The jurybasierte kulturelle Treatment- und Drehbuchförderung is the federal government's money for writing. Its legal basis is the Richtlinie für die jurybasierte kulturelle Filmförderung des Bundes (guideline for the federal government's jury-based cultural film funding) of 31 March 2025, issued by the BKM (the federal government commissioner for culture and the media) and the FFA and valid until 31 December 2028; since 1 January 2025 it has been administered entirely by the Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), though it is still financed from the federal culture budget rather than from the film levy. The applicant is the writer in person, as a natural person — no production company, no Referenzfilm (a prior qualifying film that establishes eligibility) in the sense of the Deutscher Filmförderfonds (DFFF), the federal production incentive, and no secured financing. That does not make access open: § 43 (1) requires prior work — a screenplay or documentary treatment that was produced and released, a published work of fiction, or a screenplay-prize nomination — and the requirement falls away only where an already established Hersteller (producer) comes on board. All application documents must also be submitted in German (§ 23 (3)); there is no English-language route. If you do not write German at a professional level, you will need a translation or a German-writing co-author.
The funding is divided into two clearly separated stages, and children's films reach both. Treatmentförderung gives up to €15,000 for writing a treatment, or a comparable presentation of artistic quality, for feature-length children's films (§ 40 (1)). Drehbuchförderung gives up to €40,000 — or in a justified exceptional case up to €50,000 for particularly elaborate animation projects — for developing screenplays of artistic quality; § 41 (1) expressly names „programmfüllende Spiel- oder Kinderfilme" (feature-length fiction or children's films) for this. So unlike documentaries, which reach only the treatment stage, children's films do receive screenplay funding. The FFA publishes no flat €50,000 per funded screenplay: the guaranteed ceiling is up to €40,000 of screenplay funding, and the up to €10,000 of consultancy is added only where the FFA grants it „bei Erforderlichkeit" (where it is necessary) under § 41 (4), and it does not go to the recipient. €50,000 of screenplay funding on its own exists only in a justified exceptional case for particularly elaborate animation projects. Screenplay funding runs in two phases and the second one depends on a Hersteller — the Richtlinie's word for the producer or production company: further-development funding is granted only where, after the first draft has been accepted, an agreement is in place under which a producer seriously intends to film the script and puts at least €10,000 into further project development (§ 41 (3)). At both stages there is additional money for Beratungsleistungen (consultancy services) — up to €2,500 for a treatment, up to €10,000 for a screenplay — which pays for dramaturgical advice, sensitivity reading, script circles or staged readings.
Not everyone may apply. Before applying, the applicant must have developed at least one screenplay for a feature-length fiction film or a series, or a treatment for a documentary, that went into production and release; or have published a play, a novel or another long work of literary fiction outside self-publishing; or have been nominated for or awarded a significant prize for a short or feature screenplay (§ 43 (1)). That requirement falls away entirely where the applicant works with a Hersteller who is pursuing the filming and who has themselves already produced and released a feature-length fiction, documentary or children's film or a series — formally this is the route for first-timers, in practice the hardest step in the whole application. On top of that come residence or registered office in Germany, or, for those based in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, a German establishment (§ 23 (1)), and the applicant must hold the rights in the material (§ 43 (2)). Funding is excluded where the same development stage of the project is already funded elsewhere; Referenzmittel (automatic reference funds) under the Filmförderungsgesetz (FFG, the film funding act) and BKM prize money are unaffected (§ 45).
Competition is hard, and this money is not production funding. The FFA publishes the figures of the Förderjury für Kinderfilme (§ 14) separately and broken down by Förderart (type of funding). Its press release of 21 April 2026 on the children's film round shows 11 applications against 1 award for screenplay funding, and 10 applications against 2 awards for treatment funding; in all, the jury awarded €1,518,468.40 to nine children's film projects across five Förderarten that day. The FFA itself, however, marks those tables with the note „Angaben zu Anträgen und Bewilligungen enthalten Widersprüche" (figures on applications and approvals contain inconsistencies). The application counts are therefore flagged as inconsistent by the FFA itself and cannot be planned against; this record accordingly derives neither a success rate nor a ratio from them. The award counts — one screenplay, two treatments — are, by contrast, corroborated by the body of the same press release. It is also a single round and not an official approval rate, but the only published comparison of applications and awards for this track. Figures from the Jury für Entwicklungsförderung (§ 11) do not apply here, because that jury decides no children's film applications. Only the Richtlinie as currently in force, and the FFA's own statements, are binding. Note that the FFA published the 2026 dates expressly subject to the adoption of the 2026 federal budget, and that § 24 (1) of the Richtlinie makes every award subject to the available budget; there is no legal entitlement to funding. The FFA has also revised the application requirements and tied that change to „die Einreichung zum 14. September 2026 und die folgenden Einreichtermine" (the 14 September 2026 submission and the deadlines after it), while stating that it also concerns the children's film funding; since the children's film deadline of 1 September 2026 falls before 14 September 2026, it is open which version of the specifications governs it — settle that with the FFA before submitting. This summary replaces neither the Richtlinie nor a conversation with the responsible contact at the FFA.
One submission deadline for this track: 23:59 on 1 September 2026 — for both treatment funding and screenplay funding for feature-length children's films. These applications are decided by the Förderjury für Kinderfilme (children's film jury) on 9–10 November 2026 (§ 14). Submission is through the FFA-Serviceportal, and the documents must be complete when the deadline expires.
The children's film date falls before the development funding jury's: fiction feature and documentary projects submit on 14 September 2026 — Filmlotse keeps a separate record for that track. Submitting to the wrong deadline means landing in front of the wrong jury. Both dates are published by the FFA.
Open, but tight. The children's film deadline is 1 September 2026, only eight days away as at 24 August 2026; these applications are decided by the Förderjury für Kinderfilme at its session on 9–10 November 2026. There is no published alternative after that, because no submission deadlines for 2027 have been published as at 24 August 2026.
Anyone starting now should assess soberly whether the application can be complete and formally correct within eight days; a rushed application is an expensive mistake. The FFA's project-specific individual advice is effectively no longer available for this deadline: it is offered only „bis ca. spätestens 2 Wochen vor dem jeweiligen Einreichtermin" (until roughly two weeks before the relevant deadline at the latest), that window has passed as at 24 August 2026, and the webinars cannot deal with project content for data-protection reasons. It is also unresolved which application specifications govern this deadline: the FFA has revised the application form and the specifications for the content documents (among other things an Idee/Exposé of at least 5 and at most 6 pages for treatment funding, an Exposé/Treatment of 5 to 12 pages for screenplay funding, in each case plus a Writer's Note of no more than one page, and for screenplay funding also a Producer's Note of no more than one page) and writes that this applies „für die Einreichung zum 14.
September 2026 und die folgenden Einreichtermine" (to the 14 September 2026 submission and the deadlines after it), while stating in the same block: „Das betrifft auch die jurybasierte kulturelle Treatment- und Drehbuchförderung für Kinderfilme" (this also concerns the jury-based cultural treatment and screenplay funding for children's films). 1 September 2026 falls before 14 September 2026; the FFA's wording leaves open which version of the specifications governs children's film applications at this deadline. Settle that with the responsible Förderreferentin, Jona Wirbeleit, before submitting. The FFA is running webinars on the changed requirements on 26 August 2026 at 11:00 and 28 August 2026 at 10:00.
