Exclusive Interview: ZDF Enterprises’ Fred Burcksen

PREMIUM: Fred Burcksen, the president and CEO of ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE), tells World Screen that knowing how to work with partners is essential, given the high cost of producing quality content that is so in demand today.

WS: ZDFE recently acquired Off the Fence (OTF) and invested in Nadcon Film. What was the strategy behind those investments?
BURCKSEN: With the acquisition of OTF, we wanted to increase our sales power and global presence within the unscripted industry. OTF is a very effective and boutique-style production entity. It fits very well within our portfolio of production companies. Nadcon is a one-person operation, Peter Nadermann. He had been with us, then left our group five years ago, and we thought it was time for him to return. Peter has talent. He is well connected within the creative industry and has a nose for finding special content and for seeing trends in the drama genre. Peter was the one who discovered series like The Killing and The Bridge (Bron/Broen). Together with ZDF, we invested in both series, made them into global successes and that enabled us to strengthen our group as a whole.

WS: ZDFE has a long tradition of co-financing and co-producing. How have you seen these deals evolve in the last ten years or so?
BURCKSEN: I see two improvements. Television is all about financing projects with partners, but the improvement I see is that there is a greater acceptance for letting talent do their work. Co-production partners, whether networks or distributors, are more willing to allow writers and everybody involved in the creative process do their work; they don’t try to exert too much influence. There is a greater acceptance for projects as they are—let the creative people do what they know best and we’ll enjoy the result. That is one element and it’s very positive.

The other element is that especially in the field of high-end productions and drama and live-action kids’ series, which are very difficult and expensive to make, there is an absolute need to work with partners. You can’t afford to do things by yourself. You need to work with partners to get special series done, which is first and foremost a positive thing, and secondly, people are willing to look at original ideas no matter where they come from. It could be a Scandinavian series, a Spanish series or a Canadian series. A project should be original and developed and executed by the creative team without too much influence by the co-production partners.

WS: Would you give some examples of recent co-financed projects?
BURCKSEN: In live-action kids’ series, we are doing the third series of The Worst Witch. It’s a BBC-CBBC project that could only be financed with the help of ZDFE and Netflix. This is a very original concept that all partners have accepted just as the creative team that built the property envisioned it. And secondly, it could only be financed with the help of all these partners, so you needed the two networks BBC and ZDF, and Netflix as a global platform. Another example is a Canadian series by Pixcom Productions called Victor Lessard. It’s based on a famous novel by Canadian author Martin Michaud that we picked up—a small Canadian Quebec series that we are making into a global success.

WS: What opportunities have streaming services offered ZDFE?
BURCKSEN: We have worked on three levels with the likes of Netflix. First, they acquire ready-made programs in various territories where they launched their platform. We were a launch partner in the U.K. and Germany, but they have also picked up series for global use.

The second level is co-productions. The best example is probably The Worst Witch, where Netflix stepped in as the third co-production partner. They secured the rights they needed. They looked at the scripts; they made some notes. But again, they let the creative team do their work. For them, it was the first step toward getting originals for their territories.

And the third level is where Netflix commissions series from our production companies. Maybe they were not the initiators of the program, but they were the first to step in and take global rights. An example is one of our production companies, Bavaria Fiction, which developed a series on Sigmund Freud and Netflix picked it up on a global scale and ZDF took the second window in Germany.

WS: What advantages, in terms of resources and reputation, does ZDFE derive from its affiliation with ZDF?
BURCKSEN: We are very proud to be a 100-percent subsidiary. ZDF is a creative powerhouse; so many talented editorial people work there. It’s a very courageous network. Again, it was Peter Nadermann’s finding, but ZDF was the first broadcaster to decide to air season one of The Killing—one story over 20 episodes. For a linear network, that was very courageous. It’s in ZDF’s DNA; they like to be first movers. Finally, if we work shoulder to shoulder and bring their money to the table and add some of our money, we can be a factor when it comes to co-producing or acquiring quality international content. That’s what we try to do, work with them, find synergies and be effective together.

WS: Are there specific projects that only a public broadcaster can do?
BURCKSEN: It’s the duty of every public network to look for content that probably cannot be produced by private networks because they have a different business model. That puts ZDF and a lot of public networks in a position where they spend money on a series that probably cannot be successful commercially in terms of recouping the entire investment. But it needs to be done. A good example is the series Ku’damm 56, a 3×90-minute series about women’s liberation and rock and roll shortly after World War II. I can’t see that series being developed by a commercial network in Germany; it’s just too expensive. It should be their mission to look for that kind of content.