Photo: Roel Oude Nijhuis (credit: Netherlands Film Fund)

It’s almost a year now since Roel Oude Nijhuis took over as the new Film Commissioner for the Netherlands, succeeding Bas van der Ree. Oude Nijhuis came to the post after having worked for many years as owner and producer at one of the Netherlands’ most dynamic production companies, Halal, recently rebranded to 100%.

“There was always so much going on and the work never stopped,” he remembers the relentless tempo at Halal where he oversaw features, documentaries and commercials. “I decided to step out from the company and spent a year as a freelancer, figuring what the next move was going to be. Being an entrepreneur and always working for myself, I never considered taking a job…until this one [as commissioner] came across my desk. The job, as it was advertised, struck a nerve with me.”

 Over the last decade, the Netherlands Film Commission has attracted some very big movies to the Netherlands (Dunkirk and The Hitman’s Bodyguard among them). The incentive programme combined with the locations and skilled crews were powerful magnets for runaway production.

Oude Nijhuis suggests, though, that the strategy now is less concerned with blockbusters (although a “huge American series” is currently scouting for locations in The Netherlands, he says).

“Our incentive programme with its cap at 3 million euros is much better geared toward projects that are in the 5-15 million budget range than they are to big James Bondish films. We’re still very much open to those projects when they come around. We have an open mind and an open door,” he says.

The difference now is that the Commission isn’t so actively courting the bigger movies. Its focus is more on films like Sophie Hyde’s Jimpa, a semi-autobiographical drama that shot partly in Amsterdam and has just premiered in Sundance. The Dutch co-producer was Marleen Slot of Viking Film.

In December, the Netherlands Film Commission signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK, through the British Film Commission. “It’s a tool to try to stimulate collaboration between the UK and the Netherlands,” Oude Nijhuis notes of an agreement designed to cut through a lot of the red tape hampering British and Dutch producers working together since Brexit. “And also, it’s a letter of intent - us as film commissions telling film industries in the world that we wish to collaborate more and that we want to stimulate Dutch and UK producers to cooperate more.”

Oude Nijhuis and his team also recently signed a co-production treaty with Indonesia. “That’s very much in the same philosophy of trying to build bridges and stimulate co-production and cultural exchange. Obviously, we have a rich but troubled past between our nations.”

The Film Commissioner is at International Film Festival Rotterdam this week. “Film festivals play a crucial role in the work we do, especially festivals like Rotterdam which is really a festival for cinema lovers and that has a very international scope. It’s a great place to network and to be open and available for filmmakers. A lot of concrete projects begin with a conversation maybe over a drink at a festival.”

His message for filmmakers is the same as it always has been. “We have a solid 35% cash rebate…it is cash in hand on eligible costs…it is dependable. We have beautiful locations. We’re very good with water.” (Oude Nijhuis cites the positive experiences Christopher Nolan had on the IJsselmeer lake near Urk when shooting Dunkirk).The Dutch, he adds, are renowned as collaborators and co-producers.

“There is lots of great talent. And we are very straightforward in our way of working, sometimes to the extent of being blunt. What you see is what you get with the Dutch.”

Since becoming Film Commissioner, Oude Nijhuis has also been pleasantly surprised by the support shown to each other by rival countries competing for international film productions. “The international community of film commissioners has been awesome - and it is really a community. They have been so kind and so welcoming,” he enthuses. He is now part of the EUFCN – the European Film Commissions Network, and of the AFCI - the Association of Film Commissioners International. “You might think that when there is a big project going around, there would be competition, but there is nothing but support and camaraderie!”

For more information about The Netherlands Film Commission, go to https://filmcommission.nl/. 
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