Fixed submission deadlines, not rolling. The development funding jury sits up to four times a year and the children's film jury up to three times (§ 11 (2), § 14 (2)); each autumn the FFA publishes the submission deadlines and session dates for the following year. The application must be filed digitally through the FFA-Serviceportal, all documents must be submitted in German, and the application papers must be complete by the submission deadline — incomplete applications cannot be considered (§ 23 (2) and (3)).
Work on the project may in principle not begin before the funding decision has become final; the FFA can consent to an early start only in an exceptional case and on request (§ 38 (2)). Where the volume of applications is very high, the FFA may introduce additional procedural measures in agreement with the BKM and the jury (§ 38 (1)). If an application is refused, a Widerspruch (formal objection) can be lodged within one month; the revised application must then be resubmitted within one of the regular submission deadlines for a coming session.
If that does not happen within two years of the refusal, the jury decides the objection nach Aktenlage (on the file as it stands) — § 36; FFA programme page.
Two separate funding amounts, both of which cover the recipient's Lebensunterhalt (living costs) rather than a project budget. Treatmentförderung (treatment funding) for feature-length children's films: up to €15,000 (§ 40 (1)). Up to €2,500 for Beratungsleistungen (consultancy services) may be added under § 40 (2), but in the FFA's own words only „bei Erforderlichkeit" (where it is necessary); in the Förderjury für Kinderfilme's round of 21 April 2026, two treatments shared €35,000, that is €17,500 each.
Drehbuchförderung (screenplay funding): up to €40,000 (§ 41 (1)). Here too up to €10,000 of consultancy may be added (§ 41 (4)), not automatically but again only „bei Erforderlichkeit". The FFA publishes no flat €50,000 per funded screenplay.
In that same children's film round of 21 April 2026 one screenplay was funded with €50,000 — so both components can come together in full, but that is not a published standard rate. What can be planned on is therefore the screenplay funding alone, meaning at most €40,000; the consultancy money does not reach the recipient in any case. A second, rarer route also leads to €50,000, and only there is it €50,000 of screenplay funding on its own: for particularly elaborate animation projects it can reach €50,000 in a justified exceptional case (§ 41 (1)).
The Merkblatt splits that €10,000 into roughly €5,000 for the basic phase and roughly €5,000 for the further-development phase, so the full amount presupposes that the second stage is reached at all. Screenplay funding is not awarded as one sum but in two stages: a Grundförderung (basic award) of up to €20,000 or €25,000 for the first draft, followed by a Fortentwicklungsförderung (further-development award) of up to another €20,000 or €25,000 (§ 41 (2)). The second stage is not automatic: it is granted only if, after the first draft is accepted, the applicant can glaubhaft machen (credibly demonstrate) that a producer seriously intends to film the script and is willing to put at least €10,000 into project development beyond this measure, evidenced by an agreement between the applicant and the producer (§ 41 (3)).
Anyone who does not reach the second stage stops at €20,000 or €25,000. This is a non-repayable Zuschuss (grant) paid as Anteilfinanzierung (a percentage share of eligible costs) under § 25 — not a loan, and expressly not a screenplay fee. Anteilfinanzierung means the award covers a share of the eligible expenditure; the Richtlinie names no figure for an Eigenanteil (own contribution) for treatment and screenplay funding, and whether one is required beyond this cannot be established from the documents reviewed — settle it in advance with the responsible contact at the FFA.
Jury-based selection with no legal entitlement: applications are decided by independent Förderjurys (funding juries) of five members each, which take no instructions (§ 2 (2), § 9, § 11, § 14); the FFA then awards by Zuwendungsbescheid (formal funding decision) within the available budget and in the proper exercise of its discretion (§ 24 (1), § 29). A refusal must give reasons, and a Widerspruch (formal objection) against the jury's decision is admissible, decided by the same jury at a future session (§ 29 (1), § 36).
01Check this first, before anything else: § 43 (1) requires prior work. If you cannot show at least one of the following — a screenplay for a feature-length fiction film or a series, or a treatment for a documentary, that was produced and released; a work of fiction or a play published outside self-publishing; a nomination for, or the award of, a significant screenplay prize — you are not eligible to apply. The one exception is that a Hersteller (production company) which has itself already produced and released a feature-length film or a series is demonstrably attached to the project. Without one or the other the application cannot succeed, however good the material. This check takes five minutes and can save you a month's work.
02Only the person who writes may apply — not the production company, and not the director in their capacity as director. Anyone who is both writer and director applies as the author; holding both roles does not affect eligibility (§ 43 (1) sentence 1). Registration on the FFA-Serviceportal is as a natural person. That sets this programme apart from the jurybasierte kulturelle Projektentwicklungsförderung under the same Richtlinie, where the Hersteller (producer) is the applicant (§ 48 (1)). The FFA also states expressly: „Autor*innen können auch nicht über eine eigene Produktionsfirma Anträge stellen" (authors cannot apply through a production company of their own either). Anyone who runs a production company therefore still applies as a natural person, not through the company.
03Evidence of eligibility under § 43 (1) (prior work): before applying, the applicant must meet one of the following three conditions — have developed at least one screenplay for a feature-length fiction film or a series, or a treatment for a documentary, that went into production and release in Germany, another EU member state, another state party to the EEA Agreement or an equivalent state; or have published a play, a novel or another long work of literary fiction outside self-publishing; or have been nominated for or awarded a significant prize for a short or feature screenplay (§ 43 (1) sentence 2). A series format counts as a reference only from a total running time of 120 minutes and at least two consecutive episodes, or 90 minutes and two episodes for children's films; dailies, reality and true crime are not recognised, and the applicant must have had a leading role in developing the material. The Richtlinie does not define “significant prize”, but the FFA does: for short-film screenplays a nomination or award counts by reference to the FFA-Festivalliste (the FFA's list of festivals); for feature screenplays it counts only where filming begins no earlier than the year the prize was awarded; the examples named are the Deutscher Drehbuchpreis, the Thomas Strittmatter Preis and the Hessischer Filmpreis. The reference work must have been released by the time of submission, and a Selbstauskunft (the applicant's own declaration) is not accepted. What is therefore not enough: short films without a prize nomination, non-fiction books and other non-fiction publications, series formats below the thresholds named, and projects whose release has not yet taken place by the submission deadline.
01The first step is not writing, it is a phone call. In this order: 1. Check your eligibility under § 43 (1) — with no prior work and no producer, the road ends here. 2. Check whether you have already started work on the project: as a rule nothing may begin before the funding decision is final (§ 38 (2)). 3. Ring the FFA's Förderreferentin for children's film, Jona Wirbeleit (030 27577-428, wirbeleit@ffa.de), and settle which evidence will be accepted in your case and which version of the application specifications governs 1 September 2026 — before you write any documents. This step has a window: the FFA offers project-specific individual advice only „bis ca. spätestens 2 Wochen vor dem jeweiligen Einreichtermin" (until roughly two weeks before the relevant submission deadline at the latest), and the webinars cannot deal with project content for data-protection reasons. For the 1 September 2026 deadline that window has already passed as at 24 August 2026; anyone still intending to submit must manage without project-specific advice or aim for a later deadline. 4. Only then take the current application form from the FFA-Serviceportal and prepare the content documents.
