What a firework display at the Media Days Munich! Long lead times are usually difficult to reconcile with the topicality of such major events, but Stefan Sutor, Managing Director of Medien.Bayern GmbH, and his team delivered. Ensider.net was represented at the 26th Forum Filmwirtschaft and showcased fictional film, regardless of platform, and its important impact on a democratic society. Claudia Lehmann (Maz & Movie) moderated a strong panel with Aelrun Goette (director of "In einem Land, das es nicht mehr gibt", among others), Karoline Meichsner-Sertl (ZDF Studios), Nina Peters (ndf Gruppe), Tania Reichert-Facilides (OneGate Media, Studio Hamburg) and Christian Sommer (MPA). And the realisation after just under an hour of discussion with very personal insights into the state of the film industry, democracy and social coexistence was enriching: fiction is indispensable both for a democratic basic order and for a common value system and creates identity for us as a society. An important signal for the structural and programme reform of public broadcasting, but also for the funding reform.
At the same time as the Media Days, the Minister Presidents held a conference on the topics of increasing contributions and reforms to public broadcasting. At the very least, contribution stability should be achieved. So far, everyone is in agreement. The fact that a reform, like the healthcare reform or any corporate reorganisation, initially costs more money has not yet been quoted in a joint resolution. However, everyone agreed that the programme must be at the centre of the considerations. Fewer channels, less administration, more programme. And the Forum Filmwirtschaft emphasised with many different perspectives that fictional programmes play an essential role in the acceptance of the population.
In faraway Berlin, various rounds of talks are currently taking place at high frequency in order to get the funding reform implemented in time. 14 November will be an exciting day, when the focus will once again be on the adjustment meeting for budget planning. Björn Böhning, the new president of the umbrella organisation of the film industry (SPIO) and managing director of the Alliance of German Producers, was therefore not available for the panel in Munich. Nevertheless, he shared his insights on the current content with Ensider: The interview from Friday 25 October 2024 is available at ensider.de. In it, Björn Böhning reports on positive signals from those politically involved, including the seriousness that has been realised for the future of the film industry in Germany.
Back to the Media Days, where Claudia Lehmann led the high-calibre panel with her usual aplomb: Christian Sommer, representing the American entertainment companies in Germany, once again emphasised the importance of the local film industry. The opportunities to also tell unusual stories enable commissioned productions, but also co-production participations, with lasting reliability, especially for public broadcasters.
Tania Reicher-Facilides from global sales company OneGate Media emphasised that this also sharpens Germany's image abroad. Aelrun Goette, on the other hand, reported on how her films regularly attracted a great deal of attention at international festivals. ZDF Studios Managing Director Karoline Meichsner-Sertl summarised that the restructuring of the broadcasters in particular will have a strong impact on the production landscape in Germany. Nina Peters, who is developing a new project on the scale of "The Swarm" with ndf, explained that the funding situation in particular is an essential prerequisite for outstanding projects.
You can find the entire discussion in the participants' area of the Medientage website and will probably also be available at a later date via the Ensider media centre on the Medientage YouTube channel. The Forum Filmwirtschaft was once again sponsored by the FFF FilmFernsehFonds Bayern and supported by adag payroll services, Black Forest Studios, Cattleya, International Film Partners, Ludwig Kameraverleih, Maz & Movie, Optical Art and OneGate Media. We would like to thank Medientage München for the successful co-operation.
Your Ensider:Team
(Author: Markus Vogelbacher)
Image by International Film Partners 2024