Screen Australia

Screen Australia aims to inspire, inform and engage screen audiences through compelling Australian storytelling.

Since the inception of the Official Co-production program in Australia in 1986, formal arrangements have been signed with 14 countries.

225 Official Co-production titles with total budgets of $2.180 billion have either been completed or have commenced production (as of December 31st 2025).

Canada (75), the UK and Northern Ireland (54) and France (35) represent the highest level of activity. There have been 26 co-productions with New Zealand, 13 with Germany, 12 with Ireland, seven with China, seven with Singapore and four with Italy.

Co-productions by country over time

Australia has maintained consistent co-production activity with Canada and the UK since the program began, with co-productions made with one or more of these partners almost every year.

Over the past five years 19 Official Co-productions have completed or commenced production. Canada (six), New Zealand (five) and Ireland (four) have been the most active partners over this period.

Type of production

To date the largest proportion of co-productions have been feature films, accounting for 38% of all titles made and 52% of total production budgets.

Live-action TV drama accounts for 21% of titles and 21%, and animation 20% of titles and 20% of budgets.

Documentaries make up 21%, but only 4% of total budgets, reflecting the generally lower budget levels of documentaries over drama formats.

Co-production by type over time

Feature films have not only made up the largest proportion of co-production activity, they have also been the most consistently produced. Since 1986, there have been only seven years without at least one feature co-production commencing production.

Balance over time

As the Co-production Program is intended to benefit the economies, industry personnel, studios and laboratories of partner countries, each Treaty or Memorandum of Understanding requires a ‘balance over time’ of the financial and creative participation of partner countries. 

The graph shows the Australian share of finance, spend and ‘points’ (Screen Australia’s indicator of creative contribution) since the beginning of the program, for all partner countries, as well as partners with a significant number of projects. 

Multi-party co-productions

A ‘multi party co-production’ refers to content produced jointly by an Australian co-producer, a co-producer from one of Australia’s co-production partner countries, and a third co-producer from a country that has a co-production arrangement either with Australia or the other partner country.

Multi-party co-productions can ease the financial burden on participants by enabling costs to be split three ways. However, they can also add extra complexity, with multiple sets of guidelines and market requirements to be etm, and (potentially) three different currencies to be factored.

Only 14 of Australia’s 225 Official Co-productions to date have been structured as multi-party projects. However, this model is more common in Europe.

Multi-party co-productions to date include:

If you are contemplating a multi-party co-production please contact the Producer Offset and Co-production Unit (POCU) here:  [email protected]. 

The European model

Funding and support from the 47-member Council of Europe has resulted in a high propensity for international co-productions between European partners. The council has implemented two initiatives designed to foster diplomatic harmony, cultural exchange and economic development via co-productions:

Statistical data

Download the full list of projects covered by the Co-production statistical data here.