You as the producer are eligible to apply for funding for full-length children's films or children's short films. A producer is anyone who is responsible for the realization of the film project.

• You are a producer with your place of residence or business in Germany.
• If your place of residence or business is in a member state of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, you must have a branch in Germany.

The production of your film project can be funded if the following requirements are met:

• It is a full-length children's film (screening time of at least 59 minutes) or a short children's film of a maximum duration of 30 minutes.
• The film has a significant German cultural character as defined by the BKM film funding guidelines
• The production costs of the full-length children's film do not exceed EUR 5,000,000, unless there is a justified exception
• Funding should not exceed a total of 80 percent of the eligible production costs estimated in the preliminary calculation
• You participate in the financing of the film with an appropriate own contribution in terms of the scope of production, your capital resources and previous production activities in accordance with the German Film Subsidy Act. Your own contribution must amount to at least 5 percent of the recognized costs. In the case of international co-productions, the German producer's financing share must be used as the basis for calculating the own contribution.
• You are financing the film predominantly in German within the meaning of the BKM Film Funding Guidelines
• You may only begin shooting or animation work after the grant has been awarded, unless you have made an exception with the BKM.
• You will produce at least one final version of the film in German, apart from dialog passages for which a different language is specified in the script. For documentaries and short films, a German subtitled version suitable for theatrical screening is sufficient.
• You will provide at least one final version of the film until the start of the regular theatrical release in a version
  • with German subtitles for people with hearing impairments and
  • with German audio description for people with visual impairments
  • in a quality suitable for the market and theaters.
  • Their costs for this are recognized by the BKM and must be taken into account in the calculation. In particularly justified cases, exceptions may be granted at the request of the producer.
• if one or more television broadcasters are involved in the production of your film project:
• Proof that a reversion of the television exploitation rights to the applicant has been agreed in the exploitation contract with the television broadcaster, in accordance with the provisions of the FFG and the guidelines issued on the basis of the FFG. The same applies to television exploitation rights that the producer has granted to a distributor or distributor.

The decision on funding is made by a jury. In addition to the primary criterion of artistic quality, the feasibility of the project within a reasonable period of time and the expected distribution of the film, particularly in the case of theatrical exploitation, are taken into account.
If you receive funding, you must fulfill certain conditions even after the film has been completed, otherwise the funding may be reclaimed:

• Compliance with embargo periods:
  • You must ensure the regular first release in theaters. Under certain conditions, you can submit an application to shorten the embargo period.
• Registration and archiving in the Federal Archives:
  • Within 12 months of the first public screening, you must register your film in accordance with the Federal Archives Act. At the time of registration, but at the latest within twelve months thereafter, you must notify the Federal Archives of the location of a technically flawless, archivable copy of the theatrical film.
  • No later than 12 months after the first public screening of your film, you must provide the Federal Archives with a technically flawless copy of the film in an archivable format free of charge. Further details, in particular the technical specifications of the archivable copy, are governed by the regulations of the Federal Archives.
• Documentation and reporting obligations to the BKM:
  • After completion of the film, you must provide the BKM with two voucher DVDs and inform them immediately of the distribution title, date of theatrical release, participation and any awards at German and international film festivals as well as other nominations and prizes.

Notes:

If, in the case of a co-production, several producers fulfill the approval requirements, the application can only be submitted by one of the producers.

The resubmission of an unsuccessful project is only possible once. The prerequisite is that the project has been changed in significant respects compared to the project already submitted for funding. A change is not required if formal reasons for the rejection no longer exist.