Coproduction Office

Overview

Coproduction Office is a Berlin and Paris-based international sales agent and production company founded in 1987 by French producer Philippe Bober. The company employs 25 people across offices in Berlin, Paris, Copenhagen, and London, and represents a small, highly selective roster of European auteur directors. Coproduction Office has produced or co-produced two Palme d'Or winners at Cannes: The Square (2017) and Triangle of Sadness (2022), both by Ruben Ostlund. The company also won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2014 for Roy Andersson's A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.

The company operates as both a sales agent and a production company, with four production divisions: Essential Films (Berlin, established as the first production arm), Parisienne de Production (Paris, established 2000), Coproduction Office (Copenhagen, established 2007), and a London division (established 2020). This integrated production-and-sales model means Coproduction Office often engages at the development stage, helping assemble co-production financing rather than simply acquiring completed films.

The company's name originates from its first project: raising co-production financing for Lars von Trier's Europa (1991), a four-country co-production supported by Eurimages during its first session in 1989. Bober acted as associate producer for Germany and France. For von Trier's subsequent project The Kingdom, Coproduction Office was both German co-producer and international sales agent, closing theatrical distribution deals in territories where the four-hour television series was released cinematically.

Directors and Catalog

Coproduction Office represents directors with long-term relationships spanning decades. Philippe Bober has worked with Roy Andersson since 1996, Ulrich Seidl and Jessica Hausner since 1999, and Michelangelo Frammartino since 2004. The full director roster includes Ruben Ostlund, Roy Andersson, Ulrich Seidl, Jessica Hausner, Michelangelo Frammartino, Kornel Mundruczo, Carlos Reygadas, Cristi Puiu, Corneliu Porumboiu, Takashi Miike, Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Alain Guiraudie, Bertrand Mandico, Jonathan Nossiter, Shinya Tsukamoto, Lou Ye, Bruce LaBruce, and others.

Bober has produced 40 films to date, with 12 selected for Cannes Competition. The company's catalog also includes restored masterpieces by Roberto Rossellini, which Coproduction Office distributes internationally. Notable titles in the current catalog include Triangle of Sadness (2022, Palme d'Or), The Square (2017, Palme d'Or), Force Majeure (2014, Un Certain Regard Jury Prize), About Endlessness (2019, Roy Andersson), Il Buco (2021, Michelangelo Frammartino), Club Zero (2023, Jessica Hausner), Paradise: Love, Paradise: Faith, and Paradise: Hope (Ulrich Seidl's trilogy), Lourdes (2009, Jessica Hausner), Le Quattro Volte (2010, Michelangelo Frammartino), and Japon (2002, Carlos Reygadas).

The Producer-Adjacent Sales Model

Unlike most sales agents who acquire completed or near-completed films at festivals, Coproduction Office typically engages at the development or financing stage. The company participates in assembling the co-production financing structures that allow ambitious European arthouse films to be made. For Triangle of Sadness, Coproduction Office served as co-producer (Germany and France) alongside Plattform Produktion (Sweden), with financing from Film i Vast, BBC Film, 30WEST, Sveriges Television, ZDF/Arte, Arte France Cinema, TRT Sinema, and public funds from Sweden, Germany, Denmark, and the UK.

This producer involvement means Coproduction Office has creative and financial relationships with its films that extend well beyond a standard sales agent commission structure. The company invests its own resources in development and production, then handles international sales as part of an integrated pipeline. For The Square, Coproduction Office pre-sold the film to major territories before its Cannes premiere: Magnolia (US), Curzon Artificial Eye (UK), Bac Films (France/Benelux), Alamode (Germany), and Xenix (Switzerland), followed by deals in approximately 15 additional territories before the first screening.

What Filmmakers Should Know

Coproduction Office is not an accessible acquisition target for emerging filmmakers. The company's roster is built on long-term relationships with established directors who have significant festival track records. Philippe Bober has stated that he spent three months per year for over 15 years viewing films, going to festivals, and researching directors, and that focusing on a few films is a deliberate choice. Representation requires a level of critical recognition and artistic distinction that most filmmakers have not yet achieved.

For filmmakers at an earlier career stage who aspire to work with companies like Coproduction Office, the standard path runs through the European festival circuit. Directors in the Coproduction Office roster built their relationships with Bober through festival exposure: Roy Andersson through his short films at Sarajevo, Jessica Hausner through her graduation film, Ulrich Seidl through Models (1999), and Ruben Ostlund through his short film Autobiographical Scene Number 6882 (2005), which Bober discovered while programming at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Coproduction Office has cooperated with the Sarajevo Film Festival since 1995, with Bober serving as artistic director and later programmer of the new currents section. This festival connection is one of the channels through which the company identifies new talent, though the threshold for representation remains extremely high.

Deal Structure and Market Activity

Because Coproduction Office functions as both producer and sales agent, its deal structures differ from purely transactional sales companies. When the company co-produces a film, it takes an ownership stake in the production alongside its sales commission. This means the company's revenue comes from both its producer share of the film's income and its sales commission on international rights.

For films where Coproduction Office handles only international sales (not co-production), the company operates on a standard sales agent commission model, typically 15% to 25% of international sales revenue, depending on the territory and deal structure. The company attends Cannes, Berlinale (EFM), Venice, and AFM as its primary markets.

The company's films typically secure theatrical distribution in major territories (US, UK, France, Germany, Benelux, Scandinavia) before or immediately after their festival premieres. Palme d'Or wins have a significant impact on sales: after The Square won in 2017, the film secured distribution in all remaining world territories within weeks. Triangle of Sadness followed a similar pattern after its 2022 Palme d'Or.

Notable Films and Awards

Coproduction Office's catalog includes two Palme d'Or winners, one Golden Lion winner, and multiple films selected for Cannes Competition, Berlin Competition, and Venice Competition. Key titles include Triangle of Sadness (2022, Palme d'Or, Ruben Ostlund), The Square (2017, Palme d'Or, Ruben Ostlund), A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014, Golden Lion, Roy Andersson), Force Majeure (2014, Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, Ruben Ostlund), Songs from the Second Floor (2000, Special Jury Prize at Cannes, Roy Andersson), Il Buco (2021, Cannes Competition, Michelangelo Frammartino), Club Zero (2023, Cannes Competition, Jessica Hausner), Lourdes (2009, Venice Competition, Jessica Hausner), and Le Quattro Volte (2010, Cannes Directors' Fortnight, Michelangelo Frammartino).

See Also

For how European co-production financing structures work at the highest level of the industry, see Documentary Financing: Building Your Stack. For how international sales agents participate in production financing alongside their sales activity, see Distribution Deals Explained. To model revenue from international pre-sales and co-production financing, use the Revenue Forecast Calculator.