Germany and Netherlands sign co-production treaty at Berlinale

At this year’s Berlinale the Dutch and German film industries will finally be joined by a co-production treaty.

By Alexandra Zeevalkink 4 Feb 2015

Germany and Netherlands sign co-production treaty at Berlinale
Dutch children's film fidgety bram German co-production treaty

At this year’s Berlinale the Dutch and German film industries will finally be joined by a co-production treaty.

The official film co-production treaty for productions between the neighbouring countries will be signed at the Dutch Embassy in Berlin on Saturday 7 February by Dutch minister of education, culture and science Jet Bussemaker, the German minister of culture and media Monika Grütters and Andreas Görgen, head of culture and communication at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Germany.

The treaty will see to the creation of a cross-border development fund, the Children Film Co-Development Fund. The Netherlands Film Fund is partnering with the Mitteldeutsche Medienforderung (MDM) for this. Initially the main focus of the fund will be to support the development of original children’s features.

Commenting on the event, Doreen Boonekamp, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund said: “This was something that came up as a plan while we were working on this agreement. We have done several co-productions with Germany. They, on their side, have been designing national policy in collaboration with all the regional funds for stimulating their children’s films.”

Manfred Schmidt, MDM’s executive director, also spoke on the matter, saying: “With the new fund we want to join forces and foster the collaboration between Dutch and German film professionals in their joint efforts to develop exciting and charming children film stories. Stories that will find their audience in both countries and beyond.”

The first application round for the fund – in which both parties are initially putting €50,000 – is likely to be in the spring. If this goes well than both parties have agreed to invest more in the fund.

The treaty will see to the creation of a cross-border development fund, the Children Film Co-Development Fund. The Netherlands Film Fund is partnering with the Mitteldeutsche Medienforderung (MDM) for this. Initially the main focus of the fund will be to support the development of original children’s features.

Commenting on the event, Doreen Boonekamp, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund said: “This was something that came up as a plan while we were working on this agreement. We have done several co-productions with Germany. They, on their side, have been designing national policy in collaboration with all the regional funds for stimulating their children’s films.”

Manfred Schmidt, MDM’s executive director, also spoke on the matter, saying: “With the new fund we want to join forces and foster the collaboration between Dutch and German film professionals in their joint efforts to develop exciting and charming children film stories. Stories that will find their audience in both countries and beyond.”

The first application round for the fund – in which both parties are initially putting €50,000 – is likely to be in the spring. If this goes well than both parties have agreed to invest more in the fund.

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