The German mentoring program for young female filmmakers, INTO THE WILD, is launching a collaboration with Netflix. As part of a global funding initiative for International Women's Day, the streaming entertainment service is investing in the next generation of women in storytelling. In Germany, INTO THE WILD supports a program that aims to actively promote female talent and equal opportunities in the film and television industry. Currently, thirteen young female filmmakers from the six major German film schools are participating.

"We no longer want to talk about the past and how women have been disadvantaged in it. We want to talk about how women will take place in the future. The cooperation with Netflix is the right sign for this," says Isabell Šuba, director and initiator of INTO THE WILD.

Susanne Stürmer, President Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF: "With INTO THE WILD, a bundling of many forces has succeeded and the success of the program speaks for itself. Great that Netflix is sending this strong signal for Women's Day and beyond."

"It's immensely important to us to put women more front and center in front of and behind the camera. In a content team that is predominantly made up of women, this comes naturally anyway and is an affair of the heart," said Eva van Leeuwen, Manager Local Original Series. "Steffi Ackermann and I were already involved in INTO THE WILD as mentors in the first year, so we are very happy to be able to support Isabell Šuba, the film schools and especially the women in this great program." Sasha Bühler, Director Original Films, adds, "As an integral part of the German film industry, it is very important to us to make a long-term commitment to the education of young female filmmakers. We're just getting started with this initiative, but plan to take further steps to provide new opportunities for the next generation of female talent to be heard and realize their visions."

The 12-month mentoring program includes material analysis, workshops, pitching training, counseling and mentoring, as well as pitches at well-known festivals such as the Max Ophüls Prize and Filmfest München. The graduates are accompanied in the further development of their material by experienced mentors who are successfully anchored in the film business and who provide them with advice and support.
Netflix will support the program, especially in the area of story development for series, by sponsoring three of the program's Writers' Rooms, and by providing the young female filmmakers with important tools in workshops.
Filmmakers important tools in workshops.

The program is produced by Soilfilms and has been supported by six major German film schools since its inception - Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, HFF Munich, ifs internationale filmschule köln, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln and Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin DFFB. The film subsidies FFF Bayern, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and the production companies UFA Fiction, Pantelon Films, Constantin Film, Studio Hamburg, Made for Film, X-Filme, Bavaria Fiction and Warner Bros. are supporters, as is Weltkino.

Created on 04.03.2021