Flanders Audiovisual Fund Is Small in Scale but Has Outsize Ambitions

It’s a great moment for Flemish television. Just a few months after a historic four series at Canneseries (“How to Kill Your Sister,” “Dead End,” “The Big Fuck-Up” and “Surface”), the Dutch-speaking northern region of Belgium continues to invest in interesting up-and-coming talent in television.

Speaking with Variety ahead of Mipcom, Karla Puttemans, the new CEO of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), says they are gearing up to make the most out of the Cannes event “to promote new and cutting-edge content from Flanders.” Within the VAF pots, the Media Fund focuses on the co-financing of high-quality television series developed in co-production with a Flemish broadcaster. For foreign series, at least 50% of the financing must be in place, with at least 20% of funding coming from Flanders and a Flemish broadcaster involved in the production.

Asked about the success of VAF-backed projects, Puttemans says she makes a point of emphasizing how one of the fund’s core objectives is to act as “an early believer in the quality and creativity of the projects developed by our local talents. … We stand by them at a stage when the market is still hesitant to take risks.”

“Our position is crucial for giving new ideas wings, encouraging our creators to be bold rather than play it safe,” she adds. “Ultimately, while our role in co-financing is important, scouting new talent, providing seed funding and offering coaching when needed are equally vital — and that’s where we truly make a difference.”

Britt Raes, who is adapting her successful short “Luce and the Rock” into an animated series for Ketnet, the children’s brand of Belgian broadcaster VRT, is one of the many directors to praise the work done by the VAF. “It has had a huge impact on me because it has been how I’ve been able to create my short films,” she says. “It also means I’ve had the time to figure out who I am as a director, find my voice and share it with people.”

On top of this early belief in talent and the offer for a more integrated creative collaboration, Puttemans highlights the strong ties between independent producers and local broadcasters in Flanders, as well as the benefits of the Screen Flanders fund and the Belgian tax shelter. The challenge? “We operate in a small local market and have to compete with players whose scale and resources are much greater.”

Looking ahead, the new CEO says her “top priority” is to “secure our position and funding capacity for the coming years.” Recently, the Flemish government announced its 2026 budget and, while Puttemans says it is “too early” to understand how it will affect their pots, she reiterates how many European agencies can “testify these are challenging times for culture.”

“Societal and geopolitical challenges are impacting [our] funding capacity, at a time when the industry needs us to move forward more than ever. I’m afraid the same applies to Flanders. Let’s just say that the budget is — and will remain — tight.”