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PRODUCTION / FUNDING Germany

The German Motion Picture Fund raises its budget to €30 million for international TV series and films

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- In 2021, the funding programme put in place by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media is doubling the budget it earmarks for co-productions of TV and VoD series

The German Motion Picture Fund raises its budget to €30 million for international TV series and films

By doubling its budget from €15 million to €30 million, the German Motion Picture Fund (GMPF) is sending a clear signal that it is encouraging international producers to apply for funding for TV co-productions with Germany. The aim is to specifically support the production of high-end TV and VoD series as well as films destined for the TV networks.

The GMPF is a funding programme put in place by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM), the purpose of which is to enhance the competitive strength and innovative power of Germany as a film location, and to offer producers an incentive to produce new and creative formats. Projects applying for financial support do not have to be evaluated by a special committee, since the GMPF is an automatic grant that is awarded as long as the requirements are met and provided that the requested amount is still available. The support is non-repayable.

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Producers or co-producers with a registered office or branch in Germany, who have already produced a film or a series within the last five years, are eligible for the funding. They can apply for fictional or documentary series and feature films as long as their project fulfils specific conditions concerning the running time, budget and German co-production share.

The fictional series have to have a running time of at least 240 minutes per season, whereas the documentary series need to have a running time of at least 180 minutes per season. For the feature films, the requested minimum running time varies between at least 79 minutes and 59 minutes for children's films.

In addition to the running-time specifications, the applicants need to be able to guarantee a minimum budget for production costs, which once again differs depending on the genre of the project. For fictional series, the budget must be at least €30,000 per minute, €1.2 million per episode or €7.2 million per season. For documentary series, the production cost has to be at least €9,000 per minute, €360,000 per episode or €1.65 million per season; when the latter cost is attained, there is a corresponding minimum per-minute price of €7,000. As a further addition, the requirements for VoD films are set at a total production cost of at least €25 million in order to be eligible for the funding.

The German production costs of the project must be at least 40% of the total production costs. The amount of the grant is based on the approved German production costs and is capped at €2.5 million. For series, a grant of up to €4 million can be awarded.

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