02Note, an unresolved question about the changed requirements: the FFA has reworked the application form and the specifications for the content documents; older templates are no longer valid for the new deadlines. It writes that the change applies „für die Einreichung zum 14. September 2026 und die folgenden Einreichtermine" (to the 14 September 2026 submission and the deadlines after it), and in the same block: „Das betrifft auch die jurybasierte kulturelle Treatment- und Drehbuchförderung für Kinderfilme" (this also concerns the jury-based cultural treatment and screenplay funding for children's films). But the children's film deadline is 1 September 2026, which falls before 14 September 2026. The FFA's wording therefore does not settle whether the new or the previous specifications govern the children's film deadline of 1 September 2026. This record does not decide the question; settle it before submitting with the responsible Förderreferentin, Jona Wirbeleit (030 27577-428, wirbeleit@ffa.de). The list below reflects the new specifications as they stood on the FFA programme page on 24 August 2026. The FFA is holding webinars on this on 26 August 2026 at 11:00 and 28 August 2026 at 10:00; the webinars cannot deal with project content for data-protection reasons.
26 August 2026, 11:00 and 28 August 2026, 10:00FFA webinars on the changed application requirementsThe FFA explains the revised application form and the new specifications for the content documents. It ties their application to the 14 September 2026 deadline while also stating that the change concerns the children's film funding — so which version governs the children's film deadline of 1 September 2026 is open and must be settled with the FFA. Anyone submitting on 1 September 2026 should attend, or at least work through the webinar presentation in the downloads area of the FFA website — the specifications for page count and format are exclusion criteria, not recommendations. The webinars cannot deal with project content for data-protection reasons.
By 23:59 on 1 September 2026Submission deadline for children's filmApplies to both treatment funding and screenplay funding for feature-length children's films; these applications are decided by the Förderjury für Kinderfilme (§ 14 (1)). The documents must be complete on the FFA-Serviceportal when the deadline expires; incomplete applications cannot be considered (§ 23 (2)). According to the FFA's published dates, the same deadline also covers project development and production funding in the children's film area. The contact for children's film application advice is Jona Wirbeleit.
9–10 November 2026Session of the children's film juryDecides on the children's film applications submitted by 1 September 2026. The jury has five members and a quorum of three, and sits up to three times a year (§ 14 (2) and (3)). Around ten weeks between deadline and session is normal for this programme — that is the waiting time to plan for.
No separate budget line for treatment and screenplay funding is published; the money does not come from the FFA's film levy but from the federal culture budget, and since 1 January 2025 it has been administered entirely under the FFA's roof (BKM). What can be quantified are the published award rounds. For this track that means the Förderjury für Kinderfilme: on 21 April 2026 it awarded €1,518,468.40 to nine children's film projects — two feature productions (€1,160,000), one short film (€40,000), three project developments (€233,468.40), one screenplay (€50,000) and two treatments (€35,000).
An earlier published round of the same jury precedes it: on 23 October 2025 it awarded €3,025,000 to ten children's film projects, including €90,000 of screenplay funding for two projects — one at €40,000, the other at €50,000 — and €15,000 of treatment funding for one project, with the remainder going to feature and short film production funding. That one screenplay in the same round was funded at €40,000 and the other at €50,000 shows that €50,000 is not a standard rate but a composite figure. The figures that follow, by contrast, are those of the Jury für Entwicklungsförderung (§ 11); they contain no children's films and do not describe this track, but they show the scale of the programme as a whole.
In the development funding's first programme year, the FFA states, 32 screenplays, 29 treatments and eight Stoffentwicklungen (story developments) — 69 film projects in all — were funded with €2,267,500. That jury's individual rounds: €590,000 for 16 projects (21 July 2025), just under €900,000 for 26 screenplays and treatments (14 November 2025), €800,000 for 27 projects in the last funding round of 2025, announced on 15 January 2026 (comprising ten screenplays at €50,000 each, 16 treatments at €17,500 each and one documentary story development at €20,000), €495,000 for 19 projects (8 May 2026: €250,000 for five fiction feature screenplays and €245,000 for 14 treatments, more than half of them documentaries) and €610,000 for 20 projects from 155 applications (16 July 2026: €400,000 of screenplay funding for eight fiction features and €210,000 of treatment funding for twelve projects, five of them documentaries). The FFA published the 2026 scheduling on 2 October 2025 expressly subject to the adoption of the 2026 federal budget, and § 24 (1) of the Richtlinie makes every award subject to the available budget.
Access is not open, and the success rate is narrower still: § 43 (1) filters first, the Förderjury für Kinderfilme (§ 14) filters after. Only those who satisfy the prior-work test in § 43 (1), or who work with an already established Hersteller (producer), may apply. The FFA breaks this jury's rounds down by Förderart (type of funding).
Its press release of 21 April 2026 on the children's film round shows 11 applications against 1 award for screenplay funding and 10 applications against 2 awards for treatment funding; in all, €1,518,468.40 went to nine children's film projects across five Förderarten — two feature productions (€1,160,000), one short film (€40,000), three project developments (€233,468.40), one screenplay (€50,000) and two treatments (€35,000). That is a single round, and the FFA publishes no rate for children's films but reports per Förderart; the figures should therefore be read as an order of magnitude, not as an official approval rate. And they carry a caveat from the FFA itself: it runs those tables under the heading „Genderübersicht*" and puts beneath them the line „*Angaben zu Anträgen und Bewilligungen enthalten Widersprüche" (figures on applications and approvals contain inconsistencies).
The application counts are therefore flagged as inconsistent by the FFA itself and cannot be planned against; this record accordingly derives neither a success rate nor a ratio from them and leaves it to the reader to discount them. The award counts — one screenplay, two treatments — are, by contrast, corroborated by the body of the press release. It remains the only published comparison of applications and awards for this track.
Figures from the Jury für Entwicklungsförderung (§ 11) do not describe this track and are therefore not used here — that jury decides no children's film applications (§ 11 (1), § 14 (1)). The Richtlinie expressly allows the FFA, in agreement with the BKM and the relevant jury, to introduce measures that enable the jury to consider applications properly where the volume is very high (§ 38 (1)) — the specifications for the Exposé, its length and its format tightened for the 14 September 2026 submission, which the FFA says also concern the children's film funding, should be read in that light. AG DOK assessed the Richtlinie on 2 April 2025 and saw progress in the new development jury and in the €15,000 available for a documentary treatment.
On Referenzmittel (automatic reference funds) — a different instrument, not this scheme — AG DOK took the view in the same statement that artistic success would no longer be disadvantaged relative to audience numbers alone. That is an industry association's assessment, not a finding by the FFA.
The FFA runs this programme with two separate deadline tables and two separate juries. This record describes the children's film track: deadline 1 September 2026, decided by the Förderjury für Kinderfilme (§ 14). For feature-length fiction and documentary films the deadline is 14 September 2026 and the Jury für Entwicklungsförderung decides (§ 11); the Richtlinie, the amounts, the eligibility gate in § 43 (1), the documents and the portal are the same, but documentaries there receive treatment funding only and no screenplay funding. The contacts, however, are not the same: for children's films the FFA names Jona Wirbeleit alone (wirbeleit@ffa.de), and for fiction features and documentaries Julia Niethammer (niethammer@ffa.de) and Marie-Luise Scharf (scharf@ffa.de). For a children's film application Wirbeleit is the right address, not the other track's contacts. Filmlotse keeps the record ffa-jurybasierte-treatment-drehbuchfoerderung for that track. Within the same Richtlinie the jurybasierte kulturelle Projektentwicklungsförderung follows on (up to €100,000, or up to €150,000 for particularly elaborate animation productions, § 47) — there the producer is the applicant, and in the documentary area the writer or director as well (§ 48). That is the standard next step for an accepted treatment or screenplay; the FFA states expressly that the stages may build on one another. The Talentfilmförderung of the Kuratorium junger deutscher Film has had its own Richtlinie since 2026 and is separate from this scheme. Land (federal state) schemes for story and project development — such as Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg's Stoffentwicklung — can in principle be combined, as long as they do not relate exclusively to the same treatment or screenplay development (§ 45); they must be disclosed in every case (§ 34 (2)).
