NEW DELHI: India and Australia have decided to launch negotiations on a film co-production agreement so that filmmakers of both countries can work together.

Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources said the agreement will cover a wide range of audio-visual formats.

The sources said the agreement could lead to increase in use of Indian locales for shooting by Australian filmmakers, leading to greater generation of employment and income generation.

The benefits also include the sharing of risks and there is a wider natural audience base. Producers from both countries will get an opportunity to pool their creative, artistic, technical, financial and marketing resources to co-produce films.

There is also possibility of outsourcing of animation and post-production work to Indian companies, the sources added