Film- und Medienstiftung NRW extends management contract with Petra Müller

The shareholders of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, WDR, ZDF and RTL, decided at their recent general meeting to continue the collaboration with CEO Petra Müller and extend her contract until the end of 2023.

"We are looking forward to continuing the collaboration with Petra Müller. Under her leadership, the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW has developed into a cross-media funding institution, funding of films and series was intensified, and the games funding programme established and expanded. She has been making significant contributions to the further development and competitiveness of NRW as a film and media hub. The fund’s operations were also maintained during the COVID-19 crisis and the aid programmes for the film and cinema sectors were implemented swiftly and with a minimum of red tape," Supervisory Board Chairman Prof. Dr. Werner Schwaderlapp said.

Petra Müller has been CEO of the Film- und Medienstiftung since September 2010. Her move to Düsseldorf heralded the realignment of the Film- und Medienstiftung as a cross-media funding institution that has since then added marketing and developing the region to its remit and opened the door to new media.

For instance, in 2011, the funding of innovative content (games, apps, web videos, VR) was introduced and expanded into a dedicated funding programme. In 2012, funding for platform-independent serial content followed. The funding of high-end series started in 2014 with "Weinberg", with "Babylon Berlin" being funded for the first time in 2015 and since sold to 140 countries.

The film highlights of recent years have included the box-office hits "The Physician", "All About Me" or "How About Adolf?", as well as the award-winning arthouse productions "Toni Erdmann", "The People Vs. Fritz Bauer" or "Gundermann" and documentaries such as "Die Toten Hosen – You Only Live Once", "Beuys" or "Nowitzki". Games such as "Typoman", "Fiete" or "Omno" have regularly been featured at national and international awards ceremonies, trade fairs and festivals and rewarded with platform contracts.

In 2018, the fund worked together with its shareholders on the formulation of new principles for its funding programmes, resulting in the Film- und Medienstiftung being able to support films, series, games, cinemas, festivals and location projects with a record sum of over 40 million Euros in 2019. Moreover, Sky and Magenta TV joined ProSiebenSat.1 as funding partners at the beginning of 2020.

The Filmstiftung’s committed support of young talent has also seen the Wim Wenders Scholarship being launched in 2016 and the expansion of the Mediengründerzentrum NRW and the ifs internationale filmschule köln’s portfolios addressed in 2017. In one of the most recent developments at the ifs, the Filmstiftung initiated and supported the development of Germany’s first Master’s for Entertainment which will be launched in autumn 2021. Last but not least, topics such as sustainability, gender and diversity are on the agenda. For example, support has been provided for the MaLisa studies about images of women in film and TV, YouTube and streaming platforms, and diversity summits and conferences were funded.

About the company The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW supports feature films, TV movies and series, games and web content, the modernisation of cinemas, the development of radio plays, and much more. Location marketing and development as well as the presentation of the media region at home and abroad are also part of its remit. In addition, it also holds investments relevant to the hub: these include ifs internationale filmschule köln, Mediengründerzentrum NRW and Mediencluster NRW/Mediennetzwerk.NRW.

You can download a portrait photo of Petra Müller here.