Crisis in the domestic film industry: Funding stops produces hard!

Crisis in the domestic film industry: Funding stops produces hard!

The Austrian film scene is faced with a serious emergency, since a funding stop has had a massive impact on several film projects since January 15, 2023. The APA conducted interviews with producers who have become difficult due to the lack of financial resources. Arash T. Riahi is preparing the film "Riot / Girl" with Golden Girls, whose casting was stopped for the time being due to unclear financial situation. The team hopes to be able to spend the missing million euros on foreign sponsors in order not to have to postpone the time of shooting for autumn 2023, which will be decided by the end of summer. 

Alexander Glehr, who produces "Gentle Monster" by Marie Kreutzer, also reports of a similar dilemma. One million euros could be compensated for, but the remaining sum of one million euros remains open, with the total budget of nine million euros. In order to close the financing gaps, the filming of the shooting to Germany is considered because there are more funding available.

consequences of the funding stop

Dunja Bernatzky, Managing Director of Arx Anima, comments on the situation of the “Häschenschule” project and is faced with a failure of 1.4 million euros by the funding stop. The stopping of the funding is referred to as the "fiasco with announcement" and not only has an immediate impact on ongoing projects, but also on the credibility of the Austrian animation location, which is heavily shaken. Jobs in the film industry are at risk because producers fear without being able to survive international funds.

The film scene, which has previously been awarded a boom and a high number of international projects, has as a result of a tighter handling of the guidelines according to the impression of disproportionate growth. In 2023, the budget of the funding agencies was just under 115 million euros, an increase of 30.5 % compared to 2022, whereby programs such as ÖFI+ and FISAplus contribute to this increase, as stated in the current film business report.

The guidelines have also changed: from April 23, 2025, new application modalities apply for grants, in which submission must take place up to eight weeks before the start of rotation. Up to 80,000 euros can be requested for fabric and project developments, while stricter requirements were introduced for co-productions and the participation of children to ensure the well-being of minors. The applicants' own work is now also included in the calculations, but is subject to a discount of 20 % to market prices.

Future view

The manufacturing companies hope for support from foreign investors and alternative financing channels, while discussions are underway with the Ministry of Culture and Economic Affairs to find faster and unbureaucratic solutions. Glehr and Kreutzer warn that many purely Austrian productions will suffer from the existing stop.

Overall, the industry shows a complex development: While the manufacturing expenditure was 86.8 million euros in 2023 and the search for cinema has increased by 16.8 % to 11.7 million, it remains to be seen whether the current funding problems can be resolved in order to maintain the positive trends. In view of the challenges that the domestic film scene faces, a quick reaction is required to not damage the creative sector in Austria.