Startbüro Babelsberg

For one year, STARTBÜRO Babelsberg supports projects by alumni teams in the Media City with space, mentoring and financing. The joint initiative of Medienboard, ILBand Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF promotes young filmmakers in the Media City Babelsberg. Two team-based projects will receive a coworking space directly on the premises of Studio Babelsberg for one year, including basic equipment, as well as up to 10,000 euros each to implement their projects. In addition, mentors from the participating partners accompany and advise the project participants during the course of the grant. Funding is provided not only for the development, possibly realization, and distribution of filmic and interactive content that is expected to have a unique selling point due to its specific approach. Teams can also apply that would like to realize an innovative project project that sets impulses for media production with the development and application of new processes and technologies.

The successful model started in 2015 with the "Sehr gute Filme" team around the talented director and actor Axel Ranisch, who still emphasizes its sustainability today.

The team of VYVYT Innovations GmbHwith Film University graduate  Lilli Berger (Digital Media Culture 2017), theater director and visual developer Anton Krause and user interface architect and interactive storyteller Gregor Teggatz was selected from the numerous applications. Originally a trained funeral director, Lilli Berger's goal was to bring her traditional and more craft-oriented industry into the 21st century with new offerings. VYVYT develops virtual 3D experience and memory spaces in the context of mourning. The startup offers places to be even if you can't physically attend a funeral. Places where the eulogy can be listened to and where stories, voice messages and images of a deceased person can be shared. In short, a metaverse where visitors can take action themselves via individual avatars and a valuable addition to the services offered by funeral homes and funeral orators. The company is currently working on transferring the results of the prototype, which will be offered commercially with the public launch - planned for September 2023. 

Her neighbor in the start office will be KINDA - short for "kindhearted innovation fostering diverse artists" - an idea and company founded by Filmuni graduate Lorena Junghans. Inspired by her experiences as a film producer and the visionary strategies of music industry avant-gardists like AWAL and PLATOON, KINDA aims to combine film production, impact producing and artist management to break new ground for systematic change and more diversity in the European media industry. The mission of KINDA is to accompany and support cultural pioneers and to facilitate extraordinary film concepts or audiovisual formats. The artists, as potential agents for a flourishing cultural and creative sector, should always be at the center of our activities - from advice on contract negotiations to project implementation and evaluation with the special feature: instead of simply charging per project, KINDA links the success of the company with the long-term success of the artists in the sense of a partnership on a common path to success.

To the official news and press release here

Selected from the numerous applications was the young production company CONTANDO FILMS. Their mission is to seek out and invent regionally rooted stories with universal significance and to cast them in innovative narrative and cinematic forms. Producer Virginia Martin and writer-director Michael Fetter Nathansky already realized several collaborative film projects and together they pursue the goal of connecting art and audience.  Their films GABI (2017), SAG DU ES MIR (2019) and the dance project SALIDAS (2021) were presented at numerous festivals and were able to open the Berlinale section Perspektive Deutsches Kino, among others. During their time at Startbüro, the two film school alumni want to professionalize themselves. With their debut film MANNEQUINS (AT) as well as the script development of their follow-up projects HANG ME OH HANG ME (AT) and LORCA'S ORACLE (AT), they aim to build a solid foundation for the future of their production company.

Film University screenplay graduate and multimedia producer Johannes Dreibach and his team member Julius Peinelt, computer science graduate of the University of Würzburg, software developer and musician, combine their expertise to found COPY PASTE GAMES, a studio for interactive story worlds. They want to explore the narrative possibilities of the interactive medium. STARTBÜRO will enable them to prototype their first cinematic game project THE ASHEN HEART (AT) - an atmospheric mix of arthouse and mainstream, with influences from the art of German Romanticism. Through this first project, the founding duo aims to build a workflow for many more productions. The goal is to create an independent studio that produces according to its own quality criteria, while understanding the market and finding its own niche.

To the official news and press release here

Under the name "Schattenglanz", producer Marie-Luise Scharf and director Jakob Schmidt founded their production company specializing in long-term observational documentary films. After their award-winning graduation film "Zwischen den Stühlen" (Between the Chairs), they will now jointly develop a series of documentary film projects with the help of STARTBÜRO.

Johannes Schubert recently founded his company SCHUBERT FILM in Babelsberg. His work focuses on the development, production and exploitation of national and international film and series projects. As an alumnus of the B.A. Production program at Babelsberg Film University, he brings to STARTBÜRO Babelsberg feature film projects with international filmmakers in addition to projects with his former fellow students such as Jan Gadermann ("Laika & Nemo").