Funding outside the box
DOK.forum Industry Training Talks 2025
When traditional funding falls short, creative solutions step in. This session explores innovative financing models, including crowdfunding, social impact funds, and alternative funding strategies. A panel of industry experts, platform representatives, and strategists will share insights on how filmmakers can secure funding beyond conventional sources and make their projects a reality. A case study will guide us through the process.
Speakers and moderation
- Toni Kamau
- Tim David Müller-Zitzke
- Brian Newman
- Sandra Trostel
Moderated by Anna Ramskogler-Witt
Event information and tickets
- The event will end at approx. 10.15 a.m.
- The event will be held in English.
- The event will be held on site.
- The event is open to the public (with ticket purchase, valid for all Industry Training Talks).
- The event is open to all accreditation types (DOK.fest professionals, DOK.forum Marketplace Observer (Plus) and Marketplace guests) for free (except DOK.forum accreditation, need to purchase ticket).
Our partners
Production (We are not the machine Ltd)
Kenyan-based Toni Kamau is producer of award winning documentaries. She has strong Pan-African networks and worked for BBC, Al Jazeera, and Bloomberg. She is collaborating with filmmakers from across the world, on stories exploring themes of African innovation, indigenous conservation among others. Committed to advancing the global documentary industry, she serves as a board member of the International Documentary Association and a member of the International Engagement Committee at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Producer (Tim David Müller-Zitzke)
Tim David Müller-Zitzke is a film producer based in Bremerhaven where he studied Digital Media Production. In 2016, he won the Montreal Independent Film Festival with a university project. His feature documentary Projekt: Antarktis / Project: Antarctica was self-funded, independently released in cinemas, and is now distributed worldwide in home entertainment. He worked as a VFX artist on Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day: Resurgence, was a brand ambassador for Adobe, and speaks at events like Berlinale, Oxford, and Cambridge. Currently, he produces commercial films while expanding a short-term accommodation start-up.
(Sub-Genre Media)
Brian Newman, founder of Sub-Genre, consults on content strategy, distribution and marketing for some of the top brands in the world. Brian has served as CEO of the Tribeca Film Institute, produces independent films, and writes a popular weekly newsletter on film.
(Sandra Trostel)
Sandra Trostel is an independent filmmaker, creative storyteller and researcher based in Hamburg, Germany. The central issue of her work is the analysis of current and future social developments via the artistic examination of aspects of human interaction, with a particular focus on the effects of digitization. Depending on the given subject she makes use of different media and forms. Furthermore she participates in think tanks, theatre projects and workshops and is giving talks about her work.
