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Netherlands Film Production Incentive invests € 10.5 million in 22 new productions and 5 high-end TV-series

Projects by Thomas Vinterberg, Alex van Warmerdam Theu Boermans and Hisko Hulsing backed

In the first round of the Netherlands Film Production Incentive of 2019 contributions were made to 27 productions for a total amount of € 10.5 million. These include 17 feature films, 3 feature length documentaries, 2 animated feature films, 4 drama series and 1 animated series, including 14 international co-productions.

These contributions will generate more than € 40 million in production expenses in the Netherlands across the entire spectrum of Dutch film professionals and film companies.

Cash rebates are granted to No. 10, the latest feature film by Alex van Warmerdam and Sea of Time by Theu Boermans. International co-production The Alcohol Project by Thomas Vinterberg and the second season of Undone, the international animated series by Dutch director Hisko Hulsing are also backed. The first season of Undone, granted Production Incentive in December 2017, is expected to be released exclusively on Amazon Prime this year.

All projects backed by the Netherlands Film Production Incentive in the first round of 2019 are:

The Alcohol Project (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 62,000
Director: Thomas Vinterberg (DK)
Script: Thomas Vinterberg, Tobias Lindholm (DK)
Dutch co-producer: Topkapi Films
Lead producer: Zentropa Entertainments 3 (DK)
Co-producers: Zentropa Sweden (SE), Zentropa International Netherlands (NL)
Logline: To sweep off the dust of everyday life Martin and three of his friends and high school teachers launch a drinking experiment. The four teachers – and a handful of students - decide to uphold a constant level of intoxication. The group feels alive again! As the units are knocked back the experiment both progresses and derails. It becomes clear that while alcohol historically has fuelled great results, all actions have consequences.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. costume design, make-up & hair artist, sound designer, VFX

Angel (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 316,500
Director: Dennis Bots
Script: : Ellen Barendregt
Dutch producer: Incredible Film
Co-producer: Phanta Basta!
Logline: When short, shy eleven-year-old Engel finds a magical wishing clock one day, she sees it as an opportunity to transform her life - but it has some unexpected consequences...Dutch expenditure: e.g. cast, crew, shooting days, full post production (image & sound) Boys will be Boys in Miami (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 520,755
Director: Johan Nijenhuis
Script: Annelouise Verboon, Maarten Lebens
Dutch producer: Johan Nijenhuis & Co
Logline: When former stripper Jorrit gets a tempting offer from his best friend Bas, he immediately jumps at this opportunity to escape his uneventful life. They set off to exotic Miami to transform a ruin of a club into a thriving business. On the road to success they make new friends like the attractive Lola, and reunite with their old construction buddies. Their efforts will determine whether our boys end up dancing to the tunes of Miami kingpin Pablo Ramirez or succeed in becoming the stars of the Miami nightlife.Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, cast, crew, full post production (image & sound)

Do Not Hesitate (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 318,123
Director: Shariff Korver
Script: Jolein Laarman
Dutch producer: Lemming Film
Co-producer: A Private View (BE)
Logline: After the sudden disappearance of their superior, three young soldiers are left to guard a military vehicle by themselves. As their situation and the scorching desert heat renders them increasingly disconnected from reality, an encounter with a local boy escalates into a fight that will mark their lives forever.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, cast, crew, sound design

Grace (documentary) has been granted a financial contribution of € 84,905
Director: Susanne Opstal
Script: Susanne Opstal
Dutch producer: Halal Docs
Logline: A young woman manages to break away from the American cult of the Westboro Baptist Church. How do you start over again when faith, family and the foundations of your existence have been swept away?
Dutch expenditure: e.g. director, crew, full post production (image & sound)

Jackie and Oopjen (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 452,013
Director: Annemarie van de Mond
Script: Myranda Jongeling
Dutch producer: Column Projects
Co-producer: Fiction Valley
Logline: When Oopjen thinks 12-year-old Jackie is the sister she's lost years ago, Rembrandt’s famous painting comes to life.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, cast & crew, shooting days, full post production (image & sound)

The Kameleon on the Chain (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 210,330
Director: Steven de Jong
Script: Dick van den Heuvel, Steven de Jong
Dutch producer: Steven Dejong Producties
Logline: The Kameleon on the Chain is the newest adventure movie with Sietse and Hielke Klinkhamer. A story full of heroism, village fun, romance and humor, but especially suspense until the last minute.
Dutch expenditure: script, director, cast & crew, shooting days, full post production (image & sound)

Karlchen (animated feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 438,962
Director: Michael Ekblad (SE)
Script: Aje Andrea Brücken (DE)
Dutch co-producer: Submarine Animation
Lead producer: Alexandra Schatz FilmProduktion (DE)
Co-producer: Sluggerfilm (SE)
Logline: Karlchen Nickel has a new baby sister and nothing has stayed the same in the Nickel Family. When his birthday gets postponed because his little sister is ill and his parents need to go to the hospital with her, Karlchen decides to take off on his own and visit his grandma. And this is where the adventure starts….
Dutch expenditure: e.g. 2D animation work

