When it comes to Thuringia as a media location, the topic of film production cannot be ignored – and this was also the case at our MENT MasterClasses as part of the Medien BarCamp Erfurt.

Together with producer Tanja Georgieva-Waldhauer, Thuringia's MDR Landesfunkhaus director Dr Astrid Plenk, and producer Svenja Vanhoefer, we looked at the progress that has been made in recent years – and where there is still room for improvement.

Positive developments

Tanja Georgieva-Waldhauer looked back on the founding of her production company Elemag Pictures ten years ago – at that time, women were still in the minority in the industry. Today, things are changing: the gender distribution in Thuringian productions is much more balanced, MDR tenders have increased, and cooperation between women is improving – but: ‘We are not yet where we want to be.’

What young founders are missing

Svenja Vanhoefer reported on how well she had been received in Thuringia as co-founder of the Weimar-based production company Rebelle Film. At the same time, she still lacks direct access to MDR – here she would like to see more transparency about what kind of material is actually being sought and more low-threshold communication.

How Thuringia can score points

Astrid Plenk explicitly highlighted the wide variety of existing funding programmes and calls for proposals aimed at production companies in eastern and central Germany. For talented and up-and-coming filmmakers, she also referred to the joint initiative of MDR and Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) called ‘FOKUS’, which is now entering its second year. She added that anyone wishing to place material with MDR is welcome to make use of the existing contact opportunities with the editorial teams, such as the producers' meetings and the annual programme workshop. The STUDIOPARK KinderMedienZentrum was also cited as a positive example, attracting supra-regional productions thanks to its favourable conditions.

Of course, the panel discussion could not avoid the topic of skilled labour shortages in certain trades. According to Tanja Georgieva-Waldhauer, there is currently a lack of resources in this area at regional level.

Conclusion

Stories from Thuringia need visibility, and the industry needs more dialogue and continuity – so that we can continue to grow here as a film location.