28/05/2015 - The Dream Factory and Albertine are the first two titles to be supported under the new funding scheme that brings together the Netherlands Film Fund and the MDM Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung

The projects The Dream Factory and Albertine will be supported by the new co-development fund for children’s films created by the Netherlands Film Fund and the MDM Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (Germany). These are the first tangible results since the cooperation deal between the two institutions was signed at the latest Berlinale (read more).

€12,500 were allocated to the development of the Dutch-German title The Dream Factory, a project written by Eveline Verwoerd to be produced by David Bijker, whose CV includes the local 2012 hit children’s film Cool Kids Don’t Cry [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Co-produced by Germany’s Ostlicht Filmproduktion, the movie focuses on a mouthy, socially awkward girl named Harley who discovers the existence of a dream factory. Everyone around her seems to have the same nightmare that she does.

The German-Dutch project Albertine (aka Albertine and the Secret of Zati Songor) received €10,000 for a script re-write; the screenplay was written by Stephen Goldsmith. The story of Albertine’s project to rebuild an old villa she inherited is being produced by Germany’s Neue Mediopolis Filmproduktion along with the Netherlands’ Submarine.

The development of children’s and family films is one of the Netherlands Film Fund’s top priorities. According to CEO Doreen Boonekamp, in an interview she recently gave to Cineuropa, “Children’s and family films boast successful domestic and international track records. They offer many opportunities to create related educational materials on contemporary, historical and universal themes.”

A second round of submissions for the co-development fund for children’s films is scheduled for October 2015.