At a glance
- If you are a foreign producer co-producing with an Italian partner, Eurimages, the Council of Europe’s co-production fund, can add public money on top of the Italian and your own national funding.
- At the time of application, at least 50% of the financing must be confirmed in each co-producing country, including Italy, and a signed co-production agreement must show the shares.
- Italy adds its own requirements: the film’s Italian nationality, a chain of title that holds up under Italian law, and the contract clauses the Italian tax credit requires.
Updated October 2026, based on the Eurimages Co-production Support Regulations 2026.
You have a project, a partner in Italy, and a financing plan with a gap. Eurimages is often the piece that closes it. But a Eurimages application involving Italy has to work on two levels at once: the Fund’s own rules, and the Italian rules that decide whether your Italian partner can bring its share of the money. This guide explains both, from the point of view of a producer outside Italy.
Is your project eligible?
Eurimages supports feature films, documentaries and animated films of at least 70 minutes, intended for theatrical release and co-produced by independent producers from at least two member countries of the Fund. Italy is a member, as are most European countries. If your country is not a member, you can still take part as a co-producer, but producers from non-member countries together cannot exceed 30% of the budget.
The co-production must be structured under a bilateral treaty between your country and Italy, or under the Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-production. Our guide to Italy’s co-production treaties explains which one applies.
How to split the budget with your Italian partner
- Bilateral co-productions (you and Italy): the majority co-producer cannot exceed 80% of the budget, and the minority co-producer cannot go below 20%. A majority share of up to 90% is accepted only for bilateral co-productions outside the revised Convention, with a budget above €5 million and a structure that complies with a bilateral treaty.
- Multilateral co-productions (three or more countries): the majority co-producer cannot exceed 70%, and each minority co-producer cannot go below 10%.
The shares must also reflect reality. Each partner’s creative and technical contribution should be in proportion to its financial share. A minority partner that brings money but no crew, cast or creative input looks like a formality, and that weakens the application.
The 50% rule, country by country
At the time of application, at least 50% of the financing in each co-producing country must be confirmed by formal commitments or agreements in principle. This is the rule foreign producers most often misread: it is not 50% of the whole budget. If your share is fully financed but the Italian share is only 30% confirmed, the project does not qualify. Ask your Italian partner early what is actually signed on the Italian side.
Eurimages support is then divided between the co-producers in proportion to their financial participation, and it cannot exceed 50% of the financing of any co-producer. Principal photography should not start before the Fund’s decision.
What Italy adds to the dossier
On the Italian side, a few requirements shape both the application and your contracts:
- Italian nationality. The film must be recognised as an Italian co-production by the Ministry of Culture’s Directorate-General for Cinema. Your Italian partner applies, but the documents come from the whole co-production, so start early.
- The Italian tax credit. Much of the Italian share is usually financed through the tax credit. To keep it, contracts with authors and performers must include clauses letting them refuse the use of their work, image or performance by AI systems. If your writers, actors or crew work on the film, their contracts may need these clauses too. Our guide to Italian film tax credits explains the rules.
- Chain of title under Italian law. In Italy the director, the screenwriter, the composer and the author of the story are co-authors of the film, and their moral rights cannot be waived. A US-style rights package needs to be adapted. See our guide to the chain of title documents.
The co-production agreement
Eurimages reads the co-production agreement as a working commercial contract, not a declaration of intent. It must be signed before the application and should set out each partner’s share and contribution, the split of rights by territory and window, the revenue waterfall, who leads the production and what happens if one partner’s funding falls through. It must also match the financing plan line by line. Most rejected dossiers we see fail here: a generic agreement, an option on the screenplay or the source material that was never exercised, or numbers that do not match.
A checklist before you apply
- Check that your country and Italy can co-produce under a treaty or the Convention, and that the shares fit the limits.
- Confirm at least 50% of the financing in your country and in Italy.
- Sign a complete co-production agreement that matches the financing plan.
- Make sure the rights in the screenplay and source material have actually been acquired.
- Ask your Italian partner to start the nationality recognition and to align the talent contracts with the tax credit.
- Start two to three months before the Eurimages deadline.
How we can help
DANDI.media | Entertainment Law & Co-Production Strategies works as Italian counsel for foreign producers co-producing with Italy. We draft and negotiate the co-production agreement in English, check that the structure fits the treaty and Eurimages rules, review the chain of title under Italian law, coordinate with your Italian partner on nationality recognition and the tax credit, and review the whole dossier before submission. See our legal services for independent producers, or book a consultation.
FAQ
Can a foreign producer apply to Eurimages with an Italian partner?
Yes, if the co-production involves producers from at least two member countries of the Fund, including Italy. Producers from non-member countries can also take part, up to 30% of the budget in total.
How much financing must be confirmed when we apply?
At least 50% of the financing in each co-producing country, including Italy, through formal commitments or agreements in principle.
What are the minimum co-production shares?
In a bilateral co-production the minority co-producer must hold at least 20% and the majority no more than 80%. In a multilateral co-production each minority co-producer must hold at least 10% and the majority no more than 70%.
Do the Italian tax credit rules affect my contracts as a foreign co-producer?
They can. If your authors, performers or crew work on the film, their contracts may need the AI clauses the Italian tax credit requires, or your Italian partner risks losing part of its financing.
Can we apply if shooting has already started?
As a rule, principal photography should not start before the Fund’s decision. Check the current regulations before planning the shoot.
Useful links
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| Eurimages – official site | coe.int/eurimages |
| Eurimages – deadlines | coe.int |
| Italian Ministry of Culture – Cinema and Audiovisual (DGCA) | cinema.cultura.gov.it |
| Italy’s co-production treaties | DANDI.media guide |
| Italian film tax credits | DANDI.media guide |
| Chain of title documents checklist | DANDI.media guide |
| Italy–Germany co-production | DANDI.media guide |
| Italy–Serbia and Balkans co-productions | DANDI.media guide |
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