THE GERMAN FILM SCENE 2016 An Overview
CONTENTS
1. GERMAN FILMS ON THE HOME MARKET ...... 2
2. GERMAN FILMS ON THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET ...... 3
3. GERMAN FILMS ON THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT ...... 3
4. GERMAN FILMS BY THE NUMBERS ...... 4
5. THE GERMAN FILM SCENE - PRODUCTION ...... 5
6. THE GERMAN FILM SCENE – DISTRIBUTION ...... 8
7. THE GERMAN FILM SCENE - FOREIGN SALES ...... 9
8. THE GERMAN FILM SCENE - USEFUL CONTACTS ...... 10
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1. GERMAN FILMS ON THE HOME MARKET
1.1 German audiences reaffirmed their support for cinema in general and local films in particular in 2016. The number of tickets sold overall was, at 121,1 million (according to the German Federal Film Board, FFA). Of those tickets, 27.7 million were bought to see German films. Finally, domestic titles garnered a 22.7% market share.
1.2 Laughter and a certain degree of familiarity seemed to be what appealed to local audiences, with most of the top 8 German films being comedies and family entertainment. At the same time, German Oscar contender TONI ERDMANN is among the most successful German films at the box office in Germany as well (835,000 admissions since release date up till March 2017).
1.3 Simon Verhoeven’s WELCOME TO GERMANY was the biggest German hit at the box office, followed by BIBI & TINA – MÄDCHEN GEGEN JUNGS.
TABLE 1: TOP 10 GERMAN FILMS AT THE GERMAN BOX OFFICE, 2016
TITLE ADMISSIONS
1. WILLKOMMEN BEI DEN HARTMANNS 3,079,425 2 BIBI & TINA – MÄDCHEN GEGEN JUNGS 1,994,248 3 DER GEILSTE TAG 1,734,683 4 ICH BIN DANN MAL WEG 1,386,852 5 HEIDI 1,176,552 6 TONI ERDMANN 775,604 7 SMS FÜR DICH 738,601 8 TSCHICK 715,766
Source: FFA, EDI
1.4 The year’s top German film sold enough tickets to earn a place in the overall Top 10, WILLKOMMEN BEI DEN HARTMANNS (WELCOME TO GERMANY) is Nr. 7 among the 10 most successful films in the German cinemas 2016.
TABLE 2: TOP 10 FILMS AT THE GERMAN BOX OFFICE, 2016
TITLE ADMISSIONS
1 ZOOMANIA 3,831,921 2 PETS 3,816,088 3 FINDET DORIE 3,789,985 4 STARWARS, DAS ERWACHEN DER NACHT 3,397,099 5 ROGUE ONE: A STARWARS STORY 3,362,768 6 PHANTASTISCHE TIERWELTEN 3,146,764 7 WILLKOMMEN BEI DEN HARTMANNS 3,079,425 8 ICE AGE – KOLLISION VORAUS 2,913,737 9 THE REVENANT 2,826,169 10 DEADPOOL 2,711,055
Source: FFA, EDI
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2. GERMAN FILMS ON THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET
German films continue to make their way onto the international market. For European films released around the world, Germany continues to be the third most successful exporter, some way behind the UK and France but well ahead of Italy and Spain. Best markets for German films are France as well as Spain, Italy, Brazil and Mexico. Family entertainment (including animation films) are a strong part of the German market share.
TABLE 3: TOP 10 GERMAN FILMS INTERNATIONALLY, 2016
TITLE TERRITORIES BOX OFFICE
1 DIE BIENE MAJA – DER KINOFILM** 49 20,024,886 2 DER 7TE ZWERG** 42 12,508,035 3 HEIDI 25 9.058,718 4 PHOENIX** 28 6,153,430 5 TONI ERDMANN 21 5,359,835 6 IM LABYRINTH DES SCHWEIGENS** 25 4,959,629 7 PINOCCHIO 11 4,313,256 8 UNFRIEND 12 4,186,088 9 CITIZENFOUR** 22 3,902,285 10 ER IST WIEDER DA 10 3,477,960
Box Office in Euros, excluding Germany/Austria/Switzerland ** Release dates partly 2015
Source: Split Screen Data. Territories: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea (South), Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK, US.
