The German Federal Film Fund (FFA)
by CARTOON (European Association of Animation Film)
- Christine Berg, Project Director at the FFA presented the German tax incentive system. The German tax incentive has an annual funding sum of €60 million for three years for German feature films. The fund is conceived as an automatic funding taking the form of a grant. Until now 99 projects have been supported (14 documentaries, 80 feature films and 5 animation films).
Christine Berg is the project manager responsible for the German Federal Film Fund (FFA). The funding is a new subsidy created from 2007 with the aim of supporting their creative audiovisual industry.
What is the German Federal Film Fund?
It is a funding from the government, the Ministry
of Culture and Media and the FFA, an institute
similar to the French CNC or the UK Fund Council. FFA handles and deals with this funding.
The fund offers 60 million E UR per year for 3 years;
probably the minister will give an additional support
for another 3 years, so for the period 2010-2012.
The money is offered only for production and
exclusively for German feature films.
It is an automatic funding, with no jury but only
guidelines. It is a grant that doesn’t have to be
paid back. 25% of the film budget must be invested
in Germany.
What are the basics to apply to the fund?
There are 3 «doors» to go through in order to apply
for the funding: the applicant, so the producers
who can apply for the subsidy; the project, with the
elements that must qualify the eligibility, and the
cultural test, a brand new element in Germany.
The applicant must be responsible for the project
and the first release print. In other words it must
be a real producer based in Germany, able to
develop, produce and release the film.
The producer also needs to present a reference as
he has to have released at least one film in a movie
theatre in the last 5 years.
What is the destination for the fund?
The funding is addressed to feature film, documentary
and animation movies and the budget
is divided in the following way: € 1m for feature
films, € 200.000 for documentaries and € 3m for
animation films.
The main requisite applicants must respond to
in order to apply, is that 25% of the production
costs must be spent in Germany. Also 20% of the
German production costs must be financed in
Germany. This makes it difficult for international
co-productions, because we need a German distribution
company, who has to release the film in
Germany with several prints, depending on the
amount of the budget obtained. So for example
with a budget of about € 300,000 at least 30
prints must be released.
Which are the main guidelines
to follow in order to apply?
Before applying for the contract, the applicant needs
the distributor. This is one of the main guidelines. The application can be made for a maximum sum
of € 4m, in this case. Exceptionally, it is possible
to apply up to € 10m, in this case there is a board
responsible for the decision that analyses the
applicant’s request and decides if it is appropriate.
It will be important for the board to know how
many facilities will be used in Germany, and how
much will be spent in Germany.
For example if the budget for a production is €
5m, where out of this amount € 2m are spent in
Germany, you can apply for 20% of the € 2m. In the case that the whole budget of € 5m is spent
in Germany, you can only obtain 20% of 80%. This
rule had to be adopted to respect the European
Commission decision who wants to leave 20% of a
whole budget free, so that the producer can use it
where and as he prefers.
When can you apply for a subsidy?
There are no deadlines for the applications, but
they must be presented before the shooting starts. Following the application, shooting should start 5
months after receiving notification, so after the
producer has the contract. 75 % of the financing must be closed on notification,
and the closing of the total financing three
months after notification.
If the producer is shooting a feature film or making
an animation production in Germany he can
get 20%, but in order to obtain this 20% he has to
make the work in Germany.
What are the particularities
of the Cultural Test?
The cultural test is a new element for the system
in Germany. It is a test that presents characteristics
for feature films, documentaries, and animation,
with points assigned, like the European
Convention Test.
There are 2 blocks: Block A for «Cultural Content
and Creative Talent» and Block B for «Production».
It is important to stress that if you hire people
from Germany for the production, you obtain
more points.
If you produce a film under the European
Convention, you will use their cultural test. For a
co-production between Germany, Spain and UK,
it will automatically be considered under the
European convention.
How many projects have you already
supported?
In 2007, 99 projects were supported thereof 14
documentaries, 80 feature films and 5 animation
films.
For 2008, 91 films have been supported already,
among which only 3 for animation, 23 documentaries
and 65 feature films. The result is of only 8
animation films supported in 2 years. It can be explained because animation has not
produced positive results in Germany in the last
years. Films like Disney’s Ratatouille went well,
but German animation films didn’t obtain many
admissions. Germany needs more animation films, and we hope
co-productions will help to increase the sector.
Within the federal system in Germany
there are many other schemes. How easy or
difficult is it for your scheme to work in the
context of the regional or other subsidies?
It is easy because the system is simple, and it is
easy to combine the different subsidies together. Producers propose the project to juries who have
to analyse it and approve it, and only at the end of
the process they can apply for the German Federal
Film Fund.
Financing has to be completed within
3 months of the contract been issued,
producers struggle in those 3 months. Is
there a possibility to extend this period so
the producer can finalise his financing?
It is a problem usually common to TV stations who
don’t give contracts, but a letter of intent, that is
valid in order to apply for the German Federal Film
Fund. But if you need the money, given in 3 rates,
you need to present the official copy of the contract. A new
decision was made, in order to make
available the first payment before having the
contract from the TV station or the other subsidies,
but a letter of intent must be held.
Information and application forms can be found
at: www.ffa.de/dfff.
Cartoon Master Donostia – San Sebastian, Spain, November 2008
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