With the “Creative Innovation Space”, MediaTech Hub Potsdam is creating a new environment where companies can test and further develop technologies for film, television and streaming in practice. From the outset, a wide range of partners are providing technologies and infrastructure, while a new cooperation with rbb is also being launched.

Potsdam, 27. October 2026 – New AI applications, cloud-based production processes and digital tools are transforming media production at an ever-increasing pace. Yet there is often a crucial step between a technology becoming available and its use in an actual production: it needs to be tested, integrated into existing workflows and evaluated under realistic conditions.

This is exactly where MediaTech Hub Potsdam (MTH) comes in with the launch of the MTH Creative Innovation Space in Babelsberg. The new R&D platform is aimed at media and technology companies, startups and research teams with specific development and testing projects. They gain access to a pool of digital technologies and infrastructure provided by the partner network.

From the outset, a wide range of partners are contributing extensive technologies and state-of-the-art infrastructure to the technology pool of the MTH Creative Innovation Space. The MTH brings these resources together in a Tech Stack and matches selected projects with the technologies and partners best suited to their specific needs.

This enables project teams, for example, to test solutions in secure environments when they lack the necessary technical infrastructure, specialist expertise or suitable testing conditions within their own organisations. The spectrum ranges from AI and cloud solutions to technologies for production, post-production and distribution.

The first technology partners include Babelsberg-based Volucap, providing volumetric capture technologies, and Mimic Productions, offering solutions for digital humans and 3D scanning. They are joined by UK-based companies FilmLight, with high-end technologies for colour grading, and Engine Lab, providing cloud solutions for film studios; German company MoovIT, with cloud-based production and workflow solutions; and the CX Studio at Film University Babelsberg, which provides immersive and interactive media technologies for testing.

The Tech Stack is not a fixed offering. Further technology and research partners are expected to join and continuously expand the available solutions in response to new requirements and projects.

“Babelsberg offers a unique environment for R&D as a centre for film and IT, because new technologies can be developed and tested directly within the production environment – exactly where they are ultimately intended and required to be used. With the MTH Creative Innovation Space, we are adding another important area of activity to our existing offering of a startup accelerator, location management and the international MTH Conference.” – Peter Effenberg, Managing Director, MediaTech Hub Potsdam

COOPERATION WITH RBB

The launch of the MTH Creative Innovation Space also marks the announcement of a second major strategic cooperation. MediaTech Hub Potsdam has entered into a strategic partnership with Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb) on media technologies and innovation.

The partners plan to regularly exchange insights on technological developments, new production methods and media usage, as well as explore joint innovation projects. New applications will also be tested in suitable testing environments where appropriate. Specific projects will be agreed separately. The cooperation will initially run until the end of 2027.

“The media landscape is developing rapidly. As a public service broadcaster, we want to help shape this transformation. To do so, we need to understand new technologies at an early stage and test them in a protected environment with clear standards. That is why we are very pleased about our cooperation with MediaTech Hub. Here, we can combine our experience as a public service media organisation with the MTH’s strong innovation network – right on our doorstep. Both partners benefit from this, and ultimately, above all, so does our audience.” – Ulrike Demmer, Director-General, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg

“With MediaTech Hub Potsdam, we are going where technological innovation happens: into an open network, independent of individual providers. What proves its value there, we bring into rbb and, where appropriate, into ARD.” – Julian Hecker, Head of Technology and Infrastructure, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg

This further expands the MTH’s strategic network in Babelsberg. Since May 2026, the MTH has already been working closely with Studio Babelsberg AG, for example as part of the AI & Virtual Production Masterclass, where the MTH contributes its regional startup network to the MediaTech ecosystem as a location partner. The MTH Creative Innovation Space therefore builds on the particular strengths of a location where media production, technology, research and entrepreneurship come together in close proximity.

TESTING TECHNOLOGIES WHERE THEY ARE INTENDED TO BE USED

The MTH Creative Innovation Space focuses on the stage before a technology is introduced into regular production. Companies should be able to test their ideas and concepts for new tools or workflows, understand technical interfaces and make a robust assessment of the benefits a solution can offer for their specific use case.

“The speed at which media technologies are developing through generative AI and new cloud-based workflows is enormous. For media companies, it is therefore not enough to assess new tools only on paper. What matters is testing them under realistic conditions and putting them into use for the first time, so that they actually create added value for production. That is exactly what we are creating with the Creative Innovation Space: a practical framework.” – Simon Sturzenegger, Head of Creative Technologies, MediaTech Hub Potsdam

Through Open Calls, companies, startups and research teams will be able to apply with specific R&D ideas. For selected projects, the MTH identifies suitable technologies and partners, provides support on technological questions and, where needed, information on funding opportunities at state, federal and EU level.

ABOUT MEDIATECH HUB POTSDAM

From its base in Babelsberg, MediaTech Hub Potsdam strengthens the innovative capacity of Germany’s media industry. To do so, it builds on the particular conditions of a location where media production, creative practice, technology, research and entrepreneurship come together in close proximity. Together with local stakeholders, the MTH continues to develop Babelsberg’s MediaTech ecosystem. Its work spans four areas of impact: The MTH Accelerator supports founders and MediaTech startups. The MTH Conference provides context for technological developments and makes international expertise accessible. The Creative Innovation Space creates a hands-on environment for research, development and testing. Within the Babelsberg ecosystem, the MTH brings together shared interests, creates connections and initiates joint projects. As Germany’s only Digital Hub for MediaTech and an official Startup Centre Brandenburg, the MTH connects Babelsberg’s expertise with national and international networks. In doing so, it creates the conditions for technological possibilities to become practical applications, viable businesses and new ways of working – enabling the media industry to actively shape its technological future.

Contact:

Phil Miller
Communications & Marketing

press@mth-potsdam.de
+49 176 22047593