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2021 FILM FUNDING AT A GLANCE

- Record amount: EUR 44.8 million total in MBB funding, of which EUR 33.6 million were for film funding
- EUR 184 million expenditures in the region (547% regional effect), increased by close to EUR 70 million in the past 5 years.
- 2021 “Corona” Cinema Programme Award tripled to EUR 1.5 million
- Shooting days record: 6,000 shooting days in Berlin-Brandenburg, 300 shooting days more compared to 2019 before the pandemic
- Berlin-Brandenburg in series: “1899”, “The Palace”, “Babylon Berlin Season 4”, “Torstrasse 1”, “KaDeWe – Our Time Is Now”, “Legal Affairs”, “Kleo”, “Lauchhammer”, “Divided We Stand” 
- Digital revolution in the studio: “1899” digitally made in Berlin-Brandenburg! Special programme DIGITAL FILM PRODUCTION new in the MBB portfolio since 2020

>>>>>>> CLICK HERE FOR THE NEW 2022 FILMING LOCATION TRAILER <<<<<<<<<<

Berlin / Potsdam – Despite the pandemic, which poses major challenges for the industry, things are going well in Germany’s No. 1 film and series location. For the year 2021, the region of the German capital has set a new record for the number of shooting days: In comparison to 2019, before the pandemic, there was an increase of 300 to a total of 6,000 shooting days in Berlin-Brandenburg. Medienboard makes a significant contribution to this. In 2021, MBB spent a record amount of EUR 44.8 million in funding, of which EUR 33.6 million was spent on film funding, which led to more than EUR 184 million being spent in the region.
The shooting boom of feature films and high-end series ensures that there is full employment in the film industry. With at least 50,000 jobs, the “Audio-Visual Creative Industries” are an important job engine in Berlin Brandenburg. As an industry of the future, the film industry is a driver of innovation and technology and creates jobs requiring high qualifications in the digital sector. EUR 13 million are being invested by Berlin and Brandenburg to fund productions with a high proportion of digital production technology in them and to also make the German capital region a hub for technical innovation in the field of film production.

1. Medienboard Film and Series Funding 2022

The start of the 2022 Berlin-Brandenburg shooting season promises to be an eventful film year. In the 1^st session, MBB is funding 31 new films and series with a total of EUR 8.4 million:

CINEMA

• Andreas Dresen is shooting his new film “With Love, Yours Hilde” about the resistance fighter Hilde Coppi.
• Inspired by Lily Brett’s novel “Too Many Men”, Julia von Heinz is filming “Iron Box” with Lena Dunham and Mandy Patinkin.
• In Christian Petzold’s “The Red Sky”, Paula Beer stars alongside Jonas Dassler.
• In Alberto Corredor’s horror thriller “Baghead”, Svenja Jung is part of the internationally staffed cast.
   

SERIES

• Pia Strietmann is shooting “The Next Level” with Leonie Benesch and Jens Harzer.
• Christine Hartmann is shooting the series “Chameleon”.
• Emmy Award winner Michelle MacLaren (“Breaking Bad”, “Game of Thrones”) is directing an eight-part thriller series with the working title “Undisclosed MM Project”.
• Robert Schwentke is directing the series “Helgoland 513”.
• Jasmin Tabatabai, Frederick Lau, Ludwig Trepte and Veysel Gelin are in front of the camera for Kida Khodr Ramadan’s “Asbest”.
• Hannu Salonen is shooting the mini-series “I am Scrooge” about the Berlin department stores’ extortionist who fooled the police, starring Friedrich Mücke, Mišel Matičević, Svenja Jung, Hendrik Heutmann and Aurel Manthei.
• And Saskia Rosendahl stars in the series “A Thin Line” directed by Damian John Harper and Sabrina Sarabi.

>>> Complete list <<<

Kirsten Niehuus, CEO Film Funding, Medienboard:
“Another year of the pandemic is behind us now, and the challenges the film industry is facing are immense. But things are going well for Germany’s No. 1 film and series location! Production is running at full speed and the worldwide demand for films and series “Made in Berlin-Brandenburg” is enormous. And therefore we are starting into the 2022 shooting season with new material, great cinema and high-end series and a funding budget in the amount of EUR 8.4 million. We are looking forward to continuing to shape the future together with the film-makers!”

Shooting Days Record for 2021

• 2021 shooting at record level with 6000 shooting days (300 shooting days more than in 2019 before the pandemic): “1899”, “John Wick 4”, “1000 Lines”, “Retribution”, “Almost Fly”, “In a Land That No Longer Exists”, “KaDeWe – Our Time Is Now”, “AEIOU – A Quick Alphabet of Love”, “The Kangaroo Conspiracy”, “Dear Kurt”, “Love Thing”, “The Palace”, “Spencer”, “The Heist”, “Lauchhammer”.
• The mandatory hygiene measures mean that shooting under pandemic conditions is about 30% more expensive.

Film & Economy

• EUR 13 million from Berlin-Brandenburg for the further expansion of the digital film hub. This funding is administered by the MBB alongside the traditional funding.
• An increasing demand for high-end content “Made in Berlin-Brandenburg” is creating jobs, leading to full employment, but also to a shortage of skilled workers.
• Europe’s 1^st permanent LED volume DARK BAY on the premises of Studio Babelsberg also sets new international standards.
• VFX funding for “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”, “Matrix Resurrections” and “The Kangaroo Conspiracy”.

Green Filming

• Adherence to minimum green standards is a prerequisite for funding.
• MBB is supporting the film industry in the area of environmentally conscious production by, for example, funding the costs of green consulting and recognising “green cost increases”.
• We are pleased that as of the summer of 2022, all German funding schemes will set the same minimum standards as a funding prerequisite.
• Furthermore, the Berlin Brandenburg Film Commission bbfc is regularly offering workshops with green filming experts for all trades in order to facilitate more sustainability in all departments.

Equal opportunity and diversity

• The visibility of diversity both in front of and behind the camera is an essential guiding principle. In its decisions, MBB specifically pays attention to materials that are related to gender, identity and diversity issues.
• MBB will cover proportionate costs for intimacy counsellors, harassment counsellors and on-set childcare.
• In addition, workshops on diversity are being funded for the industry, but also for MBB employees, in order to take a more sensitive look at the depiction of role models and at social narratives.

MBB @ Berlinale #EndlichWiederKino

• 14 MBB-funded films in the official Berlinale programme
• There are 3 Medienboard-funded films in the competition for the Golden Bear: “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush” by Andreas Dresen, “AEIOU – A Quick Alphabet of Love” by Nicolette Krebitz, and Ulrich Seidl’s “Rimini”.

Coming soon to the cinema

“Uncharted” // “The Man Who Sold His Skin” // “Europe” // “Rabbit Academy: Mission Eggpossible” // “JGA: Jasmin. Gina. Anna.” // “Compartment No. 6” // “Human Factors” // “What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?” // A E I O U – A Quick Alphabet of Love” // “Bloodsucker” // “Axiom” // “Love Thing” // “Sonne und Beton” (‘Sun & Concrete’) // “The Kangaroo Conspiracy” // “School of Magical Animals – Part 2” // “Oskars Kleid” (‘Oscar’s Dress’) // “Einfach Mal Was Schönes” (‘Just Something Beautiful’) // “Caveman – der Kinofilm” (‘Caveman – The Movie’) // “When will it finally be like it never was again” // “Weekend Rebels”