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Berlin / Potsdam - Marie-Luise Scharf, Jakob Schmidt and Johannes Schubert are the new scholarship holders at STARTBÜRO Babelsberg – an initiative of Studio Babelsberg and the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF with the support of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg.

The STARTBÜRO supports teams in realising project ideas that set new impulses for media production by developing innovative content or using innovative technologies. Johannes Schubert recently founded his company SCHUBERT FILM in Babelsberg and focuses on the development, production and exploitation of national and international film and series projects. As an alumnus of the Film University’s B.A. Production programme, he brings projects with his former Film University classmates such as Jan Gadermann (“Laika & Nemo”) as well as feature film projects with international film-makers with him to STARTBÜRO.

Thanks to STARTBÜROS, Marie-Luise Scharf and Jakob Schmidt are also returning to the studio grounds with their company SCHATTENGLANZ after completing their film studies. Previously, Marie Luise Scharf completed a trinational M.A. degree in feature film production in Portugal, Scotland and Estonia, while Jakob Schmidt worked as a journalist and feature writer for Norddeutscher Rundfunk, WDR and Deutschlandfunk and developed successful podcast series such as “Finding van Gogh” (nominated for the Grimme Online Award 2020) as co-author and co-producer. Together, they will now develop a whole series of documentary film projects with the help of STARTBÜRO after their award-winning graduation film “Zwischen den Stühlen” (“Between Two Stools”) – dealing with new, non-fictional narrative forms in addition to classic documentary approaches.

We wish the 3 scholarship holders every success in their endeavours and look forward to seeing the results!

ABOUT STARTBÜRO

7 years ago, STARTBÜRO Babelsberg first opened its doors to young film-makers. Studio Babelsberg and Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, with the support of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg, launched the initiative to offer graduates of the university a platform at the location where they can realise their ideas and plans in the best possible way. The scholarship provides them each with a co-working space on the Studio Babelsberg premises for one year as well as a financial budget totalling 20,000 euros. Advice provided by mentors from the participating partner institutions and the immediate proximity to local companies also helped them to start their professional future under the best possible conditions. Networking with the industry and supporting young creative entrepreneurs in the development of their new cinematic and technical approaches are the core objectives of STARTBÜRO.