Netherlands Film Fund names Bas van der Ree film commissioner

As the Dutch seek to attract international movies to shoot in the region, the Netherlands Film Fund has appointed veteran industry figure Bas van der Ree as Netherlands Film Commissioner. He will take up the job at the beginning of July.

It follows an inaugural call for applications for a new 30% cash rebate incentive, which saw 37 projects looking to access the rebate, which was launched in Cannes last month. These included both minority and majority Dutch coproductions. A decision on which will receive support should be taken by mid-July.

“Van der Ree is very experienced with production of feature films, documentaries, television films and also commercials,” said Doreen Boonekamp, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund, of the new commissioner.

“He has a broad experience within different kinds of media production. That’s important for a Film Commission to have. It is not only aimed at servicing for feature film and documentaries but also for any kind of media production that wants to come to the Netherlands.”

Films that Van de Ree has worked on include Jackie Chan features CZ 12 and Who Am I?; Mijke de Jong’s Blue Bird; and Alex van Warmerdam’s Grimm.

Speaking to ScreenDaily, Van der Ree said: “I think Holland has so many undiscovered shooting locations. There is beautiful undiscovered light in various provinces, in the south and very north of the country. We have an extremely experienced production crew.

“Holland needs to be discovered - it is more than tulips, wooden shoes and windmills. We have so much more to offer to feature films, television series, documentaries and TV commercials.”

Initially, van der Ree - who will be based at the fund in Amsterdam - intends to court countries with whom the Netherlands already has coproduction treaties. He will be using his extensive contacts to try to lure the international industry to produce or post-produce in the country.