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International co-productions have demonstrated considerable utility and surprising flexibility since their inception almost a half-century ago. As a complex web of official government-to-government co-production treaties grew in the postwar era, international partnerships were employed by the old and new world alike. In Europe, the goal was to re-invigorate the film industry with a view to protecting a rich cultural heritage. In Canada, co-productions were seen as a mechanism for nation-building as the young country tried to find itself in a popular culture dominated by its southern neighbour. In both cases the attraction to international co-productions was the potential of short-circuiting the centre-periphery relationships identified by Innis (1950), Galtung & Vincent (1992), and others. The premise was that like-minded peripheral countries could pool resources on a single project and amortize costs over a larger population, thereby lessening reliance on the centre (in this case, Hollywood).
The advantages, disadvantages, and track record of international co-productions have been documented elsewhere (Hoskins & Mirus, 1988; Hoskins & McFadyen, 1993; Johnston, 1992; Strover, 1994). The purpose here is to identify four important changes that will shape the future of international co-operation in the creation of media content. First, the extension of treaty advantages to non-treaty countries. Second, the changing regional and global trade arrangements that impact the cultural industries. Third, the role of emerging-language groups in reassessing the market for media content. And fourth, the adoption of international co-productions by the creators of interactive new media. Each will be discussed in turn.
De facto treaty status
Taylor (1994) documents 66 bilateral co-production treaties between 35 countries signed since 1950, with just less than half of the total involving countries in the Americas--Canada (23), Mexico (4), Cuba (1), Brazil (5), Argentina (2), and Chile (1). Three successive multilateral co-production treaties in Europe, culminating in the Council of Europe's Convention on Co-productions Fund (1994), extend the web of potential co-production partners by another 15 countries. A multilateral convention on co-productions through the Conferencia de Autoridades de Ibero-America extends treaty status to its member countries across Latin America. Bilateral and multilateral treaties tend to grant reciprocity to non-treaty countries that are recognized by treaty countries, meaning there are probably as many back doors to treaty arrangements as there are front doors.
The treaty...