South Korea’s Broadcasting Media Communication Commission and Canada’s Department of Canadian Heritage held a signing ceremony on April 22 (local time) at the department in Ottawa for an agreement on cooperation in audiovisual co-productions between the two countries. They formally signed the text, the commission said on April 23.

Ko Min-su (고민수), a standing commissioner at the commission, and Andrew Brown (Andrew Brown), an assistant deputy minister at Canada’s Department of Canadian Heritage, attended the ceremony. The agreement is intended to provide institutional support for bilateral cooperation in broadcasting programmes such as dramas and documentaries and in audiovisual content including films and animation. Talks have continued since 2017, and South Korea has already completed its domestic ratification procedures.

Projects certified as co-productions will be treated as Canadian domestic productions and may receive federal and provincial financial support as well as institutional support for overseas expansion. Telefilm Canada, which handles the agreement in practice, currently manages more than 55 co-production agreements and certifies more than 50 international co-productions each year.

Canada’s ratification process will be completed through cabinet approval after a 21-day waiting period following submission to the House of Commons, and is expected to be completed around this fall. The Department of Canadian Heritage is reviewing measures to encourage use of the agreement in cooperation with related organisations such as Telefilm Canada, and plans to announce detailed plans later.

Ko said the signing was the result of close talks that have continued since 2017 and was significant in that it established an institutional foundation to expand exchanges between the two countries’ content industries in a stable and sustainable way. He said the sides would work closely so it leads to tangible co-production outcomes beyond a simple agreement.

Brown said the agreement was an important milestone that follows on from the achievements of the Korea-Canada Year of Cultural Exchange. He said it would be a strong foundation for building an innovative and mutually beneficial partnership by combining the strengths and technological capabilities of the two countries’ audiovisual media industries.