The VTFF, as an association of 65 service providers for film and television, has been committed to strengthening the competitiveness of technical and creative service providers for film and television for almost 75 years.

A development in the area of post-production image/sound has been causing us great concern for some time. The framework conditions for fictional projects are becoming increasingly difficult, and the financial resources available to productions have deteriorated noticeably. Shooting ratios and the amount of material are increasing dramatically, the quality of original sound on set is deteriorating, reliable picture locks before the final editing process are the exception rather than the rule.

In short, maximum flexibility is demanded of post-production houses in the form of postponements and cancellations at short notice, while fees for editors, sound designers, colourists etc. are literally exploding. The demand for quality, on the other hand, has continued to rise in recent years. Many companies already feel threatened in their existence!

The situation of chronic underfunding of commissions is further exacerbated by the fact that post-budgets - which are usually very tightly calculated anyway (they are often less than three per cent of the calculated total production costs) - are often used at the end of the production process to plug other financial holes. This misappropriation occurs not least in productions that are partly or fully financed by public funds.

There can no longer be any talk of adequate profitability on the part of the post-production service provider image/sound. Increased costs for energy, rent and salaries, as well as technical and creative requirements, are further reducing the margins of post-production service providers.

The consequences of this situation are a lack of funds for investment in the rapidly developing digital technology, as well as in training and further education. In the long and medium term, service providers fear the loss of highly qualified jobs in Germany as a centre of excellence. In the view of the VTFF, the German film and television industry cannot afford a deprofessionalisation and destruction of know-how - especially in an international comparison!

The VTFF therefore calls on clients, producers and broadcasters to develop a greater appreciation for the technical and creative services provided by post-production companies and to ensure that their complex and important work is appropriately remunerated in the common interest.
The VTFF e.V. invites the producers' associations to develop joint measures to improve the precarious situation in post-production as quickly as possible.

VTFF Managing Director Achim Rohnke: "The proportion of image/sound post-production work in the budgets of film and TV productions must become realistic again. Otherwise, the existence of technical and creative service providers will be jeopardised. It's not just the producers who demand realism in costing from their clients, but also the service providers from their clients!"