TONI ERDMANN was celebrated at its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and proved to be not only a festival but also a box office hit worldwide. It was released in the US just before Christmas and achieved over 1,300,000 USD Box Office until today.
The 3 German films at the top of the international box office are all family entertainment and/or animation films, which shows the high professionality and international appeal of Germany’s family entertainment sector.
In Italy (32) and Spain (28) the largest number of German majority films were released in 2016. Turkey (19), Sweden (16), France (13), UK (10) and Mexico (9) following closely.
3. GERMAN FILMS ON THE (INTERNATIONAL) FESTIVAL CIRCUIT
3.1 The year got off to a good start with the German film WILD by Nicolette Krebitz in competition in Sundance. 24 WEEKS by Anne Zhora Berrached could be seen in competition in Berlin, in Cannes Maren Ade’s competition entry TONI ERDMANN mesmerized the audience, in Karlovy Vary ORIGINAL BLISS by Sven Taddicken was invited to the competiton, in Moscow THE CENTER OF MY WORLD by Jacob Erwa was the German competition entry. in Locarno THE DREAMED PATH by Angela Schanelec and MARIJA by Michael Koch could be seen in competition and PAULA by Christian
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Schwochow and VOR DER MORGENRÖTE by Maria Schrader on the Piazza Grande. Chris Krauss’ THE BLOOMS OF YESTERDAY won the main award at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
3.2 Documentary films were strong 2016. GAZA SURF CLUB by Philip Gnadt & Mickey Yamine surfs around the world (and started in Toronto), Corinna Belz’ film on Peter Handke (I’M IN THE WOODS, COULD BE LATE) was presented in Locarno, SONITA was presented in Sundance and TRANSIT HAVANA premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
3.3 Short films were successful at many festivals, most prominently know was ALLES WIRD GUT (EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY) by Patrick Vollrath, which premiered in Cannes 2015 and received the Student Oscar in July 2016.
4. GERMAN FILMS BY THE NUMBERS
4.1 The following tables provide a snapshot of the three key sectors of the German film industry over the past five years: production, exhibition and distribution, with Table 6 including the international context.
TABLE 4: PRODUCTION* - GERMAN FILMS IN GERMANY 2011-2015
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Fiction features 132 149 150 143 147 161 Documentary features 80 71 73 86 79 83 Total German films 212 220 223 229 226 244 - of which co-productions 80 82 88 82 89 97
*based on number of films released Source: FFA
TABLE 5: EXHIBITION - BASIC GERMAN CINEMA STATISTICS
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Screens 4640 4617 4610 4637 4692 4739 Admissions (millions) 129.6 135.1 129.7 121.7 139.2 121.1 Admissions German films 27.9 24.0 33.6 32.1 37.1 27.7 Box office (EUR millions) 958.1 1033.0 1023.0 979.7 1167.1 1023.0 Average ticket price (EUR) 7.39 7.65 7.89 8.05 8.39 8.45 German films market share* 21.8% 18.1% 26.2% 26.7% 27.5% 22.7
*calculated on the basis of admissions Source: FFA
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TABLE 6: DISTRIBUTION – MAJORITY GERMAN FILMS RELEASED IN KEY TERRITORIES 2016
2016 Argentina 7 Australia 8 Brazil 8 France 13 Italy 34 Japan 3 Korea (South) 8 Mexico 9 Netherlands 5 Poland 0 Spain 28 Sweden 16 Turkey 19 UK 14 US 8 Source: Rentrak
5. THE GERMAN FILM SCENE - PRODUCTION
5.1 According to figures released by the German Federal Film Board (FFA), which are based on films premiering in one or more German cinemas, Germany produced an average of 222 films a year between 2011 and 2015 (2016: 244) German films and co-productions were released in the cinema.
5.2 German films vary in budget size from $100-million-plus titles like the English-language co- production CLOUD ATLAS, whose cast was headed by Tom Hanks and Halle Berry, to micro-budget documentaries made for EUR 100,000 or less. Most, however, have budgets of between EUR 1 and 3 million. And almost all receive some kind of public money.
5.3 Germany is a very decentralised country – a legacy both of its long-term history and of its more recent divided past – and the film business reflects this. The country is a federal republic made up of 16 Länder – or Regions – most of which offer some kind of filmmaking support.
