Germany

[DE] Hessen Presents Cinema Digitisation Support Programme

IRIS 2011-7:1/18

Anne Yliniva-Hoffmann

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

At the end of April 2011, the Hessische Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Verkehr und Landesentwicklung (Hessian ministry for the economy, traffic and regional development) presented a new cinema digitisation support programme.

The programme is one of the measures being financed by the Hessen region from funds granted by the European Regional Development Fund for the 2007-2013 period. The aim is to help Hessian cinemas switch from analogue to digital projection technology with reference to the European Commission Communication of 24 September 2010 on the digitisation of European cinemas (see IRIS 2010-10/8).

Funding applications can be submitted by cinemas with six or fewer screens per venue and annual total net ticket revenue of between EUR 40,000 (or at least 8,000 tickets) and EUR 260,000, calculated as the average of the three years prior to submission of the application. Commercial cinema operators must also be small or medium-sized companies with fewer than 250 staff and a maximum annual turnover of EUR 50 million.

The funding must be used to support the cinema’s initial conversion to digital projection technology, i.e., the purchase and installation of the necessary equipment.

The funding can cover up to 25% of the investment costs, representing no more than EUR 17,500 per screen. These figures can be raised to 30% and EUR 21,000 if certain cultural (high proportion of German/European films) and/or structural (located in a town with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants) criteria are met.

The funding may be granted alongside other aid measures, as long as these do not include European Union funding and the beneficiary covers at least 20% of the overall cost from its own funds. A further condition for the allocation of funds from this programme is the support of the Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media - BKM).

The overall budget for this programme is EUR 2 million, which is available until 31 December 2013. The application deadline is 31 December 2012.