INTENTION

Communication is not only the key to success of a functioning industry, but also shows where there is potential. Giving needs, opportunities and problems a diverse and well-staffed stage not only underlines the possibility of exchange, but also promotes the development of a cross-sector and cross-media market. With the opportunity to give different representatives from production, promotion, market and media a common space, we want to strengthen the promotion of the German-speaking industry and an international competitiveness on many levels. It is not only freedom of opinion that counts, but also the promotion of opinion and the illumination of what has been lost in many previous discussions due to a lack of diversity. A market is only as strong as all levels work together.
Every year, the Kitzbühel Film Festival brings together creatives and decision-makers from the fields of project development, production, broadcasting, distribution and film financing to discuss current issues in film and television production in the DACH region. With the panels, the festival creates a targeted platform.

This year’s panels:

FILM AS A NEW ASSET CLASS? – moderated by Mr. Bernhard Schindler
Venture capital for financing film productions could establish itself as a new opportunity in an ever faster changing market. For years, film production in the DACH region was avoided by external investors: too dependent on funding, too small a market, too few refinancing options. Will this change due to streaming and new channels in the digital world? What does the production industry have to do to become attractive for new financiers? Does it even make sense to look for such investors?
Discussion partner:
– Nils Dünker | CEO | LAILAPS FILMS

– Timo Renner | CEO | Privat Capital Management

– Sascha Matussek | Tax Expert | BILD |Member of the Vocational Training Committee Ministry of Finance Baden-Württemberg,

– Helge Sasse Tempest Film | SBL Attorneys at Law

– Claudia Bluemhuber | CEO | Silver Reel Partners

– Josef Köppl | CEO | ScalUP

Panel: Friday, 25.08.2023 from 03:00 to 04:00 p.m. at Schlosshotel Lebenberg

KÖNIGSWEG COOPERATIONS – moderated by Mr. Michael Paul.
Do more complex productions require new ways of collaboration?
Large-scale series and event productions are becoming increasingly important as brand-defining programming for broadcasters and streamers in the DACH region as well. With their budgetary dimensions, they represent a considerable financial risk for the broad middle class of production companies in German-speaking countries. The “showrunner” system familiar to the Anglo-Saxon sector is becoming more and more established. Do producers have to decide whether to take on creative or executive responsibility? Are new role models emerging along the production value chain? Or are closer, long-term cooperations between production companies the way to continue to be able to handle large-scale productions in medium-sized structures? How can cooperations work under these conditions?
Discussion partner:
– Janine Jackowski | Founder & Producer | Komplizen Film

– Sandrine Mattes | Executive Vice President German Production & Acquisition | Studiocanal GmbH

– Corinna Mehner | CEO | blue eyes Fiction GmbH & Co. KG, Professor of Production & Media Management | HFF Munich

– Reto Schärli | Head & Producer | Zodiac Pictures

Panel: Friday, 25.08.2023 from 05:00 to 06:00 p.m. at Schlosshotel Lebenberg

NEW TECHNOLOGY, NEW PLAYERS, NEW RULES – NEW PROBLEMS? THE STRIKE AS A HARBINGER OF UPHEAVAL THROUGH KI, NEW DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS, ETC. – moderated by Mr. Michael Paul
What started with the strike of US screenwriters and actors is now affecting all other players in the film production and industry. A partly unmanageable exploitation development of films raises not only the questions of who earns what and what fair payment looks like in the long run in the age of streaming, but also whether some professions will be financially worthwhile at all in the near future. This situation is exacerbated by the tool of artificial intelligence, which gives rise to fears of displacement. Technical advancement should be implemented for the benefit of as many people as possible, but how can Fast Forward and a monotonization of production be prevented in order to continue to develop in favor of the cinematic craft? Does the strike also affect actors and screenwriters in the DACH region and how is the domestic film world prepared for it?
Discussion partner:
– Albert Bozesan | Creative Director AI Media | Storybook Studios GmbH

– Martin Ambrosch | Founding Member of the Academy of Austrian Film | Screenwriter

– Sylvia Rothe | Professor for AI in Media Production | University of Television and Film Munich

– Philipp Kreuzer | CEO & Producer | maze pictures

Panel: Saturday, 26.08.2023 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. at Starthaus am Hahnenkamm

TANKER – moderated by Mr. Michael Paul
The ‘tanker’ in transformation – what content do public service streaming platforms need and which broadcaster joins where? Public broadcasters are still as strong in the DACH region as in few other national TV markets worldwide. The departure of younger generations from linear television, the strong competition of streaming and an intense discussion about legitimacy, financing and mission, challenge the previous models of the market leaders. What are the challenges in the digital world? What content do public broadcasters need to survive in a constantly changing world? What might partnerships between production and broadcasting look like?
Discussion partners:
– Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz | Program Director | ORF

– Philipp Böchheimer | Managing Director | Canal + Austria

– Sven Wälti | Head of Film | Swiss Radio and Television Corporation SRG SSR

 -Marcus Ammon | CEO Content | Bavaria Fiction

SPECIAL FEATURES

Compared to other media congresses, Kitzbühel stands out not only because of its relaxed atmosphere with an alpine panorama and a framework that invites open exchange, but also because of its specific, transnational DACH perspective and the consideration of film and TV production in a larger media business context. Guests from different industries, professions and levels are invited to discuss and create new ways to connect. It is important to us to bring the guests invited by the festival into the discourse and thus to realize the full potential for future projects. In this way, a cross-section is created that goes far beyond the guests of conventional media congresses, who are only interested in specific topics and industries.

EXCHANGE AND DISCOURSE

Industry events, panels and workshops, where cross-industry topics of the future are discussed both publicly and at internal events, form the central element of our think tank. We see communication as a tool to bring together as many people as possible.
Experts from the industry as well as the next generation, students from technical colleges, universities and training centers, members of the production and the press, distributors and promoters are connected here and thus provided with a professional space for exchange.

WORKSHOPS, PANELS & NETWORKING

Our workshops, aimed at producers and other industry professionals, provide new perspectives on future-oriented topics such as streamers vs. TV and cinema and the development of the film industry’s labor market (education and training of professionals).
These topics will be discussed in detail with the experts during the public panels.

PREVIOUS PANELS
The first panels of the 10th Kitzbühel Film Festival 2022 started with a variety of topics and guests. On the topic of hypermediality, trend and futurologist Christiane Varga, UFA boss Nico Hofmann and FAZ editor Carsten Knop spoke in the panel “Everything always, everywhere and in excess – the audience in the digital age”. With a large and diverse panel, the audience was able to experience different approaches to the new incentive model for Austria as a film location. In the panel “Opportunities and Challenges” Sylvia Vana, Philipp Böchheimer, Stefan Ruzowitzky, Heinrich Ambrosch, Dieter Kosslick, Michael Krön and Roland Teichmann talked about subsidies, profitability and the needs of a national production market as well as implications for the international screen.