The short film in German public television's third programs

Niche, special-interest programming, ratings poison: the short film doesn’t exactly have the best reputation on the German television scene. Particularly disappointing is the utter lack of concern with which the television editors have left it up to festival organizers to foster this important source of film culture.

Only the regular short-film slots on 3sat and ARTE offer the genre a secure window of time. Otherwise, the odds of finding a short film flickering across the TV screen are discouragingly low. Even the third channels operated by ARD – presumably under less ratings pressure than the main public stations of ARD and ZDF – conspicuously keep their distance. A mere one half of one percent of all fiction programming on these third channels is devoted to short film (in comparison with ARTE: approx. 10%, 3sat: approx. 3%). This guest article will sketch some of the difficulties encountered by short film producers as well as television editors with regard to these third programs. The empirical basis for this analysis has been provided by a master’s thesis dealing with the role of the short film, and in particular that of the short feature film, in television programming practise.

On the German television’s so-called third programs the short film leads a niche existence throughout all stages of programming practise: both the production of short films and the broadcast of purchased material is extremely limited in quantity.

Thus, a short film producer who happens to have a TV station on board should count himself extremely lucky, since the financial means earmarked by the stations for co-productions are usually out of reach of short films. Each year only about 30 short films receive support from the third channels in the form of co-production or the advance purchase of rights. This means a total of just three films per year for each of the stations in the ARD network. But even this sobering statistic doesn’t tell the whole story, for few of the stations are even interested in undertaking a co-production. The fact is that the third channels tend to consider short film as a component of programs designed to promote the next generation of filmmakers. And – here’s the crux – not only does not every station even have such a program, but those programs that do exist are not necessarily oriented around short films. The mandate to assist budding filmmakers is interpreted variously by the different channels. Short-film makers in southern Germany, for example, have it much easier when it comes to building a relationship with a TV station than those in northern Germany.

Support in the south: the short film in the third programs SWR and BR

A glowing example is the Film and Teleclub department at Bayerische Rundfunk (Bavarian Broadcasting). For years now the station has been successfully dedicating its efforts to promoting the work of new talent, including short film activities. The editorial department delves into short film productions with undisclosed but above-average financial resources and is thus able to establish a professional working atmosphere. Apart from co-productions, BR also purchases licenses for its short-film nights. In this way some six short feature films are co-produced each year for two broadcasts and the same number again are purchased. In keeping with their mission to promote up-and-coming filmmakers, the co-productions focus mostly on film school productions, especially those at the "Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München" (Munich Academy for Television and Film). BR is known for its mainstream-oriented short films such as "Cyber-Heidi 3D" (Ingo Knopf, D 2002), "Wichtig is’ auf’m Platz" (Tilmann Sanden, D 2001) or "Der Templer" (Sebastian and Florian Henckel v. Donnersmarck, D 2002). The films’ directors often have ambitious production companies in tow who stand to profit by receiving follow-up commissions from the television station if all goes well. The editor in charge at BR, Claudia Gladziejewski, emphasizes the basic openness of the editorial department and likes to make a daring exception once in a while and venture outside the mainstream. One example of this is "Der Atemkünstler" (D 2000), in which "self-taught" director Marco Kreuzpaintner - "regardless of film school" (Gladziejewski) – had his say.

SWR (Südwest Rundfunk – Southwest Broadcasting) is just as active in short film production. At this station it’s the editorial department in charge of films that promotes young directors and screenwriters in the context of its aspiring filmmakers’ series "Debüt im Dritten". Aside from five full-length films, around ten short feature films are co-produced, purchased or picked up by other third programs each year. By contrast with BR, the productions are all financed with ARTE funds, which primarily means that two editors in Baden-Baden and Strasbourg must both be convinced of the quality of the project. SWR offers certain "extras" here, for example by offering the services of its own in-house film lab. In this case as well, the aim is to tie talented young filmmakers to the station and to realize further projects with them – but then of course on a "grand scale". An almost textbook example is the short feature film "Ballett ist ausgefallen" (Anne Wild, D 2001), co-produced by SWR, which was followed by a feature-length film likewise produced by SWR, entitled "Mein erstes Wunder" (Anne Wild, D 2002). Brigitte Dithard from the "Debüt" editorial team reports that Wild had originally proposed making a 90-minute film with SWR, but only had a low-budget film to show as a reference. «We found it too risky and told her: ‘First make a short film’». She subsequently completed her first feature-film project in collaboration with Saskia von Sanden from "Debüt im Dritten". «For us, that’s the main motivation», says Dithard, pinning down the show’s strategy: «We try to stay on top of what a director is doing».