5.4 The larger funding bodies are based in Düsseldorf (Nordrhein-Westfalen), Munich (Bavaria), Berlin (Berlin-Brandenburg) and Stuttgart (Baden-Württemberg), with three other significant organisations pooling the resources of several regions: Filmförderung Hamburg-Schleswig Holstein, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (in Leipzig, bringing together Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen) and Nordmedia (in Hanover, combining Niedersachsen and Bremen). HessenFilm und Medien in Frankfurt, restructured in 2015, also offers production support with a more limited budget.
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TABLE 7: REGIONAL FILM FUNDS IN 2016
FUND ANNUAL BUDGET FOR PRODUCTION FUNDING EFFEKT* (EUR MILLIONS, FEATURE LENGTH FILMS)
MFG Baden-Württemberg (total budget 14.95 Mio.) 9.68 120% FilmFernsehFonds Bayern (total budget 36,64 Mio) 28.18 150% Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (31.76 Mio) 19.26 150% Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein (13.89 Mio) 11.08 150% HessenFilm und Medien (5.77 Mio) 4.77 100% Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (15.73 Mio.) 8.33 100% Nordmedia (9.64 Mio.) 7.32 125% Film- und Medienstiftung NRW (31.15 Mio.) 25.15 150%
* The percentage of any grant that must be spent in the region Source: FFA, Individual Fund websites
5.5 All of these bodies aim to provide both cultural support and economic stimulus. And all, reflecting developments in the audiovisual industry, have added games and digital media to their remit over the past decade.
5.6 Films are selected for support by a committee of professionals who decide on both cultural and economic grounds, with the emphasis placed slightly different from one Fund to the next. Most Funds strive for flexibility in their decisions given the ever-changing nature of the movie industry. Co-productions are welcome but the application must be made by a German producer or a company with a branch in Germany.
5.7 Additionally, there is funding available at federal level from the FFA, with another level of economically-driven funding aid introduced in 2007 in the form of the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), which is open to anyone shooting in Germany regardless of language or cultural content.
5.8 The regulations for the regional Funds are complex and the application process demanding, but the principle – established over the past two-and-a-half decades – is in each case the same: public money is made available to support film production on the condition that it generates spending in the region in which it is awarded. The level of this spending varies from board to board but is always between 100% and 150% – that is to say, any project given EUR 1 million in funding must (in the latter case) spend EUR 1.5 million on actual production costs within the awarding region. This gearing mechanism is known as the Fund’s ‘effekt’.
5.9 Most Funds set an upper limit to the proportion of a film’s budget that they are prepared to finance – usually 30% – but it is possible for one film to be backed by several Funds and for the producer to have to raise as little as 10% of the budget independently.
5.10 Federal funding is available from the FFA, which is responsible for all areas of film art and industry, including distribution and cinema support. For production support, its criteria are essentially the same as those of the regional Funds: the producer needs to “convince the committee with his script as well as [with] the project’s production and marketing concept”. The budget for
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feature film funding (documentaries included) amounted up to 35.43 Mio. Euros in 2016. Overall budget of the FFA for 2016 was 95,53 Mio. Euros.
5.11 Support from the FFA comes in two forms: project funding and ‘reference’ funding. The former uses the above-mentioned jury system and is selective, while the latter is awarded automatically to a producer on the basis of the performance of his/her previous film. This is measured both via admissions in cinemas, and in recognition of success at film festivals at home and abroad, together with any prizes the film may have won. Reference funding must be used for the producer’s next project.
5.12 The State Ministery for Culture and the Media (BKM) had a budget of 71.73 Mio in 2016. Euros for feature film funding 2016. This included the DFFF budget of 50 Mio. Euros. Overall budget for film at BKM was 102.6 Mio. Euros in 2016.
The German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) was launched in 2007 and is open to overseas films via a German partner or subsidiary regardless of content or language. But at least 25% of the budget must be spent in Germany, which effectively means a German location and/or a local studio base. 2017, additional 25 Mio. Euros will be available in addition to the 50 Mio. Euros of 2016 (75 Mio. Euros altogether).
5.13 ‘Hollywood’ films to have benefitted include VALKYRIE, NINJA ASSASSIN and CLOUD ATLAS alongside German festival prize-winners such as DAS WEISSE BAND (THE WHITE RIBBON), and local hits like FACK JU GÖHTE 2. In its first five-year period, the DFFF generated an estimated EUR 2 billion in expenditure – an ‘effekt’ of 500%.
