The only thing I learnt at the Script Writer's Festival in 2008 was about how co-pros work. I also spent time at the Edinburgh Film Festival last year listening to producers and sales agents talk. This stuff is really important for writers and you need to know how it works - if only so that you can develop the endless patience needed to sit these processes through without going nuts...

Here it is in a nutshell:

- Money comes from all over the show, almost never from one source
- All National money comes with strings and needs to tick boxes
- Where you shoot and edit your film is almost entirely dictated by tax
-Co-pro is massively painful to organise
-The vast majority of films made in the world are co-pros (US is the exception)

Above the line nationality/residence

Above the line credits are the big ones that people care about: Producer, director, writer, editor, DOP, designers, actors. These are also the credits that people fund on. Consequently the nationality of these people is very important indeed as most native film councils/commissions will be most interested in providing tax breaks and incentives to movies that are seen to be being made 'at home'.

So to get a movie part-funded in any one country you may need to have, say, three key people from that country in above the line roles. This can mean that producers will literally need a writer to be a Kiwi or a Brit - it's just about where the money comes from. You see this all the time on Inktip.

My current experience of this

So here's a good example of how it works. My script for Boy on a Bike... I have a producer and director, all of us are Kiwis but two of us are resident in the UK. This means that while theoretically we are 'on' with the NZ Film Commission we are kind of 'second tier' Kiwis. We are not applying for money to write from NZ for other reasons, but Residency was a factor.

On the other hand as I am a (naturalised) Australian this makes us eligible to apply for a 'booster' funding scheme in Australia. They are more relaxed about residency and even the fact that the Director is not Australian is not so important as they have a substantial and long-term relationship with screen culture in Australia. What is important is that we probably need to find an Australian Co-Producer. Ironically they will almost certainly be a Kiwi!

So... learn the basics about co-pros and money. It might not make you a better writer but it will make you a lot more professional to deal with.

And get as many nationalities as you can!