06/02/2007

Feature films must provide evidence of a minimum budget of 1m € to qualify for funding, animation films a budget of at least 3m € and documentaries a budget of at least 200,000 €. The production costs spent in Germany and qualifying as German Spend must amount altogether to at least 25% of the total production costs (or at least 5% for a budget of over 25m €). The costs of the German Spend include film-related goods and services rendered in Germany by persons who are subject to taxation in Germany and by companies whose headquarters or subsidiary are situated in Germany and who fulfil yet further criteria. German Spend does not include costs for development, acquisition of underlying rights, legal, financing, insurance, overheads, travel and transport costs as well as actors' fees which go over 15% of the total production costs.

Some of the FFG regulations have also been adopted: the holdback regulation will apply, the producer's own contribution must be at least 15% and § 15 FFG with respect to the requirements for a German language version will apply.

The application for the 20% production cost reimbursement will only be accepted when evidence can be given that at least 75% of the film's financing is in place.
If all of the application conditions have been met, notification of approval will be given; this will expire again if, within a certain period after the approval, evidence of the overall financing cannot be provided or if, within a further period, shooting has not begun and the film has not wrapped within the indicated shooting period. In this case, a second new application is possible. The FFA issues a preliminary approval and disburses on production of a guarantee or a completion bond in instalments of 33% according to the production's progress: upon commencement of principal photography, upon completion of the rough cut, and then on the auditing of the final cost statement.