montreal: The opportunities for enhanced feature film coproduction with the u.k. seem more propitious than in recent memory. Certainly that’s the hope of 24 Canadian producers who participated in last month’s feature film U.K. Immersion program in London, Eng.

Producer Alexandra Raffe of Toronto’s Savi Media says she was ‘blown away by the range and seniority of the u.k. participants.’

‘I have an enormous amount of information to sift through and many leads to follow up with u.k. producers on several projects – theirs and mine, short and long term,’ says Raffe. ‘A further benefit has been getting to know some of the Canadian producers better, and I have no doubt that in the next year I will start collaborations with Canadian and u.k. partners that will be directly linked to this Immersion.’

Organized by Telefilm Canada and the Canadian High Commission in London, the five-day U.K. Immersion program, held Nov. 20-24, was nothing short of intense and covered the entire British industry, says Sheila de La Varende, director of Telefilm’s European office in Paris. Meetings were held with many of the top players in the u.k. industry, among them managers from the Film Council, British producers in the Producers’ Alliance for Cinema and Television, and commissioning editors from Film Four, bbc, Granada and Sky Pictures.

Both Canada and the u.k. have deepened the resources available for movie production.

Government in the u.k. has implemented a multifaceted policy recognizing the importance of feature film production and development, and the desirability of cultural divesity, says de La Varende.

Film Council programs include the Premiere Production fund, a more commercial program worth £10 million ($22.3 million); the New Cinema fund for personal and experimental filmmaking projects, £$5 million ($11.2 million); and the Film Development fund, another £5 million.

‘So it’s really a comprehensive strategy to boost the film and television sector in Britain, specifically the feature film sector,’ says de La Varende.

‘That was the strategic focus of the Immersion, to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity and give the Canadian producers the chance to understand where the British industry is coming from and where it’s going to in this new era.

‘You can’t create a coproduction unless you know the context and the context has changed enormously. There is the financing question and the [issue] of Britain’s [proximity] to Europe. And there is also the issue of the talent base. Up to now we’ve benefited from those things, but we need to benefit on a higher level.’

Two of the more successful sessions included a chat with filmmaker Mike Leigh, known for his extended and inspired workshops with actors, and a discussion on FilmFour’s marketing campaign for the movie East is East.

Coprod explosion

Feature film coproduction between Canada and the u.k. has grown from five last year to 13 (as of the end of September) in 2000. The growth is partly due to additional u.k. resources coming online, including new feature film money through the lottery-franchise program, the tax-based sale and leaseback program, and more recently, the strategic policy and funding shift culminating in the launch of the governing Film Council body. The council’s combined resources are in the order of £54 million ($120.6 million) a year.

Of the 13 feature film coproductions evaluated for certification by Telefilm, Canada’s share of the financing is 56%. The u.k. share is 34%, with the balance of financing from third-country sources. The creative split between directors (46% Canadian) and screenwriters (57% Canadian) is reasonably well-balanced. Much of the filming this year took place in Canada or third-party countries, less so in the u.k. (33%), with a clear majority of projects post-produced in Canada (69%).

The value of combined budgets for coproduced features with the u.k. in 2000 is $145.1 million. The 2000 total (effective the end of September) does not include several feature film projects still under evaluation.

The total number of coproduced feature films between 1997 and 2000 stands at 36.

In related news, Canada and the u.k. held a Joint Commission on Co-production in London at the end of November. Since 1997, Telefilm has certified 75 film and tv projects with the u.k., representing production activity of $637 million.

This year’s UK Immersion sponsors include pact, Air Canada, the Banff Television Festival, The Completion Guarantors, Ex-Centris, Nortel Networks, Saskfilm, Showcase and TVA International. *

-www.telefilm.gc.ca