TABLE 8: GERMAN FEDERAL FILM FUND (DFFF) AWARDS 2016 (EUR MILLIONS)
NO OF TOTAL SPENT AMOUNT FILMS BUDGET IN GERMANY AWARDED
Total films 122 398.3 311.1 51.1 of which International co-productions 46 199.6 120.1 20.1 German productions 66 198.7 190.9 31.0
Feature films 79 340.9 277.8 45.7 Documentaries 27 15.2 10.6 1.7 Animations 6 42.2 22.6 3.7
Source: DFFF
5.14 Other sources of film finance include Germany’s public and private broadcasters, especially ‘second channel’ ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen). In addition, several of the Hollywood majors – most notably Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. – have added a production arm to their distribution activities with the aim of producing local (German) films. These, of course, qualify for funding from the above-mentioned sources.
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TABLE 9: CINEMA DATA IN GERMANY AND 14 OTHER COUNTRIES - A COMPARISON
POPULATION SCREENS SCREENS TICKET PRICE (MILLIONS) PER INHABITANT (EUR)
Austria 8.6 557 15,440 8.7 Belgium 11.3 508 22,244 8.0 Denmark 5.7 432 13,194 11.7 France 66.4 5,741 11,566 6.5 Germany 81.2 4,692 17,306 7.9 Italy 60.8 3,852 15,784 6.2 Netherlands 16.9 888 19,032 8.6 Norway 5.2 434 11,982 11.7 Poland 38.0 1,256 30,255 4.5 Spain 46.4 3,588 12,932 6.1 Sweden 9.7 802 12,095 11.6 Switzerland 8.2 570 14,386 14.9 UK 64.8 4,046 16,016 10.1 US 321.4 40,547 7,926 7.7
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory
Hollywood movies are almost always shown in a German-dubbed version. Indeed, dubbing is so established that the German ‘voices’ of Hollywood stars have fanbases of their own. By contrast, the CineStar chain has been very successful with unsubtitled original versions at its flagship Sony Center cinema in Berlin. This is, of course, strictly metropolitan and is unlikely to spread further.
6. THE GERMAN FILM SCENE – DISTRIBUTION
6.1 Film distribution and marketing support is provided by the FFA in the form of a refundable loan of up to EUR 600,000, with additional provision for children’s films. As a result, there is a flourishing arthouse sector which ensures that German cinéphiles, at least in the major cities, have access to a good choice of films. In 2015, German distributors opened films from 49 different countries
6.2 In commercial terms, however, not only do Hollywood releases dominate the German box office: the German branches of Hollywood studios Disney, Fox, Paramount, Sony and Universal dominate the German distribution business as well. Of the Top 10 distributors in Germany in 2015 (see Table 10), six are the German film distribution subsidiaries of a Hollywood studio, while a seventh, Concorde Filmverleih, relied on output deals (long-term German rights deals with US and UK suppliers) for half its slate.
6.3 This is not, however, a total shut-out: Warner and Disney, both of which have German production arms, handled a number of German and other non-English-language titles – as many as 17, 14 of them German in Warner’s case. The Top 10 distributors listed in Table 10 accounted for 89.3% of the total annual box office, leaving the rest to be divided up between the remaining 97 distributors, including quite large companies such as Senator, NFP, Prokino and X-Verleih.
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TABLE 10: TOP 10 GERMAN FILM DISTRIBUTORS 2015
DISTRIBUTOR TITLES RELEASED EARNINGS (EUR MILLIONS) Universal Pictures Germany 25 244.9 The Walt Disney Company (Germany) 22 175.3 Warner Bros. Entertainment (Germany) 40 161.8 Constantin Film 10 108.8 Sony Pictures Releasing (Germany) 21 107.9 20th Century Fox of Germany 34 87.4 Studiocanal 22 78.7 Paramount Pictures Germany 10 36.8 Universum Film 15 25.8 Concorde Filmverleih 16 15.6
Sources: Rentrak, Split Screen Data
6.4 One characteristic of the German distribution market is the proliferation of boutique companies: of the 107 distributors who released films in Germany in 2015, 19 handled less than five films and 40 – over a third of active distributors – released just one. Some of the latter were production companies self-releasing their own films, but by no means all.
