Production funding (Application deadline: 02.05.2024)

Please Note! This is a translation of the valid regulations and is meant only to help in the orientation and understanding of those, for whom German is not a first language. Only the regulations in the original German version apply. There is no guarantee for the correctness and completeness of any translated information.

01. Production funding is aimed at the development of new nationally noteworthy production projects by long-standing professional, independent performing artists/groups of all disciplines and genres of the performing arts (including performance, drama, dance, music theater, puppet and object theater, theater in public spaces, contemporary circus and interdisciplinary).

02. Artistic work processes (including digital) for the development and presentation of productions are funded. Premieres and subsequent performances are generally part of a project in the production funding program.

03. Applicants must have been professionally active as artists in the independent performing arts for at least two years and be based and work primarily in Germany.

04. The projects supported within the framework of production funding must be implemented and presented predominantly in Germany. Artistically justified deviations from this provision must be described in the application.

05. Applicants must be in a position to guarantee proper management and provide proper evidence of the use of the funding.

06. Applications must be submitted online until 02.05.2024 (application deadline) at 23:59.

07. Applications must be submitted using the relevant online form, which must be completed in full.

A complete application also includes

• a cost and financing plan in the format provided by the Fonds Darstellende Künste and in accordance with the provisions in points 13 to 18 of these regulations
• a 2-page detailed presentation of the artists/group and their artistic activities to date as a pdf
• a 3-page detailed project description as a pdf
• Internet links to present the applicant
• proof of all approved co-financing (in the form of an approval notice) and own funds in cash (in the form of a bank statement) as a combined pdf, if applicable (see point 15).

08. An application is considered to have been submitted on time if all the documents (see point 07) are uploaded to the database of the Fonds Darstellende Künste and sent by 11:59 p.m. at the latest on the date of the application deadline. Late or incomplete applications cannot be considered.

09. The basis for the approval, disbursement and accounting of funds is a project funding agreement within the meaning of No. 12.5 of the Administrative Regulations on Section 44 of the "Federal Budget Code" (BHO). The "General Auxillary Conditions for Project Funding" (ANBest-P) are constituent in the project funding agreement.

10. There is no entitlement to funding. Payments will be made on the basis of an up-to-date cost and financing plan following the conclusion of a funding agreement. In addition, a project bank account must be used or set up to receive the funding. Otherwise, funding cannot be guaranteed.

11. In the event of a funding approval, the appropriation period lasts between (expected) 01.08.2024 and 31.07.2025. The project or project section applied for must be fully implemented within this period.

12. A complete where-used list must be submitted no later than two months after the end of the respective appropriation period. In the case of projects lasting more than one year, there is an obligation in accordance with the General Auxiliary Conditions for Project Funding (ANBest-P) (6.1) to submit an interim where-used list by 30.01. of the following year at the latest.

13. Within the framework of the production funding, the Fonds supports projects in the field of the independent performing arts with the amount of at least €15,000 and up to a maximum of €50,000.

14. A prerequisite for production funding is the existence of a balanced cost and financing plan.

15. Co-financing from public funds (from federal states and/or municipalities) amounting to at least 50% of the amount applied for to the Fonds must be demonstrably secured at the time of application.*

16. Personnel and material expenses are eligible for funding in accordance with the General Auxiliary Provisions for Project Funding (ANBest-P). Any travel expenses incurred are eligible for reimbursement in accordance with the Federal Travel Expenses Act (BRKG). As a rule, investment costs for technology, presentations and other purchases may not exceed 30% of the application amount.

17. VAT deductible in accordance with Paragraph 15 of Germany’s Value Added Tax Act (UStG) is not eligible for funding. Ongoing non-project-related material and personnel expenses are also excluded.

18. Proposed fees must adhere to the recommended minimum fees for the independent performing arts.^**

19. Funding is excluded if the project applied for has already commenced before funding is approved, i.e., if expenditures have already been incurred or contracts have already been concluded.

20. A project may only be applied for in one of the funding programs of the Fonds Darstellende Künste; parallel applications are not permitted. A project that has been rejected by a decision of the board of trustees may not be reapplied for to the Fonds Darstellende Künste.

21. Applicants may only apply for one project in one funding round of the program.

22. The following are not eligible for the production funding: theater and production houses, festivals, revivals and revisions/adaptations of already performed or past productions with similar content.

23. Artists/artist groups who have received concept funding from the Fonds Darstellende Künste may only apply for production funding once the where-used list concluding that concept has been submitted in full to the Fonds Darstellende Künste.

24. An application to the Fonds Darstellende Künste excludes any co-financing of the project applied for by another funding institution that awards federal funding. This applies, among others, to the Federal Cultural Foundation, the Capital Cultural Fund, the Federal Agency for Civic Education, the Sociocultural Fund, the Dance Pact, the Music Fund, in most cases the Goethe-Institut and co-production funding from the National Performance Network (NPN).

These regulations apply from 15.12.2023 and are subject to change.

Berlin, December 15, 2023

Fonds Darstellende Künste e.V.

Board of Directors and Management

* In this program, public funds are defined as funding from German municipalities or federal states in direct or indirect form.

** Recommendation of the Bundesverband Freie Darstellende Künste e.V. for a minimum fee for the independent performing arts in Germany for 1.) professional groups with compulsory insurance in the Künstlersozialkasse (KSK): €3,100 per month / €715 per week / €140 euros / €310 per performance. For 2.) professional groups for which social security via the KSK is not possible: €3,600 per month / €830 euros / €165 per day / €360 per performance. The Fonds Darstellende Künste also recommends an in-depth examination of ver.di's initiative on basic fees for self-employed creative professionals.