The Polish Cultural Institute in London, with the support of the Polish Film Institute in Warsaw and the UK MEDIA Desk, organised "KoprodUKcja", a co-production seminar between the UK and Poland, which took place at BAFTA on 28 April 2008.

10 established production companies from Poland came to forge partnerships with their UK counterparts.

In the morning there were presentations on co-production opportunities from the Polish Film Institute, the UK Film Council and Film4, followed by a presentation on MEDIA Programme opportunities for producers.

Maciej Karpinski of the Polish Film Institute introduced the Polish film body to the audience, gave an overview of the Polish market and informed participants of the funding available.  The Polish Film Institute (PISF) has an annual budget of €30 million and is co-production friendly as it is aiming to attract international partners to Poland.  The Institute has already invested funds in a range of international projects including Ken Loach's It's a Free World. 

The case study presented at the event was Warsaw Dark. a Polish thriller set in Warsaw, directed by Christopher Doyle.  Marianna Rowinska, a producer for Ozumi Films, made a case for hiring a foreign director in order to give the film more of an international flavour.

In the afternoon a panel moderated by Peter Fudakowski discussed the opportunities and challenges of co-productions with contributions from Polish and UK producers, including Hugh Welchman of Breakthru Films, 2008 Academy Award winner for the UK-Polish co-production Peter and the Wolf.  Contributions from Louisa Dent from Artificial Eye, as well as Hakan Kousetta, media lawyer and Luke Randolf, completion bond representative, added a reality check quality to the frank and useful debate.

The event concluded with a dinner at Baltic restaurant which provided an opportunity for further networking.

If you would like to know more about working with Poland you may want to check the English section of Polish Film Institute website here