The picture looks much the same at HR (Hessische Rundfunk – Hessian Broadcasting), where, according to editor-in-charge Jörg Himstedt, the editorial department responsible of "TV drama and feature film" disposes over a "tiny budget" for producing short films as part of the general promotion of young talent. This has resulted in co-productions with the "Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg" (Film Academy of Baden-Wuerttemberg), for example the short films "Always crashing in the same car" by Marcus Weiler (D 2001), "Shadowman" by Phillip Stennert (D 2001) and most recently "Das Zeitbombenprinzip" by Christof Reiling (D 2003). The short films produced by HR are definitely worth seeing, but with a total of three productions in so many years their output could be considered quite ‘exclusive’.

Emerging talent series as short-film niche

Otherwise, things look pretty bleak for short-film producers. In the final analysis, BR and SWR are the only public third programs whose budgets include a definite amount earmarked for short-film co-productions. Which, however, does not stop the others from sometimes making an exception to the rule. Initiatives to boost emerging talent in particular offer the editors a certain amount of leeway. Even editorial departments that otherwise exhibit little affinity with short film sometimes show a surprising amount of involvement here.

ORB (Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg – East German Broadcasting Brandenburg), for example, has been co-producing an annual series of works produced by students at "HFF Potsdam-Babelsberg" (Academy for Film and Television Potsdam-Babelsberg) since 1993, televised in three different slots each year. However, the station’s debut series "Durchbruch" by no means offers a safe harbour for short film, because short-film series such as "Morgen retten wir die Welt" (editor: Michael Klier) or "HFF goes Hollywood" (editor: Rosa von Praunheim) are ultimately aimed at realizing feature films and final-year film-school projects in conjunction with television editors. The short film in and of itself is not the main focus of interest for the editors. Even HFF film directors who knock on the door of editor-in-charge Cooky Ziesche for reasons other than the "Durchbruch" series are sent away with the remark that there are simply not any appropriate time slots for their work.

A similar situation prevails at SFB (Sender Freies Berlin). Although the station has produced some quite presentable short films in cooperation with the "Deutsche Film und Fernsehakademie Berlin" (DFFB – German Academy of Film and Television Berlin), those at the station as well as at the film school regard these works as having come about under strong, station-dictated restrictions. For example, the films shown under the label "Boomtown" in the late-night program must be suitable for TV, have some connection to Berlin, even if a remote one, and tell their story within 28 minutes and 30 seconds. Besides the fact that this initiative only benefits a small group of students at DFFB, these requirements in no small way contradict the entire concept of the genre of independent short film.

Short film on WDR

The largest of the ARD regional stations, WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk – West German Broadcasting), avoids having anything to do with the co-production of short films. While it’s true that there are efforts to work together on a regular basis with the local "Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln" (KHM - Cologne Academy of Media Arts), the short film genre is not part of this cooperation –«for reasons of capacity», says TV drama editor Andrea Hanke. Six short film productions are simply much more work than episodic films such as "Freitagnacht" or "Stundenhotel", even if episodes like "Handstand" (Ruth Olshan, D 2001) function as "one-part series" at festivals. Any more far-reaching co-production commitment on the part of the WDR in the short film field is not under discussion. Since financing for such films can be obtained with the help of the film schools or with small promotional subsidies, these films can surely be realised without support from television, in the station’s opinion. But in these times of dwindling cultural film promotion as a potential alternative to television funds, this attitude poses a dilemma for independent producers.

Thanks to informal film school agreements, non-students and those who have outgrown the young generation category often come up empty-handed. As long as the short film as young peoples’ project remains firmly anchored in the TV stations’ editorial horizon, this denial of access will not change. The only possibility still open to a producer is that a station will opt to purchase a film, the odds of which are somewhat higher. The TV licenses for over three-quarters of the short films broadcast in 2002 were purchased. Here as well, however, the market is hotly contested -- what with multiple screenings and borrowings, the number of purchases made each year is significantly less than 140 short films.

Time slots and ratings

Weekly short-film broadcast slots – along the lines of "Kurz-Schluss" on ARTE – are nowhere to be found in the third programs. At somewhat regular intervals short films are shown Mondays on WDR in the 0:30 to 1:00 time slot – this puts WDR in the lead in terms of showing short films. And in its "LateLounge" entertainment show on Thursdays at 23:00, HR shows with similarly regular frequency popular short films in the style of the splatter-film parody "Staplerfahrer Klaus" (Jörg Wagner, Stefan Prehm, D 2001) or entertaining animated films.

