The budget of Hessian film funding, HessenFilm und Medien GmbH, is expected to grow by a total of four million to 8.4 million euros in the next year. This is what the government draft provides for the 2022 budget. If the state parliament agrees, the loans previously granted by WIBank and guaranteed by the state will be converted into budget funds. In addition, the state wants to provide a further increase of 550,000 euros for the film festivals, 100,000 euros more for so-called green shooting and promoting young talent and 50,000 euros for the traveling cinemas from 2022 onwards. Together with the funds from the Hessischer Rundfunk and ZDF as well as the institutional funds, HessenFilm und Medien should have around 11.1 million euros in total funds. The funding amount is then around 9.4 million eurosAnna Schoeppe can do business with.
Eva-Maria Magel
Head of culture editor Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
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Not the only exemption that the managing director of HessenFilm und Medien can record for her company. On the one hand, your budget gets the 3.3 million euros added, which were previously earmarked in the funding pot for projects with production costs higher than 1.5 million euros. So far, these funds have been guarantees that have earned interest at one percent over seven years. “Money that the producers don't get,” says Schoeppe. "That is a difference to the logic of the other German funding instruments." Which means something like: If large domestic German co-productions were planned, the Hessian funds have so far been hardly interesting - the Hessian entrepreneurs as partners had to earn the interest after all. This location disadvantage is now to be eliminated."For us, that means significantly greater flexibility," said Schoeppe. The funds are now "more attractive", and: HessenFilm can set new priorities in their distribution.
"Professional support to the market"
Because Hessen continues to be more of a country of small and medium-sized productions, even if with Neopol Film, founded in 2014 - once in the first year of talent package funding - a Hessian company received the maximum amount of one million euros for “Max und die Wilde 7 “. "We are seeing the first feature films from the Talent Package Funding", says Schoeppe about the instrument set up in 2017 to support young producers in Hesse. It has now been expanded: Schoeppe wants a mentoring program over three years, “professional support right through to the market”, more connections to the sponsors as the “first contact person”. Anyone who does not get a move will now receive a “qualified rejection”, an interview with two members of the jury and a detailed explanation of how they can improve.
Companies can apply for a maximum of 150,000 euros in funding for three to five projects, half of which is a grant, the other a conditionally repayable loan. Since this funding instrument is financed from budget funds, the addition of the former guarantee funds should also bring some air. "We are in control of our own budget and can respond better to the needs of the location," said Schoeppe. In order to achieve this, she announced when she took office that she would work “on transparency and approachability”.
Round tables are currently meeting weekly with the industry in order to work out the new funding guidelines that will apply from 2022 point by point in dialogue. According to Schoeppe, the experience of the past three years would also be compared. Among other things, there should be more holistic funding from treatment to project without having to apply for each step individually - "that gives creative people back their freedom".