My Sister/Brother (documentary) has been granted a financial contribution of € 82,221
Director: Mercedes Stalenhoef
Script: Mercedes Stalenhoef
Dutch producer: Zeppers Film & TV
Logline: How do you move on after the suicide of your brother or sister when you are a young adult? Too often, a teenager chooses death over life. The number of suicides among teenagers is increasing at a rapid pace, and has even doubled in the past year - a horrifying fast. What does the suicide of a child mean to their sibling(s)? How will they manage this unimaginable suffering? Will they be able to find the resilience to bring a new and different perspective to their lives?
Dutch expenditure: e.g. director, crew, full post production (image & sound)

No. 10 (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 817,399
Director: Alex van Warmerdam
Script: Alex van Warmerdam
Dutch producer: Graniet Film
Co-producers: CZAR Film (BE), Ma.ja.de. Filmproduktions (DE)
Logline: An actor with no past is overwhelmed by a series of strangers who strongarm him into his future.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, cast, crew

No such thing as Housewives 2 (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 322,000
Director: Aniëlle Webster
Script: Richard Kemper
Dutch producer: Nuts & Bolts Film Company
Co-producer: REP Film
Logline: With some true-hearted critique and loving advise our women help each other in their new life challenges. Knowing that whatever you had planned, in real life everything will unfold differently. One thing is for sure, they will not become a housewife. Because there is no such thing as housewives.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, cast, crew, shooting days, full post production (image & sound)

Oink's Revenge (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 656,997
Director: Mascha Halberstad
Script: Fiona van Heemstra
Dutch producer: Viking Film
Co-producer: A Private View (BE)
Logline: When 9-year-old Babs receives a pig named Oink as a present from her grandfather, she convinces her parents to keep it under the condition that Oink follows a puppy training. But her parents are not the biggest threat to Oink because actually her grandfather is secretly taking part in the sausage competition organized by The Society for Meat Products from Fresh Pigs…
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, stop motion animation, composer, editor

The Pirates down the Street (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 745,645
Director: Pim van Hoeve
Script: Sander de Regt
Dutch producer: Johan Nijenhuis & Co
Logline: The arrival of a pirate family turns boring Zandwijk-aan-Zee on its head. Despite their differences, pirate Billy and landlubber Michiel become friends. But when the family’s archenemy appears with a very attractive offer, Billy must choose what is more important: adventure or friendship.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, cast, crew, full post production (image & sound)

Poor Boy (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 488,670
Director: Ramon Gieling
Script: Ramon Gieling
Dutch producer: DOXY
Co-producer: Savage Film (BE)
Logline: When film director BOY TALMA (53) returns to his home Town to shoot his new film - a variation in song and dance on the Sisyphus theme of pointlessness – he learns he has nine months left to live. He decides to keep his death sentence a secret, but the scenes he invents for his film increasingly coincide with events in his own life. Time goes by in a rollercoaster of unique encounters with people who, without Boy realizing, accompany him on his journey towards the end. POOR BOY is a film about the vitality of the imagination.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, cast, crew, shooting days, post production (image & sound)

Sea of Time (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 786,641
Director: Theu Boermans
Script: Marieke van der Pol
Dutch producer: Kaap Holland Film
Co-producers: Eyeworks Film & TV Drama (BE)
Logline: Two young people with a young kid, living in the seventies, are full of ideas and dreams. They are madly in love with each other, but a disastrous accident during a sailing trip over the Atlantic ocean drifts them apart. Thirty-five years later, they meet again and there is still much love between them. Does she dare to entrust him a big secret from the past? Are they capable to cope with their loss together and has their love a second chance?
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, cast, crew, shooting days

Sidik and the Leopard (documentary) has been granted a financial contribution of € 61,000
Director: Reber Dosky
Script: Reber Dosky
Dutch producer: Dieptescherpte
Logline: For Kurdish people, the mountains are sacred. Sidik is dedicated to save nature in the mountains of Northern Iraq, where beauty and devastation go hand in hand. During his long solitary walks, Sidik meticulously registrates the destruction of human beings and animals, streams and trees, and tries to save what he can.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. director, crew, full post production (image & sound)

The Sound of Philadelphia (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 80,517
Director: Jérémie Guez (FR)
Script: Jérémie Guez (FR)
Dutch producer: 100% Halal Productions
Lead producer: Cheyenne Films (FR)
Co-producers: Gapbusters (BE), Killer Films (VS), Brookstreet (VS)
Logline: A grieving brother turns to his family's criminal connections to seek revenge against the person who killed his sister.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. DoP, post production (image), VFX

The Warden (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 309,366
Director: Threes Anna
Script: Threes Anna
Dutch producer: KeyFilm
Logline: In this tragic comedy an old man lives alone on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean. For almost half a century he has been the warden of a bird sanctuary. One day he receives notice that his posting will be discontinued. His happy life – in and alongside nature – comes to an abrupt end. The warden refuses to accept his dismissal. Not wanting to leave, he decides to fight back in his own way.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, cast, crew, shooting days, full post productie (image & sound)