Many films are broadcast to coincide with festivals such as the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (WDR), the short film festivals in Munich and Regensburg (BR), or the Ludwigsburg Short Film Festival (SWR). The broadcasting dates and times for debut series such as ORB’s "Durchbruch" or SWR’s "Debüt im Dritten" should also be easy for anyone to locate on the TV calendar. It’s a bit harder to find short films in the offerings of MDR (Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk – Central German Broadcasting), which televises only one short-film night in December, or on NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk – North German Broadcasting), which shows the short films it has purchased for ARTE every now and again in its late-night line-up.

To blame for this marked disinterest in short film is its reputation among editors as a notorious loser when it comes to ratings. Try as they might to attract viewers with various publicity stratagems, the graveyard slots to which short films are generally consigned defeat even the best efforts of the station’s press departments and editorial staffs. Of all the short films shown on television, not even ten percent have been conceded a late prime-time slot (22:00-23:00). 90 percent of shorts are shown only in the late-night/early-morning hours (23:00-5:00). With ratings now being measured far beyond prime time, short feature films are pushed back, if shown at all, until sometime after midnight. ARD’s "ratings king" MDR takes this threshold even further. The editor in charge of short film there, Lutz Müller, justifies this by remarking: «Just because a program starts after midnight, it doesn’t mean that we are no longer interested in attracting viewers.»

The broadcasting strategy followed by SWR, which starts its short-film nights at the relatively early hour of 22:30, is more strongly oriented around a broadcasting mission to not lose sight of minority audiences. In the region covered by SWR the station’s market share only amounts to about two to three percent, according to Dithard – and that is «less than we would like. But there are programs that are even less successful.»

The editors otherwise have only a vague idea of who exactly makes up their audience. But the short film nonetheless does not seem to be the best vehicle for luring young target groups. BR has discovered that the share of younger viewers for the short-film nights is not on the rise (Gladziejewski). Thus, the short film is apparently unable to bring the third programs the fresh generation of viewers they so urgently need.

Maladjusted? The short film and the programming formats

In addition to the ratings challenge, the editors point out that the short-film format itself is also part of the problem. Short films do not adhere to any specified time frame, which from the artistic point of view is no doubt desirable, but from the standpoint of an editor trying to fill fixed programming slots is a definite disadvantage. In the fully standardized television schedule this kind of genre simply doesn’t stand a chance of being a contender for slots of predetermined length. MDR editor Lutz Müller describes it as being very difficult to incorporate short film into the programming structure, «unless you do it like ARTE, where an entire program is devoted to short film.» If one really wanted to show short films on a regular basis, the reasoning goes, then short films would have to be produced in a standardized fashion to fit into existing programming schemes – but this is something no one really wants to happen, since it’s precisely its freedom from strictures that makes the short film so extraordinary.

Particularly when it comes to short film, many editors seem at a loss when faced with the question of how to make artistic or any kind of culturally ambitious film appealing for their viewers. In times in which even "Bread and Tulips (Pane e Tulpani)" and "Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin de Amélie Poulain)" have to fight for audience share on the late-night schedule, any improvement on the short-film front seems illusory. And, aside from this pervasive climate of uncertainty, the editorial departments in question lack the human resource capacity to devote more attention to short feature film. What editors tend to view as a bewildering array of possible sources for such material (festivals, film markets, film-school screenings or video submissions to the station) is regarded as yet another obstacle to even attempting to gain an overview of what’s available.

Potential synergies that might prove helpful are hardly taken advantage of. Although the public TV stations have plenty of licenses at their disposal, only WDR is involved to a large extent in exchanging programs with other channels. Lists of short films licensed by ARD, and which are thus usually available to all of the regional stations, are nowhere to be found. Even the central rights negotiator for the ARD, DEGETO – which incidentally used to be an active purchaser of short and animated films – has ceased dealing in short films altogether.

Even though structures for improvement exist and could conceivably be put to use, fixed programming schedules, ratings pressure and vague programming mandates make life on the small screen difficult for short film. And there is little reason to anticipate any changes in the near future.

Michael Jahn

Contact:

Michael Jahn

Emilienstr. 4

D-04107 Leipzig

e-mail: micha  fernsehenmachtschoen.de

Source: "Der Kurzspielfilm in der Programmpraxis des deutschen Fernsehens". Masters’ thesis written at the "Institut für Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaften der Universität Leipzig" (Institute for Communication and Media at the University of Leipzig).

(The thesis will be published in an updated version in autumn 2004.)

Empirical research:

Analysis of the German television schedule from 1 December 2001-30 November 2002 and semi-structured interviews with station editors in charge of short film.