These notes stay in German on purpose: they quote the conflicting sources word for word, and a caveat is the first thing lost in translation.
01Geklärt und dokumentiert: ffa.de/drehbuchfoerderung.html ist keine parallele laufende Förderung, sondern eine Archivseite. Sie trägt einen ausdrücklichen Hinweis auf Inhalte vor dem Stichtag 01.01.2025, steht unter „Förderungen bis 31.12.2024" und stützt sich auf §§ 100–114 FFG 2024; die dort genannten Beträge (bis 25.000 €, im Ausnahmefall 35.000 €, Treatment höchstens 10.000 €), die „Kommission für Produktions- und Drehbuchförderung" und das Portal ffa-drehbuch-treatment.ffa.de gehören zur Vor-2025-Regelung. Ein eigener Datensatz ist dafür nicht gerechtfertigt. Geprüft am 24.08.2026; bei jedem Check erneut ansehen, falls die FFA die Seite überarbeitet.
02amountMax von 50.000 € folgt der höchsten von der FFA veröffentlichten Förderhöhe pro Projekt. Belegt ist diese Zahl unmittelbar durch § 41 Abs. 1: Bei besonders aufwändigen Animationsfilmprojekten kann die Drehbuchförderung allein im begründeten Ausnahmefall bis zu 50.000 € betragen. Eine Pauschale von 50.000 € je gefördertem Drehbuch weist die FFA dagegen nicht aus. Ihre Pressemitteilungen nennen 40.000 € Drehbuchförderung und 15.000 € Treatmentförderung sowie die Möglichkeit, „bei Erforderlichkeit" Beratungsleistungen von 10.000 € beziehungsweise 2.500 € heranzuziehen. Dass beide Bestandteile in voller Höhe zusammenfallen können, zeigt die Runde der Förderjury für Kinderfilme vom 21.04.2026: ein Drehbuch mit 50.000 €, zwei Treatments mit zusammen 35.000 €. Ein veröffentlichter Regelsatz folgt daraus nicht. Eine frühere Fassung dieses Datensatzes schrieb der FFA die 50.000 € als veröffentlichten Betrag je Drehbuch zu und belegte das mit Vergaberunden der Jury für Entwicklungsförderung, die über Kinderfilmanträge nicht entscheidet – beides war falsch und ist am 24.08.2026 korrigiert worden. Zu beachten bleibt, dass die Mittel für Beratungsleistungen nicht an die geförderte Person fließen, sondern an die beratenden Dienstleistenden, und dass das Merkblatt die 10.000 € auf rund 5.000 € je Phase aufteilt, sodass der volle Betrag das Erreichen der zweiten Stufe voraussetzt. Ob die 10.000 € Beratungsleistungen auch im Animationsfall in voller Höhe zusätzlich gewährt werden, ist der Richtlinie nicht ausdrücklich zu entnehmen.
No intake stop of the kind imposed on the Deutscher Filmförderfonds (DFFF) and the German Motion Picture Fund (GMPF) — where the FFA closed applications at the end of August 2026 because the volume was exhausted — has been announced for the jury-based cultural film funding; the two run through different procedures and the FFA has published no such notice on the programme page. The budget reservation does remain relevant: on 2 October 2025 the FFA published the 2026 dates for the jury-based cultural film funding expressly “unter dem Vorbehalt der Verabschiedung des Bundeshaushalts 2026” (subject to adoption of the 2026 federal budget), and § 24 (1) of the Richtlinie makes every award subject to the available budget.
Payment is in instalments tracking project progress (§ 39 (1)); at least 20% is paid only after the Verwendungsnachweis (final accounting proof) has been examined (§ 39 (3)). The practical constraint is the monthly ceiling: under the FFA's Merkblatt (version of 29 July 2026) the first instalment may not exceed €8,000 and no more than €4,000 per month may be claimed for living costs; anyone who falls below the minimum measure period of four months (treatment) or five months per phase (screenplay) has the award cut accordingly. Each instalment paid out must be spent promptly — within eight weeks at the latest for awards below €50,000, and within six weeks for awards of €50,000 and above (§ 39 (2)).
For planning purposes, then, the headline is not the number that matters: a treatment award means €15,000 over at least four months; a screenplay award where no producer comes on board for the second stage means €20,000 over at least five months, at no more than €4,000 a month. The consultancy money does not go to the recipient but pays for dramaturgical advice, sensitivity reading, script circles, staged readings, green storytelling or expert advice from external specialists; fees must follow the Honorarrichtlinie (fee guideline) of the Verband für Film- und Fernsehdramaturgie (VeDRA), the German association for film and television dramaturgy, and the amount can be increased using Referenzmittel (automatic reference funds) awarded to the recipient under the Filmförderungsgesetz (FFG, the film funding act) — § 40 (2), § 41 (4); Merkblatt. Neither the Richtlinie nor the Merkblatt says anything about how the award is treated for income tax, how it affects Künstlersozialkasse (artists' social insurance fund) contributions, or whether it is set off against state benefits; those questions must be settled with a tax adviser before applying and are deliberately left unanswered here.
04The route without a prior credit of your own: the requirements of § 43 (1) do not apply where the applicant works with a Hersteller who is pursuing the filming of the project. That producer must then, before the application, already have produced and released a feature-length fiction, documentary or children's film or a series in Germany, another EU member state, another EEA state or an equivalent state (§ 43 (1) sentences 3 and 4). For first-timers with no prior credit of their own this is the only way in. Formally the Richtlinie asks for no financing commitment at this point, only a documented collaboration — but in practice it means persuading an established production company to attach itself to a script that does not yet exist, which is usually harder than the writing. Anyone who needs this route should treat finding a producer as a separate piece of work lasting several months, to be finished well before the submission deadline.
05Rights in the material: the applicant must hold the rights in the material (§ 43 (2)). For adaptations, the option or rights purchase has to be settled before applying; the FFA requires a declaration of authorship or the rights options with the application.
06Where you must be based: the applicant must be resident or have their registered office in Germany. Where residence or registered office is in another EU member state, another EEA state or Switzerland, a German establishment is required (§ 23 (1)). Unlike the Deutscher Filmförderfonds (DFFF), an EU seat alone is not enough here.
07What is funded: treatment funding for feature-length children's films (§ 40 (1)) and screenplay funding for feature-length children's films — § 41 (1) expressly names „programmfüllende Spiel- oder Kinderfilme" (feature-length fiction or children's films). So unlike documentaries, which reach only the treatment stage, children's films are eligible for both stages of this programme. Fiction feature and documentary projects do not belong in this procedure: they submit on 14 September 2026 to the Jury für Entwicklungsförderung (§ 11), and Filmlotse keeps a separate record for that. The jury-based film funding expressly includes animation and experimental films and hybrid forms of the named genres (§ 2 (1)); series, by contrast, are not a fundable object and appear only as possible evidence of eligibility.
