Film & Kino Pressemeldung TV Games & Digitales
Now more than ever! In times of the coronavirus, Medienboard supports the tormented film and media industry to the best of its capabilities
PRESS RELEASE
Berlin / Potsdam – Berlin-Brandenburg is the most important film location in Germany, and a national and international key player in terms of media. The new twenties started off blissfully: new players and forms of evaluation, a growing series market, a prosperous games scene and an ever-increasing production volume for fresh, moving content from Berlin-Brandenburg generated excellent results for 2019.
Then came the corona crisis which poses enormous challenges for the entire film and media industry. Economic survival is on the line for cinemas, producers, distributors, event organisers and the VFX industry as well as for freelancers and artists. Actors, directors, screenwriters, but also technical crews and therefore many jobs in the capital region are affected.
Medienboard has made an effort to help as quickly and as flexibly as possible and rededicated roughly 4 million euros from the promotion fund to emergency relief measures for film productions, cinemas and distributors. In combination, German film funds have provided a total of roughly 15 million euros to cushion the impact of interrupted shoots and marketing measures as well as cinema closings.
While the total standstill seems resolved and shooting has recommenced in several places, compliance with strict safety and hygiene measures is still required. These also apply the two large international productions “Uncharted” and “Matrix 4” which are currently in production in Babelsberg. Since the safety of staff on set is also a top priority for Medienboard, suitable costs for hygiene measures can be funded on a pro-rata basis.
In terms of events, Medienboard was able to offer innovative digital and hybrid solutions in cooperation with organisers of film and media events, for example #rpREMOTE and #MCBRemote, the digital versions of re:publica and MEDIA CONVENTION.
Stated Berlin’s ruling mayor Michael Müller and Brandenburg’s minister president Dr. Dietmar Woidke: “The economic consequences of the pandemic for this industry will be a long-term concern for us. We want to continue to provide conditions in this extraordinary time which help the film and media industries to emerge from the coronavirus period with as little damage as possible. After all, we are firmly convinced of their sustainability. Demand for audiovisual content is growing across the globe, and digitalisation is gaining momentum in production as well as in distribution.
Stated Kirsten Niehuus, Medienboard managing director, film funding: “Film creators are faced with existential challenges. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has continued working even in adverse conditions! Supporting the film and cinema industry and all the people who make it possible in this crisis is a task we are working on with all our might. For more cinema and TV films to be created once again, the industry urgently needs an emergency fund to mitigate the risk of coronavirus-related interruptions for the producers. Since the insurance industry won’t assume this task, the federal and state governments must pitch in.”
Stated Helge Jürgens, Medienboard managing director, new media funding: “Extraordinary times require extraordinary action. The coronavirus pandemic forced our industry into rethinking, realigning and implementing new business models. We are now focussing on providing further funding to support transformation processes emerging from those new, innovative solutions. Digital business models, digital production or hybrid event concepts could also represent an opportunity for the media location of the future.”
Our topics for the future:
We are committed to sustainability, future technologies, gender equality and diversity in the film and media industry to create a better future together. MBB funding requires producers to commit to the principles of green filming and fair pay. To this end, Berlin Brandenburg’s Film Commission BBFC, under the umbrella of Medienboard, regularly provides free-of-charge (online) expert workshops on green filming, and further qualification for becoming a “green consultant” is also possible. Learn more at www.bbfc.de.
Gender equality and diversity are important to us, which is why we provide funding according to the principle of giving preference to projects with a female director at equal quality. Furthermore, we will provide costs for intimacy/harassment officers and on-set childcare on a pro-rata basis. In film as well as new media funding we intentionally support material with reference to gender, identity and diversity subjects. At MEDIA CONVENTION Berlin, this approach has become an integral part of the programme, just like balanced representation in discussion panels.
Shaping the future also means investing in future technologies. Since August 2020, the 2-million-euros-strong dedicated programme “Digital Film Production” for VFX producers has been completing the Medienboard portfolio. VFX, VR/AR, 360° content, games engines, volumetric capturing – new technologies are of huge importance for the future of the media location. Through initiatives such as MediaTech Hub Potsdam, platforms like the MediaTech Hub Conference, and with VR NOW Con as well as EFM Horizon@Berlinale, we are purposefully promoting Berlin-Brandenburg’s competitive capacity in this arena.
The order of the day is to master the new challenges together. In the audiovisual creative industries, the coronavirus crisis has triggered a significant and maybe even necessary digital push. We are excited for new projects, which we continue to support in addition to the emergency measures – after all, the heart of the film and media industry must continue beating!
Coming soon
FILMS &SERIES: 27.8. Yalda - A Night for Forgiveness (Massoud Bakhshi) // 10.9. Body of Truth (Evelyn Schels) // 17.9. About Endlessness (Roy Andersson) // Chichinette - Wie ich zufällig Spionin wurde (Nicola Hens) // 24.9. Space Dogs (Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter) // 25.9. Deutschland89 (Soleen Yusef, Randa Chahoud) // 1.10. Enfant terrible (Oskar Roehler) // 8.10. Es ist zu deinem Besten (Marc Rothemund) // 8.10. Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13 (Dennis Gansel) // 15.10. Sag du es mir (Michael Fetter Nathansky) // 22.10. Cortex (Moritz Bleibtreu) // 29.10. Und morgen die ganze Welt (Julia von Heinz) // 29.10. Hausen (Thomas Stuber) // 5.11. Ein nasser Hund (Damir Lukacevic) // 23.11. #heuldoch - Therapie wie noch nie (Isabell Suba, Lilli Tautfest) // 3.12. Wunderschön (Karoline Herfurth) // 24.12. Catweazle (Sven Unterwaldt)
VR / GAMES RELEASES: 3.9. Trüberbrook on Mobile // Mitte/Ende September 1-800 SUPER // 1.10. October Night Games
FESTIVALS & EVENTS: 2.-12.9. Venice VR EXPANDED // 6.-13.9. Jüdisches Filmfestival Berlin Brandenburg // 6.9.-4.10. re:publica Campus // 15.9. MCB Impact Day - das hybride Debattenformat der MEDIA CONVENTION Berlin // 16.-20.9. achtung berlin Filmfestival // 17.-20.9. Film ohne Grenzen // 11.-12.11. MediaTech Hub Conference