In a difficult content-buying market, finding the right coproduction partner is “massively useful” for indie producers in countries such as Canada and New Zealand to take projects off the ground, says Jane Loughman, producer and founder of Toronto-based prodco Monkeys and Parrots.

“There’s a little bit of jostling for attention in markets that are rapidly changing. Fewer things are being commissioned and everyone wants to buy a ready-made show and pay a license fee, rather than actually take the risk of commissioning something,” Loughman tells Playback Daily. Funding for indie features “based on new ideas and fresh IP” is particularly hard to come by, she adds.

Loughman was one of 23 producers who were part of a trade mission to Wellington, New Zealand between March 17 and March 24. She says the commissioning pinch is “universal” and there was consensus between producers from both countries on the need to “expand beyond borders” and reach wider audiences for financial success.

The trip was split into two parts: a three-day summit, produced by Women in Film and Television-New Zealand and participation in the Maoriland Film Festival from March 20 to 24. The mission was led by Ontario Creates in partnership with the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO), and supported by Telefilm Canada, the Canadian Media Producers Association, the Department of Canadian Heritage and Creative BC.

Panels during the summit, which took place from March 17 to 19, focused on the changing distribution landscape, financing, Indigenous copro partnerships, insights into the funding models of both countries and wide-ranging discussions over the future of the industry. Participants also took part in roundtable discussions and one-to-one meetings with their counterparts from New Zealand, who numbered close to 60.

Cree filmmaker Tasha Hubbard was one of 10 Indigenous producers who attended the trade mission. She says several Indigenous creatives on the trip “either strengthened existing plans for a coproduction or now intend to work together.”

“Given some of the contraction that is happening in the industry, collaboration can be a way to continue to bring forward Indigenous stories that are still waiting to be told,” she says, adding that the trip provided an opportunity for her to form relationships with Maori filmmakers.

Loughman, who went to the summit with the Canada-New Zealand copro Therapy 4 Adults & Aunties in hand, says creators in New Zealand want to see their own stories told but are very welcoming of “bringing in some international flavour in the form of a Canadian partner.” She says local broadcasters are looking for “attention-grabbing” projects that speak to wide audiences, as well as shows that offer the consistency of procedurals.

For Therapy 4 Adults & Aunties, which is currently in pre-production, Monkeys and Parrots has teamed up with Wellington-based Miss Conception Films. The film is an inter-generational comedy, centred on an eco-architect who returns to her family’s honey farm in New Zealand after blowing up her professional life.

The feature was developed with the support of Ontario Creates, Telefilm Canada and New Zealand Film Commission. Game Theory Films is on board as the Canadian distributor. It will be shot in New Zealand with post-production taking place in Canada.

“We have a long-standing treaty with New Zealand. And it’s a very well thought out one. So from a very practical, legal perspective, the roadmap is laid,” says Loughman, noting that the country presents an opportunity to reach a “very vibrant theatrical market.”

Canada and New Zealand signed a copro treaty in 1987. It was updated in 2016, and since then, 16 projects have come out of the agreement. Under the treaty, third-party producers may also participate in works produced.

Erin Creasey, director, industry development at Ontario Creates, says an advantage of working with New Zealand is that it provides a gateway to other territories, including Taiwan.

Previous projects coming out of the treaty include the CBC series The Sounds (Shaftesbury/South Pacific Pictures) and Danis Goulet’s feature Night Raiders, both of which came up during discussions on successful collaborations, according to Loughman.

For Scythia Films’ Daniel Bekerman, the summit reinforced the idea that content between Canada and New Zealand is very “compatible.”

Scythia Films has seen the synergies up close, on the project Come to Daddy, a Canada-New Zealand-Ireland copro, and the recently completed Canada-New Zealand copro I, Object, produced with Southern Light Films.

“There’s a mutual desire to tell original stories with a unique perspective. We share a self-deprecating sense of humour, a sense of connection to our incredible natural landscapes, and also our point of view is affected by our proximity to our larger neighbours. Perhaps that steers us toward the David and Goliath archetype, perhaps it steers us toward stories about our place in nature, and almost certainly it steers us to stories in which protagonists grapple with their place in the larger world,” says Bekerman.

Image courtesy of Ontario Creates