With the takeover of the BKM by Claudia Roth of the Greens, the focus in the film industry is also changing: sustainability is increasingly coming to the fore. In addition, the announcements in the coalition agreement give hope that the acute problems will be addressed in the short term, keyword: legal certainty for co-productions. However, the current developments in the fight against the pandemic show that film culture is not classified as systemically relevant.
The new constellation could further advance this trend – or counteract it in a targeted manner.
As once introduced by Gerhard Schröder's government, the BKM is still docked in the Chancellery - and still without its own ministry. A possible conflict seems inevitable, as the SPD is the Chancellor. However, this conflict could be beneficial for the film industry and drive important things forward. Not only does Claudia Roth as The new Minister of State for Culture has given her department a green name, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs is also under the Greens. What does this mean specifically for the film industry? The FDP in particular has always been critical of any kind of funding. The distribution of departments should ensure that the volume of film funding remains the same, even if it now has to focus more on genuine sustainability - and rightly so, should.
The last "Film Industry Forum" at the end of November had the motto "Sustainable, fair and honest" - and thus captured the spirit of the times exactly. The financial market summarizes the topic under ESG, i.e. environmental, social, governance. Because: Real sustainability needs more than concepts, it requires real, professional management.
But what could a sustainable film production look like? The "Green Shooting" working group of the MFG Baden-Württemberg provides answers to resource-saving funding policies and production methods in film production that are as resource-efficient as possible. Numerous representatives from the film industry have come together here and joined forces to form an organizational anchor and give the industry a strong voice in public. However, environmental protection and climate awareness are not the only criteria for sustainability. Here, too, the MFG was a pioneer when it required sustainable employment in film productions as a condition for funding.
Appropriate remuneration for artists has already been enshrined in law. Thanks to the alliance of public broadcasters with project-related employees, company social benefits are also available across the board. Personnel development, training and further education, and collective bargaining compliance are important cornerstones of the social concepts that are already required by individual film funding bodies and offered accordingly by many production companies.
All of these concepts only become valuable through successful implementation, through appropriate management and, ultimately, through control. All of this requires systematic compliance and risk management. But as long as no technological systems are used, production executives will have to deal specifically with guidelines in the coming years in order to be able to implement them competently.
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