A look at the last few months shows how much momentum for change can be activated at all levels in Germany. The unpopular and dead-ended federal policy will be put to the voters in a few weeks' time. We very much hope that the content of the cultural and creative industries will find its place in the election programmes and especially in the political orientation. The creative industries combine sustainability, technology, innovation and economic strength - and can be activated with simple political instruments. There are hardly any limits to its growth, as can be empirically proven in other countries.

Pragmatism and sustainable liberalism are currently successful recipes in scaling economies - in contrast to German and European microeconomic regulation. More responsibility on the part of the individual and framework conditions that encourage success are necessary. This also includes a functioning democracy, which in turn thrives on a fact-based press and a non-ideological cultural economy. And yes, film and television contribute to the quality of democracy and thus to the quality of the location through their identity-forming effect. Fictional content is therefore just as much a part of public service broadcasting as information and news journalism. The pressure to reform the public broadcasting system cannot create viewer acceptance by cutting programme budgets, but by reducing administrative structures.

The sustainable development of large-screen presentation cannot be blamed on cinemas alone. In other countries, there have long been joint concepts for urban development planning, city centre concepts, stationary retail, gastronomy, cultural offerings and even cinemas. Streaming providers are also recognising the enormous power of cinema presentation of audiovisual content compared to pure VOD originals. Quality and communal experiences as a differentiation from individual small-screen entertainment create lasting value. Stars are created through physical presence at premieres and festivals - an opportunity that could be solved by a task for society as a whole.

A consistent reduction in regulation, which distracts creative minds from their actual work, could be implemented directly by standardising existing funding guidelines and awarding programme commissions - and does not require federal policy. The boundaries of what is possible are drawn much tighter in Germany than in other EU countries. Let's try out how pragmatism can lead to faster decisions and better products. A culture of error is also part of this, because failures are first and foremost an opportunity for improvement. Especially in the current discussion about the tax incentive model, the potential for success is fizzling out in the political lobby mills in the protracted search for the perfect solution - instead of simply starting and then improving what already exists through iteration.

New technologies enable an increase in added value. There are already many AI tools that make content development more efficient and implementation more compact. Whether and to what extent AI-generated content is accepted as an end product and can be utilised in a legally compliant manner is still unclear. However, increasing quality and shortening shooting days are achievable in the short term. A recent interview in our media centre with AI director Verena Puhm from Los Angeles should be noted.

New opportunities are also emerging on the exploitation side through commercial short formats in vertical format, so-called verticals or vertical spaces. Serialised content as an ultra-short format is conquering the market in Asia and America, largely unnoticed by Germany. We recommend an interview with a vertical creator in our media centre.

High-quality encounters, such as at the "26th Forum Filmwirtschaft" at the Media Days or the delegation trip to Hollywood, open up new perspectives and potential. Networking is also on the programme next year at the "27th Bavarian Film Scene on Ice" at the Munich Film Week or the traditional "Production Breakfast" at the Berlinale. All information about our events can of course also be found on Ensider.de - and from next year onwards with an extended English-language programme on Ensider.com.

Your Ensider:Team
(Author: Markus Vogelbacher)

Image: © IFP, 2024