08For a children's film, feature-length means a running time of at least 59 minutes — not 79 minutes as for other feature-length films (§ 3 (6)). For animated films that minute count may be departed from in specially justified exceptional cases. A treatment within the meaning of the Richtlinie is a concept that describes the story of a film comprehensively and in a dramaturgically coherent way (§ 3 (4)).
09The film the project aims at must be intended and suitable for public screening in cinemas in Germany, must have its focus in cinematic artistic expression and ambition, and must show erhebliche deutsche kulturelle Prägung (a substantial German cultural character) under § 3 (1). That character is defined by four criteria in § 3 (3): German original language, or a director who is German or an EU, EEA or Swiss national or resident; at least one lead producer with corresponding nationality or permanent residence; a German producer's financial share at least as large as the largest foreign one; and a regular first theatrical release in Germany, for which a festival première is irrelevant.
10German-language version: funding is given only for a project where at least one final version of the film carries German subtitles suitable for cinema release, or which — apart from dialogue passages the screenplay sets in another language — is shot or dubbed in German (§ 27).
11Ban on double funding: treatment and screenplay funding are not granted where the project is already funded elsewhere at the corresponding development stage. The stages of this programme expressly do not exclude one another: a treatment funded and accepted here can be followed by an application for screenplay funding, and that in turn by the jurybasierte kulturelle Projektentwicklungsförderung. The ban concerns only parallel funding of the same development stage by another body. Referenzmittel (automatic reference funds) awarded under the Filmförderungsgesetz (FFG) and BKM prize money are unaffected. Funding for project development or production preparation from another body is likewise permitted, provided it does not relate exclusively to treatment or screenplay development (§ 45). Anyone who has applied in parallel to a Land (federal state) screenplay scheme for the same material must disclose it: there is a duty to state which other funding institutions have been applied to or have granted funding, and such funding is set off against project costs (§ 34 (2)).
12The second screenplay phase depends on a producer: further-development funding is granted only where, after the first draft has been accepted, the applicant can credibly demonstrate that a producer seriously intends to film the script and is willing to put at least €10,000 into project development beyond this measure. That is demonstrated by submitting a corresponding agreement between the recipient and the producer (§ 41 (3)); the FFA additionally requires a reasoned letter of intent from the producer and a cost statement covering the €10,000 contribution (Merkblatt, version of 29 July 2026).
13No early start to the measure: work on the project may in principle not begin before the funding decision has become final. The FFA may consent to an early start in an exceptional case, on request and in the proper exercise of its discretion (§ 38 (2)). Anyone already writing should discuss that with the responsible contact at the FFA before submitting.
14No Regionaleffekt: unlike the Land schemes, this federal programme carries no obligation to spend part of the money in a particular region. All that is required is residence or a registered office under § 23 (1).
15Content exclusions: films or film projects with unconstitutional or unlawful content, with a pornographic or violence-glorifying focus, or which manifestly offend religious feelings gravely and inappropriately, are not eligible (§ 26).
16No legal entitlement: awards are made subject to the budget made available, and the FFA decides in the proper exercise of its discretion within the available funds (§ 24 (1)). For this track, selection is by the independent Förderjury für Kinderfilme (children's film jury) of five members, which has a quorum when three are present (§ 14); jury members who are close to a project or involved in it themselves may not take part in the deliberation or the vote (§ 19).
17Resubmission: a Widerspruch (formal objection) against a refusal is admissible and is decided by the same Förderjury at a future session (§ 36); according to the FFA the objection period is one month, and the revised application must be resubmitted within one of the regular submission deadlines for a coming session. If the revised application is not resubmitted within two years of the refusal, the jury decides the objection nach Aktenlage (on the file as it stands) — FFA programme page. For projects submitted under the old BKM cultural film funding guideline and not selected, an additional rule applies: resubmission is possible only once and only where the project has been substantially changed, unless the refusal rested on formal grounds that no longer apply; after a final refusal, resubmission is excluded (§ 75 (3)).
18Obligations after the award: the treatment must be submitted to the jury for examination one year after the funding decision is issued; for screenplay funding, the first draft goes to the FFA's Drama Department — its in-house dramaturgy unit — two years after the decision, and the final draft to the jury two years after the first draft is accepted; the FFA may grant extensions in justified cases (§ 44 (1)). Abnahme (acceptance) means that the jury, or the Drama Department, examines the draft delivered; only with acceptance is that stage complete, and only then can further-development funding follow. The FFA must also be informed without delay of nominations and prizes for the screenplay and, if it is filmed, of the producer, current title and start of principal photography (§ 44 (5)). If the project is abandoned, how far the work had got must be evidenced by an interim draft; the FFA may in the proper exercise of its discretion let the recipient keep the funding up to that point where compelling reasons are credibly demonstrated (§ 44 (4)).
19Relevant only later, not for this application: if the funded screenplay is later filmed and the FFA grants the producer aid for preparing the production, those preparation costs are taken into the overall budget and counted when the aid intensity for the film is calculated (§ 21 (1)). That matters for the later production financing, because the aid intensity of all funding is in principle capped at 50% of total production costs — for schwierige audiovisuelle Werke (difficult audiovisual works) under § 3 (8), which include documentaries, children's and youth films, experimental films and first and second films by a director, it can be raised to 100% of eligible costs.
03
Applications are made digitally through the FFA-Serviceportal (portal.ffa.de) and nowhere else. Registration is as a natural person, that is as the writer, not as a company. Submission must be made by 23:59 on the day of the deadline and the documents must be complete by then — incomplete applications cannot be considered (§ 23 (2)). All application documents must be submitted in German (§ 23 (3)). For technical questions about the portal: portalservice@ffa.de, hotline 030 27577-599, Mon–Fri 09:00–15:00.
04Treatment funding for children's film, content documents as PDF: a covering letter of no more than one page; a synopsis or logline — the story in one or two sentences — of no more than 500 characters; an Idee/Exposé describing the project on at least 5 and at most 6 pages; a Writer's Note of no more than one page. To tell the three text types apart: the synopsis sums up the plot in a few lines, the Exposé sets out the idea, characters and structure in prose, and the treatment narrates the film scene by scene. The Writer's Note — labelled „Autor*innenkommentar” on the FFA form — is the writer's own text on their stance, motivation and approach to the material. Format specification: Arial 12 pt, line spacing 1.5. A contradiction on the FFA's own page, worth knowing about: further down the same programme page the FAQ still carries the superseded sentence that the idea sketched for a treatment submission may be „maximal 3 Seiten" (at most 3 pages) long — as at 24 August 2026 it stands there unchanged alongside the new specification of at least 5 and at most 6 pages. This record follows the new specification; anyone who finds the older passage should not treat it as binding but confirm the page count with the responsible contact at the FFA. Which of the two versions governs the children's film deadline of 1 September 2026 is left open by the FFA's wording (see above) and must be settled with the responsible Förderreferentin.
05Screenplay funding for children's film, content documents as PDF: a covering letter of no more than one page; an Exposé/Treatment of 5 to 12 pages; a one-page synopsis of the content; a dialogue or sample scene of no more than 3 pages; a Producer's Note of no more than one page; a Writer's Note of no more than one page. The Producer's Note is written by the Hersteller, not by the applicant: it sets out the production's interest in the material. Anyone who does not yet have a producer must settle that before the submission deadline. The Writer's Note — labelled „Autor*innenkommentar” on the FFA form — comes from the writer themselves. Format specification also Arial 12 pt, line spacing 1.5.
