The state of Germany’s film industry, most notably its proposed new film funding laws, has been a worrying issue for their entertainment landscape. A last-minute clarification has made for many happy faces in the industry, but what’s the core deal? Our Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney, Brandon Blake, has the full story for us.
The Film Funding Law
As with most European film industries, Germany’s depends heavily on governmental subsidies. The current film funding legislation is set to expire at the end of December 2024. This could have left the entire country’s industry at a standstill without a clear deal.
Alas, the deal isn’t everything that was hoped for, with considerable election campaigning (most of it fractious) interfering on all fronts. So, the new deal isn’t without controversy, especially among more progressive members of the industry.
However, there are considerable changes that should make projects easier to approve, including pre-approval for those with a proven track record in the country and more. This should help increase Germany’s competitiveness on a global scale.
Good News Overall
However, the German film industry is happiest to have clarity going ahead into the new year. As we noted above, this has been a difficult period to get any sense from governmental institutions, as they focus more on campaigning than getting the job done.
It also represents one of three key reforms the industry hopes for. The others are a new tax incentive model to make Germany more competitive on that front and a potential law that will push streaming platforms to invest in local productions. However, these will have to wait for the new government, whatever form it takes.
Perhaps the most exciting development for those in the industry is automatic approval for funding from the German Motion Picture Fund (GMPF) and German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), which mostly work with higher-end productions. This will allow German producers to claim up to 30% of local production costs back.
Overall, it looks like there’s extra reason for the German film industry to celebrate over this festive season, and plenty more to come, too.
Film and Television 