Fund for co-writing international TV drama series TV Innovation Fund - CNC

This specific fund is part of the TV Innovation Fund (FAI), a financial scheme providing support to writers and producers at every stage of creation of their projects, from writing to development, prior to market presentation.

The FAI aims to encourage the inception of creative and risk-taking projects, to broaden up the formats, genres and audiences and to support both emerging and established creators.

It supports TV series and films primarily intended on being broadcasted on television and on-demand audiovisual media services, be it for local or international markets.

The FAI deals with drama, animation and documentary projects and is run by the French Centre for Cinema and Moving Image (CNC).

Sector : Audiovisual
Phase of action : Coproduction, Production
Type of support : Fiction
Type of support : Selective support
Applicant : Producer

Presentation of the Fund for co-writing international TV drama series

The French National Centre for Cinema (CNC) launched in 2018 a specific Fund for co-writing international TV drama series (COCO-I) as part of its TV Innovation Fund.

The COCO-I Fund supports from an early writing stage the collaboration of writers of different nationalities spearheading ambitious TV drama series’ projects. The projects must demonstrate transnational artistic vision and are intended on becoming international co-productions on par with global market standards.
Grants are awarded to international teams of writers, of which at least two need to come from two different countries.

The 50 000 € grant covers the writing of a pilot script and diverse collaboration expenses incurring between writers who may reside in different countries (i.e. translation, transportation, research, documentation etc..).

The call for applications takes place twice a year. The repartition of the grant among the co-writers has to be agreed beforehand and set in the application file. The application must be written in French as well as the final work handed in to the CNC.

Conditions

Writers may apply to this grant under the condition they work with at least one other writer who comes from a different and eligible country.
The various countries which qualify are listed HERE.
At least two writers must testify to their artistic experience or training/background. They must fulfill at least one of the eligibility criteria listed on the application (dossier de demande, p.4).
The project must demonstrate transnational artistic vision and orientation. In other words, applicants must prove that their TV drama series’ proposal requires the collaboration of writers from different countries (based on the characters, the realm, the points of view, the narrative development etc.. they have chosen).
The proposals must be TV drama series (duration : 26 minutes or more per episode). Short formats and one-off dramas are not eligible.
The proposals must not yet be signed by producers or broadcasters (option contract, copyright contract, broadcast contract etc). The purpose is to allow screenwriters to lead the creative development of ambitious projects. From the submission until the decision of the commission, the proposals cannot be simultaneously assessed by producers nor broadcasters.
The proposals cannot have been awarded or be awarded other writing grants from CNC’s TV Innovation Fund (FAI - aide à la création).
The proposals must be written in French as well as the final work handed in to the CNC. Writers can nevertheless translate into English some of the elements of the administrative application such as résumés (CV) or proof of eligibility.
The final version handed in to the CNC by successful applicants must include 1. cost estimate of the writing team’s expenses incurred during the project development (travel expenses, accommodation, workspace rental, translation etc…) and 2. the various documents proving these expenses (except for writing fees associated with the pilot script). Successful applicants have 10 months to hand in their final work to the CNC.