This September, the Strategic Partners copro market in Halifax will be spotlighting the U.S. and Germany due to popular demand.

‘We looked at the U.S. as a potential partner in 1999, but there was a lot of resistance to putting a spotlight on the U.S. [at the time],’ says Jan Miller, director of Strategic Partners. But times have changed.

Today the U.S. is perceived as a country with ‘added dollars and expertise that we need to explore,’ she explains.

Miller believes that the drastic industry mood swing is a result of increased Canadian confidence.

‘Own the podium,’ says Miller, drawing a comparison to Canada’s approach to the Vancouver Olympics, ‘is like saying we’re able to do it. I think we’re ready to be generous as a nation. We are comfortable in who we are instead of having to earn the position.’

Miller thinks a confident attitude has replaced the old ‘protectionism’ and that Canadian producers are ready to work with the world’s best, many of whom have gathered in Hollywood.

‘Someone without confidence is either aggressive or sullen. Someone with confidence will say ‘I can see how this will work to meet our needs and your needs,” she explains. ‘And the addition of the U.S. as a spotlight partner to co-venture with will add another important dynamic to the opportunities for global co-financing.’

Also new to the 2010 event is the addition of multiplatform producers to the list of delegates from around the globe.

And this year’s Trans Atlantic Partners (co-founded by SP and Germany’s Erich Pommer Institut) will unravel two case studies of complex international copros.

The $20 million-plus The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Canada/U.K./France) and the $5 million Restless (Canada/Israel/Belgium/France/Germany) represent ‘both ends of the budget spectrum,’ says Miller.

Parnassus producer Amy Gilliam (U.K. director Terry Gilliam’s daughter) and Restless producers Martin Paul-Hus (Canada) and Sébastien Delloye (Belgium) will present in-depth case studies as part of the 2010 TAP intensive training program.

These Halifax initiatives have been very fruitful in the past, with international copro specialists like Winnipeg’s Buffalo Gal Pictures making deals at TAP.

‘We are actively in development with Cyriac Auriol on a feature film, Dying Inside, that will be a Canada/France coproduction,’ says Buffalo Gal’s Phyllis Laing. ‘We began working with Cyriac on this project shortly after the Berlin portion of TAP. Cyriac and the director, Bruno Merle, came to Winnipeg for location scouting right after the Halifax portion of TAP. We have now met internationally three times in the past seven months. We have done a schedule and budget and plan to shoot this project in the spring of 2011. The anticipated budget for the project is €3 million.’

Laing says another film, The Homing, budgeted at US$6 million, is also in the works with Andrew Bendel of London.

‘We have just had confirmation that the development financing has been received to finalize the polish draft of the script,’ says Laing. ‘We are hoping this film will go into production as early as the fall of 2010.’