Also read our latest interview: New Autism Documentary Film Mama’s Sack: ‘I Had to Give Up My Parents’

Norwegian Refugee Council Nolte asked how this happened. “As a maker within the public system, you can’t make a living making documentaries,” Nolte says. “to All the best to Keith I received hourly wages below the minimum wage, a total of €25,000 salary for seven years of work.”

Nolte received many congratulations on the success All the best to Keith. “They thought I was making good money. But it didn’t feel like a success to me because I couldn’t pay my bills. That’s why I chose my new films.” Nikki And Keith flies Not through the usual path of the NPO Fund, but under our own management.

And so her new movie about Kees Momma finally ended up in Videoland, just like her movie nikki, About a girl who has an addicted mother and an absent father. The RTL platform was also excited All the best to Keith It can flow, much to KRO-NCRV’s chagrin. The broadcaster managed to prevent this by filing a summary suit against Videoland. In the end, it was agreed in a settlement that Videoland would not show the first part of the Kees saga.

calibrate away

“I have until the last minute Keith flies It was shown on public radio,” says Nolte. If they had offered me better conditions, they could have just broadcast the film. But only 7,000 euros were offered to buy the finished film. Or 45,000 if they went in, when the film was almost ready. But in this case “I would have lost the exploitation rights again. After long negotiations, they moved to 80,000. But the production cost is about four tons. How can I recover the rest? I will be left at a loss.”

Jelle Peter de Ruiter, head of documentaries at KRO-NCRV, says it is “very unfortunate” to find that Keith flies It cannot be seen in the NPO. “I can also imagine people wondering why that is,” says De Ruyter. “The usual way is to write an application for an NPO fund. This is the big fund of a public broadcasting station where you can get a few hundred euros to fund a documentary. But Monique was already shooting and said she wanted to make the movie herself. She didn’t want to apply for an NPO Fund, but she asked us as broadcaster to compensate for what she was already doing. It just doesn’t work that way.”

Nolte can very well explain why she didn’t want to make her documentary via the usual NPO fund route. “If I had gone the NPO fund route, I might have received a salary of 30,000 or 40,000, while in the end I spent nine years in Keith flies I worked. In other words, less than 4,500 euros per year. Then I also had to give up the distribution rights. Then you earn almost nothing, even if the movie is a hit.”

De Ruyter sees it differently. “NPO doesn’t pay makers to follow someone. Monique had been following Case for years when she joined us All the best to Keith was about to do. You can’t expect the NPO to pay for that afterwards. We pay for the movie, not for personal participation. And it’s true that you can’t make a living making documentaries. This even applies to celebrity makeovers like Heddy Honigmann. Everyone does something on the side, it’s not a full time job.”

At the same time, De Ruyter says he wasn’t already “too keen on a sequel.” All the best to Keith. “In this film, the theme of autism is already well explored. Then you have to ask yourself: what else does the sequel add? Is there something new to say? In the first part, Kes still lives with his parents. Will he stand on his feet in the second part? Usually.” The follow-up offers no new insights. And we’re not Hollywood, and we’re not going to make it. We’re using our tax dollars to make social interest documentaries.”

De Ruyter regrets that he and Nolte are no longer there in discourse termsWe are. But Nolte is probably more in line with commercials, says De Ruyter. “There you can get money on the basis of a single A4 sheet. The streaming service can easily pay more than we can. But I don’t know if Videoland paid for the first part. We do. The trading party takes less risk. Videoland is now gratefully benefiting from Kees’ success at the NPO. ”

Doesn’t he think the NPO should have thought “outside the box” about it Keith flies to broadcast? “No. It wouldn’t be fair to the other makers either. We spent three years researching with lawyers to see if we could offer Monique what she asked for, but it just wasn’t possible. The maximum entry amount for a final-stage documentary project is €45,000. In her case, we’re up to 80,000. More wasn’t really possible.”

new time

Nolte believes the system must change. “There has to be a distribution key. So, if the documentary is a big hit, the director must also see a part of it. I could have settled for €80,000, if I could have kept my exploitation rights.”

The current system lags behind the new era, according to Maker Keith flies. It is no longer the case for a documentary to disappear into the archives after broadcast. He often goes on to appear on a channel like NPO Start, which generates revenue from advertising. At the same time, content creators are no longer limited to public broadcasting: they can also turn to streaming services like Netflix or Videoland. This is why public broadcasting should provide better conditions for makers.”

De Ruyter sees it differently. “Which Keith flies Not seeing you with us is down to her own choices. She wanted to follow a different path than the paths allowed by the current system. This system is good, I think, because we divide the money fairly among the different manufacturers and do no favors. Plus, it’s a must have for any movie, even if it’s a sequel to a ratings hit. But I think Monique ultimately made a lot of money from donors and Videoland also paid very well for the movie.”