06Optional additions are things such as visualisation aids or letters of intent. Longer text documents are expressly not among them: the page counts specified are binding and are checked formally.
07Supporting evidence with the application: a declaration of authorship or evidence of the rights options in the material (§ 43 (2)); the applicant's CV and filmography; where a producer is involved, that producer's filmography; a commercial register extract where applicable — that concerns only the producer or company involved, not the applicant, who here is always a natural person.
08Evidence of eligibility under § 43 (1) — depending on the route, for example confirmation of a theatrical release, confirmation from a broadcaster or streaming service, a festival programme, publisher's confirmation or an IMDb entry. A Selbstauskunft (the applicant's own declaration) is not accepted, and the reference work must have been released by the time of submission. Which evidence will do in a given case should be settled beforehand with the responsible contact at the FFA.
09Joint projects: where several writers are involved, only one person applies for the funding, with the agreement of the other authors involved. That does not change the size of the instalments; co-writers are named in the Zuwendungsbescheid on request so that funds may be passed on to them, and the FFA provides a contract template for this (Merkblatt, version of 29 July 2026; FFA programme page).
10Consultancy services are applied for through the FFA-Serviceportal as a Nebenantrag (subsidiary application) to the main application, not in a separate procedure. According to the Merkblatt the measures can be added modularly and as needed; on that basis it is not necessary to have selected and priced the whole of the consultancy by the submission deadline. What must be submitted is a description and justification of the planned measure, evidence of the provider's expertise, and an offer or cost estimate setting out the cost of each individual measure, the total, and VAT correctly and separately. Fees must follow the fee guideline of VeDRA (Verband für Film- und Fernsehdramaturgie, the German association for film and television dramaturgy). The money pays for, among other things, dramaturgical advice, sensitivity reading (a review of how groups the writers do not belong to are portrayed), script circles (moderated discussion of the text in a fixed group), staged readings and green storytelling (advice on ecological themes in the material). Advice from the FFA's Drama Department — its in-house dramaturgy unit — is free and voluntary and can help in choosing the measures and estimating their cost (Merkblatt, version of 29 July 2026).
11Advice before submitting: for children's film the FFA names Jona Wirbeleit (030 27577-428, wirbeleit@ffa.de) as the contact for application advice; the team lead is Jule Wolff (030 27577-426, j.wolff@ffa.de). Julia Niethammer (030 27577-427, niethammer@ffa.de) and Marie-Luise Scharf (030 27577-446, scharf@ffa.de) are responsible for fiction feature and documentary — not the right addresses for a children's film application. Anyone writing to the team lead is routed onwards; writing directly to the person responsible for your genre saves a week. Unlike the Deutscher Filmförderfonds (DFFF), an advisory call is not a precondition, but advice is expressly provided for. Individual project-specific advice does however have a window: the FFA offers it only „bis ca. spätestens 2 Wochen vor dem jeweiligen Einreichtermin" (until roughly two weeks before the relevant submission deadline at the latest). The webinars cannot deal with project content for data-protection reasons and are therefore no substitute for individual advice. For the 1 September 2026 deadline that window had already passed as at 24 August 2026.
12Only after a positive funding decision, not with the application: before the first payment the responsible contact requests an Erklärung in Steuersachen — a short standard declaration of the applicant's tax affairs, not a tax return — and any missing documents needed to draw up the Zuwendungsbescheid. The decision is served through the FFA-Serviceportal and takes effect only once it is final — that is, after the one-month appeal period has run or after the applicant has waived the right of objection in advance. The annex to the decision waiving the objection and confirming the start of the measure must be signed in the original and posted to the FFA; sending a scan by e-mail beforehand speeds things up (Merkblatt, version of 29 July 2026).
13After the decision, while the work is under way — Ratenabruf (drawing down the money): each instalment is requested by e-mail to the responsible contact using the instalment request form from the downloads area of the FFA website. The first instalment is capped at €8,000, no more than €4,000 per month may be claimed for living costs, and each instalment must be spent promptly — within eight weeks of payment at the latest for awards below €50,000, and within six weeks for awards of €50,000 and above (§ 39 (2)). Each instalment request confirms that the previous instalment was used properly and on time — receipts for rent or other living costs are expressly not to be sent in (Merkblatt, version of 29 July 2026).
14Only when moving into the further-development phase, not with the initial application: a reasoned letter of intent from a producer to realise the screenplay, and a cost statement from that producer covering the €10,000 contribution to further project development (§ 41 (3); Merkblatt, version of 29 July 2026).
15At the close of the measure: a Sachbericht (narrative report) as the Verwendungsnachweis, using the template from the downloads area of the FFA website, plus, where consultancy was funded, a Beratungsrückblick (consultancy review) — written by the dramaturgy team for dramaturgical advice, and by the recipient personally for formats such as a script circle. The documents must be submitted within three months of the final draft being accepted at the latest (§ 44 (2); Merkblatt, version of 29 July 2026). Invoices and proof of payment for the consultancy must be produced on request. Only then is the closing instalment of at least 20% of the award paid out (§ 39 (3)).
After the session, before any work begins
Funding decision and finalityThe responsible contact requests an Erklärung in Steuersachen (a short declaration of tax affairs) and any missing documents, after which the decision arrives through the FFA-Serviceportal. It sets the amount, the purpose to which it is tied, and the rights and obligations. Work may only start once the decision is final — after the one-month appeal period has run, or after the right of objection has been waived, which is declared using the enclosed annex signed in the original and sent by post. Anyone who has to start earlier needs the FFA's consent to an early start, which is given only in exceptional cases (§ 38 (2); Merkblatt, version of 29 July 2026). For planning purposes: several months pass between submission and the first payment. Anyone submitting on 1 September 2026 gets the decision after the children's film jury session on 9–10 November 2026; once the decision, the running or waiver of the appeal period and the first instalment request are done, money is expected no earlier than early 2027. That estimate follows from the published dates and periods, not from any FFA statement; the intervening time has to be financed some other way.
Throughout the writing periodInstalment requests, no more than €4,000 a monthThe award is paid in instalments as needed and in step with project progress (§ 39 (1)). The first instalment is capped at €8,000, no more than €4,000 a month may be claimed for living costs, and each instalment must be spent within eight weeks of payment for awards below €50,000, or within six weeks for awards of €50,000 and above (§ 39 (2)). That implies a minimum measure period: four months from the date of the decision for treatment funding, five months per phase for screenplay funding. Anyone who finishes faster has the award cut accordingly — and anyone intending to submit the work to a further FFA funding stage must observe those periods (Merkblatt, version of 29 July 2026).
One year after the decision (treatment) or two years (screenplay)Delivery for acceptanceFor treatment funding, the treatment goes to the jury for examination one year after the funding decision is issued. For screenplay funding, the first draft goes to the FFA's Drama Department two years after the decision, and the final further-development draft goes to the jury two years after the first draft is accepted (§ 44 (1)). The FFA grants extensions in justified cases on an informal, briefly reasoned request by e-mail to the responsible contact. Anyone intending to submit the finished work to a further funding stage should ideally deliver it for acceptance four weeks before, and at the latest by, the submission deadline for that next stage (Merkblatt, version of 29 July 2026).
After the first draft is acceptedMoving into further-development fundingThe point at which screenplay funding can grow from €20,000 to €40,000 — or not. What has to be produced is a reasoned letter of intent from a producer to realise the screenplay and a cost statement from that producer covering a contribution of at least €10,000 to further project development; the Richtlinie requires a corresponding agreement between the recipient and the producer (§ 41 (3); Merkblatt, version of 29 July 2026). Anyone who does not find a producer stops at the basic award. Looking for one therefore belongs in the first phase, not at the end of it.
