Fonds Podiumkunsten — Internationale coproducties

This scheme pays for making a new performing-arts production jointly with one or more professional partners abroad — the kind of project where a Dutch ensemble and a foreign company build a piece together rather than simply touring a finished one. The grant can cover personnel, preparation, performance and marketing costs. It will not cover work already carried out, ongoing operating costs, or buying instruments.

The applicant has to be a Netherlands-based producing organisation — a company, ensemble, music-theatre group or a festival that is genuinely involved in creating the work. Venues, booking agencies and other intermediaries cannot apply. The makers behind the project need at least two years of activity and several completed productions, and organisations already receiving structural funding from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science are excluded. The fund also looks for a sensible balance between what each partner contributes artistically and financially, judged against what the foreign partner can realistically afford.

The maximum is €75,000, and at least 20% of eligible costs must come from your own income, so some match is required. Each round shares a pot of €267,500 with two sister schemes. In 2025, 55% of the eleven applications assessed were funded.

There are four rounds a year and the activity must begin at least four months after the deadline you apply to. Applications are filed in Dutch through a Mijn Fonds account, which takes around two working days to set up. First-time applicants can email a draft for comment up to three weeks before the deadline. Assessors weigh artistic quality, entrepreneurship, the contribution to international cultural policy, and what the project means for performing arts back in the Netherlands.