International and German streaming and VoD platforms have agreed to invest a massive NZ$27.5 billion into German screen production over the next five years, a deal that underscores just how small New Zealand’s ambitions are by comparison.
The voluntary agreement was reached after high-level negotiations led by Wolfram Weimer, Germany’s state minister for culture and media (BKM), with global streamers, public broadcasters and private media groups. It replaces proposed legislation that would have imposed a mandatory investment obligation on the platforms.
Under the new arrangement, international streaming services will jointly invest NZ$3.35b, about NZ$670m per year, into German productions between 2026 and 2030.
Germany’s public broadcasters ARD, ZDF and Degeto Film will contribute a further NZ$11.9b, while private networks ProSiebenSat.1 and RTL Deutschland will collectively invest NZ$12.8b over the same period.
Speaking on German arts programme ttt – titel thesen temperamente on December 7, Weimer said a voluntary commitment was the only workable path. A statutory investment requirement, he argued, would have allowed streamers to comply with EU law by making their productions outside Germany in countries without such obligations.
“The compulsion of a law would lead to the money not flowing primarily to German productions,” he said, pointing to the dire condition of Germany’s film sector after years of recession. “The production landscape has its back against the wall… That’s why I said we need to take big steps.”
The German model, built on negotiation, incentives, and structured investment commitments, stands in stark contrast to what is currently being pushed in New Zealand.
SPADA continues to lobby for a streamer levy that would collect around NZ$20 million a year.
Not an investment obligation, not a production quota, just a tax on the platforms, which would be politically difficult for any government to defend and completely out of step with global best practice.
The German example shows where the real opportunities lie: not in squeezing a modest annual levy out of streamers, but in negotiating large-scale co-investment aligned with local production incentives, export-focused content strategies, and the global ambitions of New Zealand creators.
For New Zealand, where the entire debate has been anchored around a comparatively tiny NZ$20m levy, the German deal is a reminder that genuine partnership, not taxation, is what unlocks the big numbers.
Comments
You could argue that the threat of a levy is working out quite well for some offshore owned NZ production companies. Within the last few months quite a few kiwi projects have started popping up on Netflix. No Netflix Original commissions, but plenty of acquisitions.