Games and film sectors jointly call for substantial increase in audiovisual media funding

Games and film sectors jointly call for substantial increase in audiovisual media funding

Berlin, 22 February 2017 – The German Producers Alliance today joined the BIU, the German Games Industry Association, and other organisations from the moving-image sector in calling for significantly increased funding for games and other audiovisual media in Germany. In their joint statement, the associations point out the highly effective tax-based promotion systems used by other countries that have significantly reduced Germany’s international competitiveness as a production location. They maintain that this affects all branches of the audiovisual media sector – games, films and television series, as well as the areas of animation and visual effects.
 
‘Internationally, the most important locations have established highly efficient funding systems for games and other audiovisual media. Germany has failed to keep pace with these developments and is now increasingly losing its competitiveness as an internationally significant production location,’ says Felix Falk, Managing Director of the BIU. ‘Therefore, the games sector and the film industry are now joining forces for the first time to formulate the urgent need for a new media policy. We must replace this country’s outdated funding system as quickly as possible with consistent funding for all audiovisual media. Our proposal for tax-based games funding represents a concept for the design of a transparent and reliable media funding system in Germany.’
 
The associations are calling for consistent funding of all audiovisual media through effective and automated incentive systems. A funding model of this kind would restore Germany’s competitiveness as a production location, promote innovative and attractive content and create many new jobs for highly qualified professionals. In November, the BIU introduced its proposal for tax-based games funding. It centres on a transparent and reliable mechanism in the form of a culture-promotion incentive which would reduce a company’s tax liability by an additional 25 per cent of deductible production costs.
 
The wording of the declaration of the German Producers Alliance task force Incentive Systems for Audiovisual Production: ‘The task force Incentive Systems for Audiovisual Production calls on the political parties to place a significant strengthening of the funding system for the audiovisual creative industries on the political agenda ahead of the parliamentary elections in Germany. New incentive mechanisms must be created to restore the international competitiveness especially of the audiovisual industries (film, high-end TV series, animation and VFX, documentary films, games, VR) in Germany in the face of highly effective tax-based funding systems in many other countries. To this end, Germany’s present, unevenly applied federal film funding model must be expanded into an internally consistent funding system that benefits the entire audiovisual production industry, in order to re-establish Germany as an internationally competitive production location with innovative capability serving all genres of audiovisual production, to create and secure jobs in production management and to thereby lay the foundation for an economically viable moving-image industry.’
 
The following organisations have joined in the declaration:
• Allianz Deutscher Produzenten (German Producers Alliance – Film & Television)
• Berufsverband Kinematografie – BVK (German Society of Cinematographers)
• Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware – BIU (German Games Industry Association)
• Bundesverband Schauspiel – BFFS
• Interessenverband Deutscher Schauspieler – IDS
• Spitzenorganisation der Filmwirtschaft – SPIO
• Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren – VDD
• Verband Deutscher Filmproduzenten – VDFP (German Producers Association)
• Verband Technischer Betriebe für Film & Fernsehen – VTFF
• Young Producers’ Association – YPA
You will find further information on the statement by the task force Incentive Systems for Audiovisual Production here: http://www.produzentenallianz.de/pressemitteilungen/pressemitteilungen/inhalte-pressemitteilungen/verbaende-fordern-anreizsysteme-fuer-audiovisuelle-produktionen.html
 
For more information on the BIU proposal for a tax-based games funding system, please go to: https://www.game.de/positionen/kulturfoerderung-steuerliches-foerdermodell-fuer-games/

About the BIU

The BIU, the German Games Industry Association, is the association of the German computer and video games industry. Its 26 members are developers, publishers and suppliers of digital games. Together, they represent over 85 per cent of the German market. The BIU is, for example, the organiser of gamescom. As an expert partner for media and for political and social institutions, the BIU answers all questions on the topic of digital games.

Press contact:

Martin Puppe
BIU – Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware e. V.
Charlottenstraße 62
10117 Berlin
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)30 2408779-20
Fax: +49 (0)30 2408779-11
E-mail: puppe@biu-online.de
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Martin Puppe
+49 30 240 87 79 20