11.3 million euros in MEDIA funding for the North

What was once initiated as an impetus for the competitiveness of European film is today not only a permanent fixture in the film and television industry in Europe, but is also recognised by audiences as a European trademark.MEDIAsupports the development of films, series and games as well as festivals, promotion initiatives, Distribution and Sales of European films, industry training and the cinema networkEuropa Cinemas and is therefore at home along the entire value chain.

Within the framework of MEDIA Fundings, the Creative Europe Desk Hamburgcan look back on seven years of successful work (2014 to 2020) as an interface between the programme and the local industry. The team from Hamburg has supported the industry with its funding applications, brought European expertise and experts to the region and strengthened the exchange with European neighbours. And this is paying off: Over 11.3 million euros went to Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein over the seven years. In addition, 19 projects in the cultural sector in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein received a further 1.95 million euros via the Creative Europe KULTUR programme. From 2014 to 2020, Germany received a share of 14.5 per cent and thus over 112 million euros of the total MEDIA budget.

Dr Carsten Brosda, Senator for Culture and Media, says: "The Creative Europe programme offers players in Hamburg's cultural and creative industries the opportunity to use the whole of Europe as their stage. The MEDIA and CULTURE programmes strengthen European networking and a living European identity - true to the motto 'More Europe for Hamburg, more Hamburg for Europe'. The Hamburg Creative Europe Desk is an important interface between the industry and the programme. We look forward to the next term 2021 to 2027."

Media review

With the digital magazineMEDIA ReviewCreative Europe Desk takes a look back at the past seven years. Several projects from the region are included, whether in the form of interviews or images. One particularly successful MEDIA recipient from Hamburg is EFP European Film Promotion, which promotes European cinema and networks actors, directors and executive producers from its offices in Friedensallee. "We use targeted measures to raise the profile of European cinema internationally," says CEO Sonja Heinen, explaining the work of EFP. "We look at which festivals and markets there are worldwide and then try to generate attention for European films within the film industry. In other words, to let local distributors, cinema operators, etc. know that there are new hot films from Europe that they can show in their country."

The Hamburg Short Film Festival and Mo and Friese Children's Short Film Festival as well as the Nordic Film Days Lübeck also receive MEDIA support: 25,000 euros for European diversity in short films and 63,000 euros for the 100% focus on Northern European cinema in Lübeck will be given to the festivals from Brussels.

Executive Producers develop international material with MEDIA funds

Many Hamburg film producers have benefited from European Fundings over the past seven years: A&O Büro, Amusement Park, Brave New Work, Detailfilm, Doppelplusultra, Ella Film, Filmtank, Gebrüder Beetz, Hamster, Juna, Leitwolf, Pier53, Tamtam, Ulysses, Wüste Film and WunderWerk.

Companies such as Ulysses Filmproduktion, which can already boast a whole series of MEDIA Fundings, are also dialogue partners in the region, as are the Hamburg International Short Film Festival and, most recently, VRHAM!, which is a partner in REAL IN, a cross-cultural and cross-sectoral research project. "Projects 'made in Hamburg' repeatedly prevail against strong European competition," says a delighted Christiane Siemen, CEO of the Creative Europe Desk Hamburg. "The new funding from Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein for series and VR will further strengthen the financial power of applications from the region. We hope that this will also be reflected in the results."

Games from Hamburg

A new addition to the funding pot is the games industry, which could now also benefit from European Fundings. On the one hand, Hamburg is predestined as a location for successful applications, as the scene in the city is very lively and well-positioned. Until 2020, however, companies from the Hanseatic city had the decisive disadvantage that there was no funding from the region as counter-financing - which is essential for MEDIA. For the next seven years, Creative Europe Desk is now promising even better opportunities for Hamburg-based game developers with the Hamburg Prototype Fundings. BigPoint, Crazybunch, Deadelic, Osmotic and Threaks have already been successfully funded.

The company Super Crowd has already received funding several times: it organises the Indie Arena Booth at Gamescom from Hamburg and offers independent European games developers an international networking opportunity there.

Crossing Borders

Sales is the centrepiece of MEDIA Fundings with the largest budget. Into the Fate" by Fatih Akin, for example, received distribution funding and was shown in cinemas in 27 European countries. Other films from Hamburg were also seen internationally thanks to MEDIA distribution funding. In 2020, these were "Bayala - The Magical Elf Adventure" by Aina Järvine (Ulysses Filmproduktion), "The Golden Glove" by Fatih Akin (bombero International) and "Lindenberg - Do Your Thing" by Hermine Huntgeburth (Letterbox Filmproduktion). And this is where one of MEDIA's success stories comes in: the Europa Cinemas cinema network, which benefits 13 cinemas in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, whose names stand for a diverse European arthouse programme: 3001, Abaton, Blankeneser, Cinema Paradiso, Elbe, Holi, Kino 51 Stufen, Koralle, Magazin, Passage, Studio, Traum, Zeise.

Creative Europe MEDIA 2021 to 2027

With an increase of over 1 billion euros and thus a total budget of 2.5245 billion euros, Creative Europe can open its next chapter over the next seven years. Applications for MEDIA funding are expected to be possible again from June.Creative Europe Desk Hamburg advises on all areas of Fundings, the right time to apply and provides tips and to-dos for the documents. "Executive Producers with a project that is suitable for MEDIA funding are welcome to get in touch with us at an early stage," emphasises Christiane Siemen. "It makes perfect sense to start planning and preparing a MEDIA application at an early stage. We go through the hard facts with interested parties and see when the right time is to submit an application. We are very pleased to be able to continue supporting the industry over the next seven years."

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