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MFG Baden-Württemberg is an institution of the state of Baden-Württemberg and Südwestrundfunk public broadcaster. MFG is short for Medien and Filmgesellschaft, which translates as Media and Film Society. The aim of MFG is to promote film culture and film industry as well as the cultural and creative industries in the Southwest of Germany.

MFG operates as a state-wide centre of excellence. It is a public promoter of culture and economic development and provides targeted support measures to the industry. The MFG Film Funding focuses on project funding, whereas MFG Creative focuses on networking and communication for the cultural and creative industries and on digital culture as a field of expertise. MFG works with its shareholders to provide supervision and advice for projects in the fields of media competence, open source, online state projects and university cooperations.

MFG’s film funding department reflects the organization’s commitment to promoting the southern German state’s film sector. The annual budget of approx. 15 million euros subsidizes cinema and TV productions, script development, and distribution of games, documentaries, and animated films. Numerous measures to improve the infrastructure contribute to the diversity of Baden-Württemberg’s film industry.

Within the scope of its multipronged funding policy, MFG aims especially to promote the animation and VFX industry. The MFG-initiated Animation Media Cluster Region Stuttgart (AMCRS) contributes significantly to this sector’s close network and interdisciplinary teamwork. The Line Producer Funding supports productions that are animated in Baden-Württemberg. It is targeted at line producers and VFX or animation service providers for national and international cinema and television projects with a high proportion of VFX originating in Baden-Württemberg.

Another focus is the promotion of young talents. To that end, the Young Documentary Film program offers young directors the opportunity to make debut films. The MFG Film Funding awards several prizes each year, among them the renowned MFG Star for young directors.

MFG Film Funding Awarding Regulations

With its tailor-made programmes and projects, MFG Baden-Württemberg provides support to cultural and creative artists in Southwest Germany through its MFG Creative division. MFG advises, promotes and links up the cultural and creative industries and acts as a competent partner in the digital culture field of expertise.

Qualification has long been a corner stone of MFG’s portfolio. While the MFG Academy offers further education for cultural and creative professionals, the HOLA Design Thinking initiative enables students and lecturers to collaborate in interdisciplinary teams. At a later stage, the European project DIGITRANS helps companies transform their business models for the digital era.

In terms of funding, MFG’s Digital Content Funding programme is targeted at developers of games, interactive apps and Virtual Reality. Competitions such as BW Goes Mobile and IDEENSTARK help identify young talent and promising business ideas, coaching programmes provide guidance for young entrepreneurs and start-ups as well as cultural institutions, enabling them to make use of the opportunities of digitization.

Last but not least, MFG Creative’s networking activities bring together relevant players and multipliers of the creative sectors, be it public funding institutions in the Creative Industry Network or creative professionals of the rural areas at the Creative Hugs. To improve the visibility of Baden-Württemberg’s thriving creative industries, MFG sends selected creative professionals on delegation trips, for instance to the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity or the SXSW South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Each year, MFG organizes joint booths at fairs and international trade events such as the Gamescom or the Frankfurt Book Fair, showcasing ideas from the German Southwest.