News

Berlin / Potsdam - In its third funding session of the year, the MBB’s New Media Funding supports 12 projects from the fields of games, XR and innovative audiovisual content, as well as series, with a total of €1.8 million. This includes five games with €558,500, 4 XR projects with €550,000 and three serial formats with €705,000. As part of the series funding programme, a project is being supported with funds from Digital Media Production which are intended to accelerate the technological development of the Potsdam and Babelsberg media region.

Also part of the funding portfolio: games from Stellar Cartography Interactive, Gamebook Studio and Twisted Ramble Games promising action and mystery, new XR projects from NowHere Media and INVR.SPACE with international settings as well as serial formats from Wolkenlenker and UFA Documentary, including a series for children.

Overview

GAMES

Fruits of the Forest

Stellar Cartography Interactive
298.000 euros
Production funding
A relaxed trading simulation set in pre-Christian Central Europe where players come up against mythological creatures.

Red Herring: Mystery Stories (working title)

Gamebook Studio HQ
100.000 euros
Development funding
In the narrative turn-based crime simulation in which players identify secretive and mysterious clues and question suspects, mysterious criminal cases are solved, piece-by-piece.

The Palace of a Thousand Curses*

Scruffy Dog Games
88.000 euros
Development funding
A nostalgic 2.5D swashbuckler adventure, inspired by the classic Prince of Persia games which combine exploration with skilful swordplay.

*This project was resubmitted due to modifications in funding concerning the cancellation of applications for federal computer games funding.

Hypo

sturmfrei Games 
57.000 euros
Development funding
A hack-and-slash game with a focus on action and a deep combat system. A story of revenge in a gloomy city is narrated, inspired by America set in the 1920s and fused with ancient Greek mythology.

Was it Poison?

Twisted Ramble Games 
15.500 euros
Development funding
A murder-mystery dating sim about healthy and toxic relationships. At their notorious aunt’s parties players search for the love of their lives – and at the end of an adventurous evening for a murderer as well.

XR and other INNOVATIVE AUDIOVISUAL CONTENT

Human Within VR

Actrio Studio 
400.000 euros
Production funding
With the help of a brain-computer interface, cyber engineers Nyla and Linh have developed a powerful supercomputer. However, the technology is in danger of being misused. Together with the two sisters, viewers of the interactive VR film search for an exit scenario.

Living With The Snow Leopards 

NowHere Media Gaedtke & Parameswaran
60.000 euros
Development funding
The interactive mixed-reality documentary explores the complex relationship between the human inhabitants of the Himalayan region of North India and the very last living snow leopards, the ‘spirits of the mountains’.

Kalunga

Duellmann Filmproduktion
50.000 euros
Development funding
In the interactive VR experience, human traffickers raid the village of little Ilu. Together with her mother, the girl is put onto a ship heading for Brazil, but Ilu is escorted by her magical doll Kalunga.

Hong Kong Café

INVR.SPACE
40.000 euros
Development funding
The multi-user VR installation brings to life a traditional Cha Chaan Teng café from Hong Kong. Visitors order typical dishes and learn more about the history and cultural heritage of this unique city.

SERIAL FORMATS

Dinner Detectives

Wolkenlenker
60.000 euros
Development funding
6 children from various cultures embark on an adventurous search for the origins and preparation of other people’s food, thus discovering the world’s rich culinary diversity.

TATTOO – Die Reise der Zeichen

UFA Documentary
50.000 euros
Production funding
Tattoos polarise – now, are they kitsch or culture? Only a few people are aware of the cultural origins of tattoos, their real meaning and their tragic history.

Wingspan

arkanum pictures
595.000 euros
Development funding

With the Wingspan project, the MBB is funding a series with a special focus on technology. Babelsberg-based company arkanum pictures receives 595,000 euros in development funds as part of the Digital Media Production programme. The MBB aims to use the one-off funding comprising of funds from the state of Brandenburg to specifically promote the technological development of the Potsdam and Babelsberg media region. arkanum pictures is a new company founded by graduates of the Babelsberg Film University. Pedro Harres is also involved in the project, the director of the internationally successful VR experience From the Main Square, funded by MBB. The technological investments are paying off for the location and Babelsberg is developing very well in this area: pioneering work is being done here in the field of virtual production (LED walls, volumetric VR and ICVFX).