Within three months of the final draft being acceptedVerwendungsnachweis (final accounting) and closing instalmentWhat must be submitted is the Sachbericht (narrative report) on the FFA's template and, where consultancy was funded, the Beratungsrückblick (consultancy review) — § 44 (2); Merkblatt, version of 29 July 2026. Only once the draft is accepted and the Verwendungsnachweis examined is the closing instalment paid; at least 20% of the award is held back for that (§ 39 (3)). The Richtlinie expressly does not require an interim report (§ 39 (4)). If the project is abandoned, how far the work had got must be evidenced by an interim draft; the FFA may let the recipient keep the funding up to that point where compelling reasons are credibly demonstrated (§ 44 (4)).
2027 submission deadlines not yet publishedSubmission deadlines for 2027The FFA usually publishes submission deadlines and session dates in the autumn for the following year — for 2026 that happened on 2 October 2025, expressly “subject to adoption of the 2026 federal budget”. Nothing has been published for 2027 as at 24 August 2026, so no date should be assumed. The Richtlinie itself runs to 31 December 2028 (§ 75 (1)), but the availability of funds is subject to the annual budget regardless (§ 24 (1)).
Steuerliche und sozialrechtliche Behandlung der Zuwendung ist ungeklärt. Weder die Richtlinie noch das Merkblatt noch die Programmseite sagen, ob die Zuwendung einkommensteuerpflichtig ist, wie sie sich auf Beiträge und Meldungen zur Künstlersozialkasse auswirkt und ob sie auf Arbeitslosengeld oder Bürgergeld angerechnet wird. Der Datensatz trifft dazu bewusst keine Aussage. Bei der FFA und einer Steuerberatung klären und, sobald eine belastbare Quelle vorliegt, in amountDetail aufnehmen.
04Eigenanteil bei der Anteilfinanzierung ungeklärt. § 25 sieht die Zuwendung als Projektförderung im Wege der Anteilfinanzierung vor; einen bezifferten Eigenanteil nennt die Richtlinie für die Treatment- und Drehbuchförderung nicht, und auch das Merkblatt vom 29.07.2026 enthält dazu keine Angabe. Der Datensatz beschreibt den Mechanismus und weist die Frage ausdrücklich als offen aus. Bei der FFA nachfragen.
05Angaben im Antragsformular zu Verwendungszeitraum und monatlichem Bedarf sind nicht belegt. Die Ratenlogik (höchstens 8.000 € erste Rate, höchstens 4.000 € im Monat, Mindestverwendungszeitraum von vier beziehungsweise fünf Monaten) setzt voraus, dass Zeitraum und Bedarf im Antrag anzugeben sind; die veröffentlichte Unterlagenliste der FFA nennt einen solchen Zeit- oder Kostenplan nicht. Gegen das ab dem 14.09.2026 geltende Antragsformular im FFA-Serviceportal und die Webinar-Präsentation vom 26./28.08.2026 abgleichen, bevor die Anforderung im Datensatz behauptet wird.
06Zeitpunkt des Nebenantrags für Beratungsleistungen: Die FFA-Programmseite und das Merkblatt lesen sich unterschiedlich – einerseits Nebenantrag innerhalb des Hauptantrags, andererseits modulare und bedarfsgerechte Beantragung zu jedem Zeitpunkt im Prozess. Der Datensatz gibt beide Aussagen wieder und leitet daraus ab, dass der Nebenantrag auch später gestellt werden kann. Gegen das Antragsformular und die Beratungspraxis der FFA prüfen.
07Kein veröffentlichter Jahresetat für die Treatment- und Drehbuchförderung. Der Datensatz nennt deshalb keine Etatzahl, sondern nur die von der FFA veröffentlichten Vergaberunden: die Runden der Förderjury für Kinderfilme vom 21.04.2026 (neun Projekte, 1.518.468,40 €) und vom 23.10.2025 (zehn Projekte, 3.025.000 €) und, ausdrücklich als Zahlen der Jury für Entwicklungsförderung gekennzeichnet, deren Bilanz des ersten Programmjahres (69 Projekte, 2.267.500 €), die keine Kinderfilme enthält. Wie sich die Mittel innerhalb der jurybasierten kulturellen Filmförderung auf Entwicklung, Produktion, Kurzfilm und Verleih verteilen, ist nicht veröffentlicht.
08Haushaltsvorbehalt und Lage 2027: Die FFA hat die Termine 2026 am 02.10.2025 ausdrücklich „unter dem Vorbehalt der Verabschiedung des Bundeshaushalts 2026" veröffentlicht; § 24 Abs. 1 der Richtlinie stellt jede Bewilligung unter den Vorbehalt der verfügbaren Haushaltsmittel. Einreichfristen für 2027 sind am 24.08.2026 nicht veröffentlicht. Ob die Ende August 2026 erfolgte Schließung der Antragsannahme beim DFFF und beim GMPF Auswirkungen auf die aus dem Kulturetat finanzierte jurybasierte kulturelle Filmförderung hat, ist von der FFA weder bestätigt noch dementiert worden; der Datensatz stellt beides ausdrücklich als getrennte Verfahren dar und trifft keine Aussage über eine Verbindung. Das genaue Datum dieser Schließung ist in diesem Datensatz nicht belegt; er sagt deshalb nur „Ende August 2026".
09Wettbewerbszahlen für den Kinderfilm: Die FFA veröffentlicht die Runden der Förderjury für Kinderfilme gesondert und je Förderart. Für die Runde vom 21.04.2026 nennt sie bei der Drehbuchförderung 11 Anträge und 1 Förderung, bei der Treatmentförderung 10 Anträge und 2 Förderungen, insgesamt 1.518.468,40 € für neun Projekte. Eine Quote weist die FFA nicht aus, und es handelt sich um eine einzelne Runde; die Zahlen sind daher als Größenordnung zu lesen, nicht als amtliche Bewilligungsquote. Hinzu kommt ein Vorbehalt der FFA selbst: Sie führt diese Tabellen unter der Überschrift „Genderübersicht*" und setzt darunter die Zeile „*Angaben zu Anträgen und Bewilligungen enthalten Widersprüche". Die einzigen veröffentlichten Antragszahlen für den Kinderfilmzweig sind damit von der FFA als unstimmig gekennzeichnet; alle drei bisher veröffentlichten Runden der Förderjury für Kinderfilme tragen diesen Hinweis. Der Datensatz gibt die Zahlen deshalb nur zusammen mit diesem Hinweis wieder und leitet aus ihnen weder eine Erfolgsquote noch ein Verhältnis ab; die Zahl der Förderungen ist dagegen durch den Fließtext der Pressemitteilung gedeckt. Die Pressemitteilungen der Jury für Entwicklungsförderung (§ 11) tragen diesen Hinweis nicht; er gehört deshalb nicht in den Datensatz für Spiel- und Dokumentarfilm. Bei jedem Check prüfen, ob die FFA die Tabellen korrigiert hat. Eine frühere Fassung dieses Datensatzes behauptete, für den Kinderfilmzweig veröffentliche die FFA keine gesonderte Statistik, und zeigte stattdessen die Erfolgsquoten der Jury für Entwicklungsförderung, die über Kinderfilmanträge nicht entscheidet – beides war falsch und ist am 24.08.2026 korrigiert worden. Bei jedem Check die neueren Kinderfilm-Pressemitteilungen nachtragen.