When Fish Start Flying (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of
€ 215,759
Director: Eché Janga
Script: Esther Duysker
Dutch producer: Keplerfilm
Logline: Kenza (11) lives with her father and grandfather in a small house on a salvage yard near Westpoint, Curacao. The two men in her life are clear opposites: whilst her father is a rational police officer, her grandfather favours the spiritual world connected to the history of the island. Kenza hovers between these two worlds, until she is forced to face her sadness over the loss of a loved one and she gradually opens up to the the mystical, comforting traditions of her grandfather.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, cast, crew, full post production (image & sound)

When Fucking Spring Is in the Air * (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 235,200
Director: Danyael Sugawara)
Script: Heleen Suèr & Danyael Sugawara
Dutch producer: OAK Motion Pictures
Logline: A coming of age road movie about Kasia, a rebellious and pregnant 17 year old, who decides to go in search of her estranged parents and their money.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, cast, crew, shooting days, post production (image), composer

Where is St. Nicholas’ Big Book? (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 170,167
Director: Armando de Boer
Script: Gerben Hetebrij
Dutch producer: Tom de Mol Productions
Logline: When the Big Book of Saint Nicholas is stolen, he is forced to ask his great rival Santa Claus for help. Santa laughs at him: the St. Nicholas celebration already had its day! When Santa's book also disappears, they join forces. Together they go out to investigate, but that doesn’t go smoothly at all…
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, cast, crew, shooting days, full post production (image & sound)

A White Christmas (feature film) has been granted a financial contribution of € 193,485
Director: Lodewijk van Lelyveld, Appie Boudellah
Script: Mustapha Boudellah, Appie Boudellah, Shariff Nasr
Dutch producer: AM Pictures
Logline: Nobody wants to be alone on Christmas
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, stop motion animation, composer, editor

High-end TV-series:

Beau Séjour 2 (drama) has been granted a financial contribution of € 345,963
Director: Nathalie Basteyns (BE), Kaat Beels (BE)
Script: Sanne Nuyens (BE), Roel Mondelaers (BE), Bert Van Dael (BE)
Episodes: 10 x 50 minutes
Dutch co-producer: Column Projects
Lead producer: De Mensen (BE)
Logline: Former naval officer Maurice witnesses his own lifeless body, dangling from the mast of his sailboat “Beau Séjour”. He doesn’t believe he killed himself and wants to convince his family that there’s something else going on. He starts to investigate his own murder. The only problem: he is dead.
Dutch expenditure: cast, crew, post production (image & sound), VFX

Bulletproof 2 (drama) has been granted a financial contribution of € 177,361
Director: Diarmuid Goggins (IE)
Script: Noel Clarke (UK)
Episodes: 8 x 45 minutes
Dutch co-producer: Topkapi Films
Lead producer: Vertigo Films (UK)
Logline: New cases… old problems! London’s finest, Bishop and Pike, are back with a bang in another action packed, adrenaline fuelled series of Bulletproof. Packed with high-speed action and whip smart characters, series two sees Bishop and Pike go international in their ‘unique’ pursuit of justice.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. shooting days in the Netherlands with various Dutch crew members

Commandos * (drama) has been granted a financial contribution of € 807,627
Director: Hanro Smitsman
Script: Michiel van Jaarsveld
Episodes: 10 x 50 minutes
Dutch producer: NL Film & TV
Co-producers: Ciné Cri de Coeur (BE), Spier Productions Pty. (ZA)
Logline: The failed ex-special force officer John de Koning, who came back traumatized from his last black-op mission in Nigeria, is confronted with an assassin who is murdering his former special force comrades one by one. John starts his quest to the assasin, and when he finds out that the murderer is one of his own men, they end up in a war. A merciless fight in which John might lose all of his comrades, his family and eventually himself. Will John succeed in stopping the assassin?
Dutch expenditure: e.g. script, director, cast, crew, composer, shooting days, sound design

A Good Year (drama) has been granted a financial contribution of € 180,000
Director: Kadir Balci (BE)
Script: Pierre De Clercq (BE), Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem (BE)
Episodes: 8 x 45 minutes
Dutch co-producer: The Film Kitchen
Lead producer: Mockingbird Productions (BE)
Logline: A disgraced engineer and a down-on-his-luck small-time crook hope to strike it rich by claiming to have found Hitler’s wine cellar. Their swindle spirals out of control …
Dutch expenditure: e.g. costume design, make-up & hair artist, composer, full post production (image & sound), VFX

Undone Season II (animated TV-series) has been granted a financial contribution of € 1,500,000
Director: Hisko Hulsing
Script: Raphael Bob-Waksberg (US)
Episodes: 8 x 22 minutes
Dutch co-producer: Submarine
Lead producer: The Tornante Company (US)
Logline: When the 28 year old alma discovers her supernatural abilities, she manipulates time to prevent her father from dying. By doing this, she creates a timeline in which her life takes a drastic turn, but this does not go without consequences.
Dutch expenditure: e.g. director, animation work

* Re-submitted application


Upcoming application round 2019

The next application round for Netherlands Film Production Incentive for both film productions and high-end TV series is May 7, 2019. The Netherlands Film Production Incentive offers a financial contribution in the form of a cash rebate on the qualifying production costs that are demonstrably spent in the Netherlands.

filmstill: Undone