6.5 Finally, one thing which marks the German distribution market off from others in Europe is the existence of a number of companies which handle physical distribution on behalf of the holders of theatrical rights to films. This arrangement is fairly common in the US, but less so in Europe. In Germany X Verleih, for instance, releases its titles through Warner Bros., while release specialists such as Central Filmverleih, Die Filmagentinnen, Barnsteiner-Film and 24 Bilder take care of the delivery, including the digital delivery, of a number of usually smaller films. In 2015, 136 films – 25% of the total – were released in this way.
7. THE GERMAN FILM SCENE – FOREIGN SALES
7.1 It is a condition of federal and/or regional production support that a distributor be in place when a funding application is made, so German films are guaranteed a theatrical release at home.
7.2 For foreign distribution to become possible, a film will usually need a sales agent (or sometimes a producer’s representative) whose job is to sell the film to foreign distributors at a number of annual film festivals (such as Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Toronto) and markets like the American Film Market.
7.3 For foreign films to find a theatrical home in Germany, the same process needs to happen in reverse: a sales agent sells the film to a Germany distributor (or ‘buyer’), who acquires German or, more usually, German-speaking rights (i.e. including Austria and German-speaking Switzerland) to the film. Ancillary rights (pay-TV, free TV, DVD and VOD) may also be part of the deal.
7.4 In some cases, a commitment to buy or a ‘pre-sale’ may be made by a sales agent to a distributor in advance of production. This will normally involve an equity participation in the financing of the film based on a commitment to buy for an agreed sum. The latter – a ‘minimum guarantee’ – is the ‘price’ of the film for this or that territory. Once agreed, this can be used in the financing of the film. To command a minimum guarantee, however, a German film has usually to be by a name director and/or have the promotional advantage of being selected for a major film festival.
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8. THE GERMAN FILM SCENE - USEFUL CONTACTS
8.1 FEDERAL ORGANISATIONS
Filmförderungsanstalt (German Federal Film Board/FFA) www.ffa.de
German Films Service & Marketing www.german-films.de
8.2 INDUSTRY ORGANISATIONS
AG DOK (German Documentary Association) www.agdok.de
AG Kurzfilm (German Short Film Assocation) www.ag-kurzfilm.de
Verband der Filmverleiher (Film Distributors Association) www.vdfkino.de
Verband deutscher Filmexporteure (Association of German Film Exporters/VdFE) www.vdfe.de
Verband Deutscher Filmproduzenten (German Producers Association) www.verbanddeutscherfilmproduzenten.de
8.3 REGIONAL FUNDING BODIES
Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg www.mfg-filmfoerderung.de
FilmFernsehFonds Bayern www.fff-bayern.de
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg www.medienboard.de
Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein www.ffhsh.de
Hessen Film and Media www.hessische-filmfoerderung.de
Nordmedia www.nordmedia.de
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Film- und Medienstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen www.filmstiftung.de
Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung www.mdm-online.de
8.4 GERMAN FILM STUDIOS
Cologne: MMC Studios Köln, Am Coloneum 1, 50829 Cologne Tel: (49) 221 25 00 www.mmc.de
Hamburg: Studio Hamburg, Jenfelder Allee 80, 22045 Hamburg Tel: (49) 40 66 88 48 02 www.studio-hamburg.de
Lepizig: Media City Leipzig, Altenburgerstr 13, 04275 Leipzig Tel: (49) 341 35 00 22 00 www.mca.de
Munich: Bavaria Studios, Bavariafilmplatz 7, 82031 Geiselgasteig Tel: (49) 89 64 99-0 www.bavaria-studios.de
Berlin: Studio Babelsberg, August-Bebel-Str 26-53, 14482 Potsdam-Babelsberg Tel: (49) 331 721 00 00 www.studiobabelsberg.com
8.5 GERMAN FILM SALES COMPANIES
ARRI Media International www.arriworldsales.de
Beta Cinema www.betacinema.com
Films Boutique www.filmsboutique.com
Global Screen www.globalscreen.de
K5 International www.k5international.com m-appeal - Strawberries & Cream www.m-appeal.com
The Match Factory www.the-match-factory.com
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Media Luna New Films www.medialuna.biz
Picture Tree International www.picturetree-international.com
Sola Media : www.sola-media.com
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