseas visits by the film and govt officials from the two countries. Now, the Indian producers filming in the UK will be able to save large sums of money on their production budgets, writes Pervaiz Alam.

"The Union Cabinet today (April 24, 2008) gave its approval to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting for signing the Annex (Rules of Procedure) to the Film Co-production Agreement signed with Government of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland," said a govt statement issued by the state-controlled Press Information Bureau in New Delhi.

The bureau statement goes on to add: "This will enable the Indian film industry to co-produce films with the film industry of United Kingdom. The Agreement would encourage the making of films reflecting the diversity of culture and heritage of both the countries. The benefits would flow to both the Co-producers."

Savings on production budgets

'Shoot on Sight' (2008), featuring Brian Cox & Naseeruddin Shah, benefits from UK Tax IncentivesIndia EU Film Initiative has welcomed the Indian approval. The treaty will encourage a large number of Indian film producers to avail several tax incentives and film schemes in the UK. Every year, about 60 Indian films are released in the UK and some of them are shot in Britain, generating revenues between £16- £18 million for the Indian film industry. Most of them are Bollywood productions. Now, the producers filming in the UK could save more money on their production budgets through various tax incentives that will apply after the treaty, according to India EU Film Initiative.

Films can qualify as British in one of three ways. They must meet the requirements of one of the following: One of the UK's official bilateral co-production treaties; or The European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production; or the Cultural Test, according to the UK Film Council.

Information and Broadcasting Minister of India Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said the agreement would encourage the making of films reflecting the diversity of culture and heritage of both the countries.

The UK Government currently has five active bi-lateral film co-production agreements with Australia, and Canada, France, New Zealand and South Africa. The aim of these agreements is to encourage cross cultural collaboration between film makers from both countries. They are also known as treaties.

Three years of negotiation

The preliminary negotiations to have a film treaty between the two nations started in 2005 when Tessa Jowell, the then Culture Secretary, met her counterpart, Jaipal Reddy, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, in New Delhi, to discuss developing a co-production treaty with India. Both signed the first part of the co-production treaty in December 2005. And, then came the lull for three years!

"During the last three years it has been said by the officials on both sides that the second part (Annex) was being negotiated. But it was clear from the very start that Indians had a number of reservations about the draft. The treaty cannot come into force until both parts are agreed and subsequent legal procedures have been completed. Now, after getting the nod from the Indian cabinet, the final signing of the treaty could happen any time, possibly in the next two months. Thus, India could become the sixth nation to have a co production treaty with Great Britain," said the London-based film think tank, India EU Film Initiative.

"A co-production treaty would encourage Indian film makers to invest in British talent and UK locations. In return they would benefit from UK film making expertise and the films could be eligible for UK film tax incentives, which are designed to encourage investment in our domestic industry," maintains the Culture department of the UK.

However, there are concerns among some producers in India that they will be compelled to register their film projects in the UK in order to get tax incentives, thus declaring them as British rather than Indian.

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