The British Film Commission and the Italian Film Commissions have renewed and expanded their partnership with a newly signed memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening collaboration between the U.K. and Italy.
The new MOU builds on the initial one signed in 2022. The agreement focuses on encouraging co-productions, boosting mutual promotion efforts, and increasing international investment across both territories’ film and high-end TV industries. Through joint marketing activities, the agreement will see both parties mutually promote their strengths and specialisms in a complementary manner. A key focus will be on organizing reciprocal outbound missions, with the aim of promoting knowledge of their respective territories and encouraging future collaborations and investment.
One of the standout elements of the renewed agreement is the direct involvement of Cinecittà’s international department, which will support the planning and execution of outbound missions for Italian producers.
Recent film and high-end TV productions that filmed in both territories include The Odyssey (Universal), Jay Kelly (Netflix/NBGG), F1 (Apple TV+), Heads of State (Amazon MGM), Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning (Paramount), Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 (Paramount), Fountain of Youth (Apple TV+), Conclave (Film Nation Entertainment/Indian Paintbrush), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Disney/Lucasfilm) and Fast X.
“We’re happy to renew our partnership with the British Film Commission, now strengthened by the addition of the international department of Cinecittà. In addition to opening up co-production opportunities, this agreement is a first step toward systematically promoting Italian regions as international filming locations.” said Jacopo Chessa, president of the Italian Film Commissions.
Adrian Wootton, chief executive of the British Film Commission, said: “We are thrilled to build upon our excellent relationship with the Italian Film Commissions through this collaboration agreement. Since signing an MOU in 2022, we’ve held networking events for producers from both territories at markets and festivals, including a producers’ breakfast in Cannes. Strong collaborative industry relationships with European partners, such as the one between the U.K. and Italy, are key to our shared success, particularly in light of the U.K.’s enhanced tax reliefs and Italy’s Sistema Italia, funds and incentives. There are already some brilliant examples of collaboration with high-profile productions being filmed between Italy and the U.K., including Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning, Fast X and Oscar-winning Conclave. This new enhanced agreement will see further collaboration in the years ahead, exploring new ways of working together, creatively and commercially.”
Roberto Stabile, head of the international department at Cinecittà, added, “The signing of this memorandum is an important step in increasing contacts between Italy and the U.K. in the audiovisual field. It is the result of a shared effort with our Italian partners to promote ‘Sistema Italia,’ our funds, incentives and to increase co-productions. We hope to see more collaborations between U.K. and Italian companies.”
