FremantleMedia Announces U.K./German Drama Initiative

CANNES: FremantleMedia’s British and German production companies, talkbackTHAMES and UFA, are forming a joint drama development unit, it was announced at MIPCOM today.

Based in Berlin, the unit will be jointly managed by Johnathan Young, the head of drama at talkbackTHAMES, and Jörg Winger, executive producer at UFA Fernsehproduktion, a division of the German production arm. The new division will focus on producing dramas for the British and German markets that can also be sold internationally and into the digital media market in the future. The move follows the British/German cooperation on The Bill and SOKO Leipzig, where producers from talkbackTHAMES and UFA worked together to develop a special two-part storyline which featured in both shows. Filming took place in London and Leipzig with characters from both shows, with broadcast on ITV and ZDF. In related news, talkbackTHAMES is parterning with Teamworx, another division of UFA, on the co-production Laconia, an event drama written by Alan Bleasdale for BBC Two and ARD.

Tony Cohen, the CEO of FremantleMedia, said: "This initiative is a great example of how FremantleMedia is working across our worldwide network of companies to leverage our shared experience and expertise, and create unique opportunities in the global market. The creation of this unit also represents our strong commitment to drama and reflects the investment that we continue to make in our global businesses around the world."

Lorraine Heggessey, the CEO of talkbackTHAMES, noted: "Our success with The Bill and SOKO Leipzig collaboration and Laconia has taught us that we have a lot of common ground and a strong creative partnership with our German counterparts that we can build on. With the current challenges in the drama arena and the shifting media landscape it is more important than ever that we find new ways to fund drama."

Norbert Sauer, the managing director at UFA Fernsehproduktion, added: "We hope that this initiative will broaden our range of drama production, bringing an international aspect that we didn’t have before. We believe that drama formats programs which are successful in two European markets can also be sold and exploited in more markets, and this new unit will help us achieve this goal."