10Zählung der Jurysitzungen nicht öffentlich nachvollziehbar: Die Pressemitteilung vom 08.05.2026 spricht von den „ersten beiden Sitzungen des Jahres", die vom 15.01.2026 von der vierten und fünften Sitzung und beschreibt die dort bekanntgegebene Runde als „die letzte Förderrunde des Jahres" 2025. Ob die FFA fortlaufend seit Programmstart oder je Kalenderjahr zählt, ist aus den veröffentlichten Mitteilungen nicht zu rekonstruieren, und ein Sitzungsregister ist nicht veröffentlicht. Der Datensatz übernimmt deshalb nur die Formulierung der FFA und keine eigene Ordnungszahl.
11Kein Fördergegenstand Serie: Serien tauchen in § 43 Abs. 1 ausschließlich als möglicher Nachweis der Antragsberechtigung auf, nicht als förderfähiges Format; § 2 Abs. 1, § 40 und § 41 nennen nur programmfüllende Spiel-, Kinder- und Dokumentarfilme. Der Datensatz führt „serie" deshalb nicht in formats. Bei einer künftigen Richtlinienänderung erneut prüfen.
12Drehbuchförderung für Kinderfilme ist ausdrücklich vorgesehen: § 41 Abs. 1 nennt „programmfüllende Spiel- oder Kinderfilme". Der Kinderfilm erreicht damit – anders als der Dokumentarfilm, für den nur die Treatmentförderung nach § 40 Abs. 1 offensteht – beide Stufen dieses Programms. Die FFA-Programmseite formuliert an einer Stelle offener („Drehbuch für einen programmfüllenden Spielfilm/Serienformat oder Treatment für einen Dokumentarfilm"), was sich dort aber auf den Nachweis der Antragsberechtigung nach § 43 Abs. 1 bezieht, nicht auf den Fördergegenstand. Der Datensatz folgt der Richtlinie. Bei einer Richtlinienänderung erneut prüfen.
13Kontaktadresse: Die FFA veröffentlicht für dieses Programm keine allgemeine Programm-E-Mail, sondern namentlich benannte Ansprechpersonen. Für den Kinderfilm ist das Jona Wirbeleit (030 27577-428, wirbeleit@ffa.de); der Datensatz führt diese Adresse als contactEmail, weil sie für Kinderfilmanträge die richtige ist, und nennt die Teamleitung Jule Wolff (j.wolff@ffa.de) zusätzlich in requirements. Personenbezogene Adressen veralten schneller als Funktionsadressen – bei jedem Check gegen die Programmseite abgleichen.
14Format „experimentalfilm": § 2 Abs. 1 der Richtlinie schließt Experimentalfilme und hybride Formen ausdrücklich in die jurybasierte Filmförderung ein, und § 3 Abs. 8 zählt sie zu den schwierigen audiovisuellen Werken. Der Datensatz legt dafür keinen neuen Taxonomiewert an, weil das Vorhaben in jedem Fall ein programmfüllender Spiel-, Kinder- oder Dokumentarfilm sein muss und der Begriff hier eine Machart und keine eigene Antragskategorie bezeichnet. Die Wortlaute stehen in sourceTerms; siehe 1-taxonomy.md.
15Termin und Aufteilung des Datensatzes: Die FFA führt dieses Programm mit zwei getrennten Einreichtabellen und zwei getrennten Jurys – Kinderfilm zum 01.09.2026 vor der Förderjury für Kinderfilme (§ 14), Spielfilm/Dokumentarfilm zum 14.09.2026 vor der Jury für Entwicklungsförderung (§ 11). Da ein Datensatz nur ein date tragen kann und date die Sortierung, den Countdown und die Startseite steuert, hätte ein gemeinsamer Datensatz Kinderfilmschaffenden den späteren Termin angezeigt. Das Programm ist deshalb am 24.08.2026 in zwei Datensätze aufgeteilt worden: dieser für den Kinderfilm (date 01.09.2026), ffa-jurybasierte-treatment-drehbuchfoerderung für Spiel- und Dokumentarfilm (date 14.09.2026). Beide verweisen über context.relatedProgrammeIds aufeinander. Bei jedem Check prüfen, ob die FFA die beiden Termintabellen beibehält; führt sie sie zusammen, sind auch die Datensätze wieder zusammenzuführen.
16Programmname: Der Datensatz übernimmt mit „Jurybasierte kulturelle Treatment- und Drehbuchförderung für Kinderfilme" die Formulierung, mit der die FFA den Kinderfilmzweig auf ihrer Programmseite bezeichnet. Eine eigene Programmseite mit eigener Überschrift für den Kinderfilm ist am 24.08.2026 nicht veröffentlicht; link verweist deshalb auf dieselbe FFA-Seite wie beim Datensatz für Spiel- und Dokumentarfilm, auf der die Kinderfilmtermine in einer eigenen Tabelle stehen. Bei jedem Check prüfen, ob die FFA eine eigene Seite anlegt.
17Die Anwendung zeigt amountLabel und amountLabelEn nicht an. Der Anzeige-Typ kennt nur die Varianten short | typeLabel | typeId | max | unbounded; die Zahl in der Liste und in der Detailansicht wird aus amountMin und amountMax abgeleitet. Bei amountMin: null liest die Nutzerin deshalb „bis 50.000 €" – die hier ausformulierte einzeilige Förderhöhe mit allen Vorbehalten (15.000 € Treatment, zweistufige Drehbuchförderung mit Hersteller-Bedingung, Beratungsleistungen, die nicht an die geförderte Person fließen) erreicht sie nie. Ein amountMin von 15.000 € wurde bewusst nicht gesetzt: Die FFA veröffentlicht keine Untergrenze, eine Treatmentförderung kann darunter liegen, und eine gesetzte Untergrenze wäre eine erfundene Zahl. Das ist ein datensatzübergreifendes Problem der Anwendung, nicht dieses Datensatzes; die ehrliche Korrektur ist die Anzeige von amountLabel in der App, nicht eine Zahl in den Daten.
18Welche Antragsvorgaben für den Kinderfilmtermin am 01.09.2026 gelten, ist ungeklärt. Die FFA schreibt, die geänderten Antragsanforderungen gälten „für die Einreichung zum 14. September 2026 und die folgenden Einreichtermine", und im selben Block: „Das betrifft auch die jurybasierte kulturelle Treatment- und Drehbuchförderung für Kinderfilme." Der Kinderfilmtermin 01.09.2026 liegt jedoch vor dem 14.09.2026; der Wortlaut der FFA lässt daher beide Lesarten zu – neue Vorgaben bereits zum 01.09.2026 oder erst zum darauf folgenden Kinderfilmtermin. Der Datensatz legt sich auf keine von beiden fest. Antragstellende im Kinderfilm müssen vor der Einreichung mit der zuständigen Förderreferentin Jona Wirbeleit (030 27577-428, wirbeleit@ffa.de) klären, welches Antragsformular und welche Seitenvorgaben für ihren Termin gelten. Bei der FFA klären und beim nächsten Check nachziehen.
FFA – Merkblatt Treatment- und Drehbuchförderung der jurybasierten kulturellen Filmförderung des Bundes, Stand 29. Juli 2026 (Bewilligung, Raten, Beratungsleistungen, Co-Autorenschaft, Drama Department, Fristen)
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