Going Solo or Collaborate on Production? Choosing the Right Model for Your Next Film
Authors
Indonesian cinema is at a moment of acceleration. More local films are entering international festivals, attracting interest from regional streamers, and gaining visibility across Southeast Asia. Amid this momentum, producers are increasingly faced with a strategic decision, whether to pursue a solo production, retaining full control of creativity and ownership, or to embark on a co-production, where creative decisions, ownership, and market access are shared with partners.
This choice is no longer only a creative preference. It is a structural decision that shapes financing, rights ownership, distribution potential and the long-term value of the film. What matters is not which model being objectively better, but which one best supports the filmmakers creative ambition and commercial trajectory.
Why This Choice Matters and How It Fits Current Industry Realities
The rise of film festivals across Southeast Asia—most notably platforms such as JAFF Market—has opened new avenues for Indonesian producers to showcase their projects to international partners. In recent years, global interest in Indonesian stories has surged, reflected in the growing number of titles adapted into full-length films and series. Many of these works have successfully reached audiences through cinemas and major OTT platforms, earning visibility not only at home but across multiple countries in the region.
For production houses and investors, this momentum signals a dynamic and rapidly expanding landscape—one where Indonesian narratives are resonating beyond national borders and opportunities for collaboration continue to accelerate. In this environment, co-production has emerged as a powerful pathway for producers seeking larger budgets, multi-territory exposure, or access to international cast and crew.
At the same time, Indonesia’s domestic ecosystem for solo production is stronger than ever. Producers now have wider access to local financiers, brand partnerships, and commissioning opportunities from platforms operating within the country. This growth has enabled many filmmakers to independently develop commercially viable projects while retaining creative control and ownership.
Both models are viable. Neither is inherently better than the other. The real advantage lies in understanding the differences, aligning them with the filmmaker’s vision, and choosing the approach that best supports the long-term growth of the business—whether in building company value, strengthening intellectual property, or expanding market reach.
Strategic Considerations Behind Choosing Co Production or Solo Production
For experienced producers, the distinction between co production and solo production lies less in their technical definitions and more in the strategic advantages each structure brings to a project. The core question is how a film’s creative ambition, financing plan and market trajectory can be supported by the structure behind it.
Co-production becomes compelling when a project requires a financing base larger than what domestic sources can realistically provide, or when the story is designed to travel across borders and would benefit from partners who can anchor distribution and platform interest in their respective territories. Co-producing early often strengthens access to incentives, diversified funding and established relationships with broadcasters, streamers or festival networks abroad. It can also add creative depth by integrating cross border talent and perspectives. The trade-off is the need to share creative approvals, negotiate joint ownership, and align on governance and recoupment frameworks that work across jurisdictions.
Solo production, conversely, is most effective when a project’s scale is manageable within local financing capacity or when the producer seeks to retain full ownership of the film for future licensing, sequels or spin off development. It offers speed and flexibility, allowing adjustments to be made without renegotiating with equal partners. Solo production can be especially advantageous for films with strong domestic positioning, where the value emerges from controlling rights and shaping downstream deals once the film is complete. However, it also concentrates financial risk and places greater pressure on the producer’s distribution and sales strategy, particularly when aiming for visibility beyond the home market.
Ultimately, the choice between co production and solo production is a matter of aligning structure with strategy. It requires an honest assessment of the project’s financial needs, its intended audience, the level of creative control the producer wishes to retain, and the markets where the film seeks to compete. A model that supports these fundamentals will often determine not only how the film is made, but how far it can travel.
Legal Foundations and Practical Application
Once a producer has a clear strategic direction, the legal structure becomes the mechanism that converts that strategy into enforceable, long-term rights and obligations. In a co production, this typically centres on a single comprehensive co production agreement supported, where relevant, by a joint venture or shareholders’ arrangement. The agreement determines how creative and financial authority is distributed, how intellectual property is owned and exploited, how rights are divided across territories and platforms, and how revenues are defined, reported and recouped. For seasoned producers, the pressure points usually sit in approval thresholds, profit waterfalls, territory splits, and the mechanisms for resolving deadlocks when creative or financial interests diverge.
Solo productions, on the other hand, rest on the producer’s ability to maintain a complete and well-structured chain of title. This includes clear assignments or licences from writers, directors, talent and composers, as well as properly documented arrangements with financiers, crew and other contributors. Sales agents and platforms rely heavily on this clarity, and any gap in ownership or permissions can slow down or reduce the value of downstream deals.
In practice, some projects naturally fit one model more than the other. Intimate, character driven Indonesian dramas with modest budgets often operate more efficiently as solo productions, giving producers full control over creative direction and later licensing opportunities. Projects designed for regional or international audiences, or those requiring substantial production value, are often better served through co production, where partners can anchor financing, support casting and open access to multiple markets at once.
Neither structure is inherently superior. They represent different ways of allocating control, responsibility and commercial outcome. The most effective choice is the one that aligns the project’s creative ambition with its financing strategy and long-term exploitation plan, setting the foundation for sustainable growth within an increasingly interconnected film landscape.
At ARMA Law, we see the choice between co production and solo production as a governance question as much as a creative or financial one. The model a producer chooses will determine who sits at the decision-making table, how risk is shared and how value created by the film is distributed over time. As the Indonesian film ecosystem matures and becomes increasingly connected to regional and global markets, producers who approach this choice with clarity and discipline will be better positioned to build sustainable businesses, not just individual projects.
For some projects, the right answer will be to embrace co production and use it as a bridge into larger markets and more ambitious storytelling. For others, the right answer will be to strengthen solo production capabilities and then leverage licensing, sales and strategic partnerships after the film has been completed on the producer’s own terms. In both cases, well-structured agreements and thoughtful risk allocation are essential.
If you are a producer or production house considering how best to structure your next project, our team would be pleased to explore these questions with you and translate your creative and commercial goals into workable deal structures. The ARMA Law team will also be present at the JAFF Market Networking Lounge from 29 November to 1 December 2025, from 09.00 to 12.00 each day, where we will be available for free legal consultations on co-production, solo production and broader project structuring questions for filmmakers.
Disclaimer:
This client update is the property of ARMA Law and intended for providing general information and should not be treated as legal advice, nor shall it be relied upon by any party for any circumstance. ARMA Law has no intention to provide a specific legal advice with regard to this client update.
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