This vague fog of uncertainty is not clearing for the manufacturing trades such as production and service companies. The reform of film funding is essential. Completely new structures are to be created and ideas implemented differently than before - by a federal government that has already struggled with the implementation of many other issues. The process of agreeing on political plans takes a long time and is accompanied by mutual accusations and public crossfire. The laboriously reached compromise is then not implemented in the responsible ministry for a long time, until finally the publicly polarised discussion increases the pressure and those responsible buckle or even publicly distance themselves. As can currently be heard at the numerous networking events organised by chambers, associations, banks and industry events, the chancellor's lack of leadership to keep his parliamentary group partners together and the general absence of change competence in all political camps are causing concern among business leaders.

The EU is forcing a revision for so-called Company in difficulties The funding organisations are effectively suspending payments for projects that have already been approved. The reason for this lies in minimum quotas for capital and equity. However, it is precisely these ratios that are difficult to achieve in companies that produce intangible assets. This is aggravated by the concept of value creation in Germany, which has been criticised for years. Production costs in many other countries are significantly lower than German production costs, including countries such as the UK. Economic goods are normally produced as cheaply as possible with marketable quality characteristics, as the manufacturer's profit lies in the difference between the sales and production value. In Germany, on the other hand, the producer participates significantly less in the success of a film in relation to the risk borne and usually not at all. If the producer saves on production costs, he has to pay back subsidies and his (only) source of income, the percentage remuneration (measured against the budget), decreases. The entire exploitation, funding and economic system follows this logic. This costs profits that are urgently needed to strengthen equity. The new guidelines are therefore also putting pressure on German production companies in particular.

The consequences of this mechanism were compensated for by high order volumes from broadcasters, later from streamers and supported by foreign productions that were lured to Germany with funding incentives. The lack of competitiveness of production funding and the lull in orders for production value creation create extremely challenging framework conditions. Active crisis management at least requires planning certainty in order to concretise the acquisition of fresh capital or the duration of measures.

At the Zurich Film Festival, for example, international producers reported a large number of private-sector financing opportunities. A high level of interest in the globally growing entertainment industry is also being evoked at investor events. In Germany, however, two trends are emerging: on the one hand, ever larger groups of companies are forming and, on the other, agile companies are scoring points with innovative solutions. Service providers in particular are reinventing themselves and looking for new niches in the changing market environment between programme production and the audience. "Straight to ..." is a new concept and describes the direct connection between retail brands and potential consumers, or between creators and their audience. Service companies in particular are therefore convincing potential investors with the customisation skills they have learned.

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(Author: Markus Vogelbacher)