EXCLUSIVE: EAVE, the European producer training, project development and networking organisation, has published a framework for making international co-productions more inclusive and globally representative.
Titled the ‘2025 EAVE IMPACT Think Tank Report on Inclusive Co-Production Practices,’ the framework outlines tools and strategies for producers to build more ethical and inclusive co-productions that reflect a plurality of voices.
The organisation says the report responds to an urgent need to address systemic barriers in the global co-production ecosystem at a time when international collaboration is becoming more critical to financing screen content.
The report notes the challenges for producers from low-capacity countries, the global majority and indigenous communities in putting together inclusive co-productions. It concludes that these are more pronounced because of limited funding access, exclusionary co-production agreements and lack of institutional support.
Because financing is concentrated in Northern/European countries, power imbalances are reinforced in terms of decision making, storytelling and creative control.
EAVE sets out a list of ‘Guiding Principles’ for inclusive productions in the report, which recommend:
- Embed inclusion from the start: Inclusion isn’t an add on – it must shape every stage of the process.
- Share power and access: Be transparent with budgets, rights and roles. Ensure all collaborators can fully participate, including through travel, with support for language accessibility and other inclusion needs.
- Stay close to the community: Prioritise resources, talent and distribution strategies that benefit the people and places at the heart of the story.
- Value more than money: Recognise cultural, creative and community contributions – not just financial ones.
- Build mutual benefit: Co-productions should uplift everyone involved, especially the partners in low-capacity or historically marginalised regions.
- Disrupt the default: Use co-productions to challenge industry norms and centre new voices and narratives.
The report was developed through a think tank facilitated by EAVE in partnership with When East Meets West (WEMW) and supported by the Canada Media Fund (CMF), Telefilm Canada, and the International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA).
The report was authored by producer and strategist Tamara Mariam Dawit.
EAVE CEO Kristina Trapp said: “International co-productions have long been a tool for collaboration, but too often they replicate inequitable systems and silence the very voices they aim to amplify. With this report, we offer not just a critique—but a roadmap—for producers committed to co-creating a truly inclusive and globally representative screen industry. At EAVE, we believe this work is essential to the future of international storytelling.”
The report will officially launch at a special panel on May 17 at Cannes’ Marché du Film – Co-Production Day.
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