Unframed Collection is a partner of Numix Lab, a touring event in Europe that every year brings together professionals and experts in immersive creation to meet the cultural centres of the host countries. In 2024, Germany welcomed 250 people, with an intense week of exchanges and discoveries between Munich, Leipzig and Berlin!To mark the occasion, we met Max Permantier, Funding Executive XR at the Film Fund Bavaria (FilmFernsehFonds Bayern).
XR at Film Fund Bavaria
Max Permantier – We are a regional fund in Bavaria. We fund movies, games, and also XR. That’s why I’m here, attending the Numix Lab 2024. We fund Bavarian productions, that can be virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR) or augmented reality (AR). But we also fund performative experiences, installations with digital elements and immersive sound projects. We have quite a broad set of experiences that we can fund. We want to improve the market in Bavaria and in Germany.
How does it work?
M. P. – Normally, we have 500 000 euros per year for extended reality (XR). In 2024, we spent something like 850 000 euros for it. We ramped it up a little bit. And it depends on the budgets of the projects. We are funding them in two stages. We can fund prototypes with up to 30 000 euros, with a maximum of 80% of the budget. And we can fund production with up to €100,000, with a cap at 50% of the budget. The number of supported projects depends on how many prototypes and how many productions that apply at our fund every year.
A few examples of FilmFernsehFonds Bayern supported projects
M. P. – We recently supported the Emperor experience from Atlas V and Reynard Films, for example, that was in Venice 2 years ago. We also supported the mixed reality part of Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway from Aardman, Meta, Atlas V and Reynard Films. Another example is Duchampiana VR by Tchikiboum and mYndstorm productions, selected for the European XR Award at Stereopsia. These are the recent projects that we did. We are trying to get more international co-productions to Bavaria. These are those that we favor at the moment.
Attending the Numix Lab
M. P. – I’m coming from the traditional film business, all the parts are already laid out. When I switched to XR, into this new business, it was quite strange for me that all the XR people don’t know each other, and they are not well connected. One of the first things to do, in fact, is to get to know them all, to connect them and also follow up on to be connected, get access to all the great creators that are living onsite there and offer them co-productions with Bavaria.
