Q&A: Alexander Coridass

ZDF Enterprises, the commercial arm of the German public broadcaster ZDF, is one of the main distributors in Europe. With a catalogue that ranges from drama series and TV movies to documentaries, factual and children’s shows, ZDF Enterprises sells content produced by ZDF as well as by third-party producers, and co-finances and co-produces high-quality programming. As president and CEO, Alexander Coridass oversees all sales, acquisitions and co-ventures, while always keeping an eye out for new business opportunities.

WS: Tell us about the joint venture with Mainstream Media.
CORIDASS: We have acquired a 26-percent stake in Mainstream Networks Holding. It operates thematic pay-TV channels, at first in Central Europe. We started with a channel in Poland that features romantic movies but there will be more perspectives, territory- and genre-wise.

WS: That is a new business for ZDF Enterprises.
CORIDASS: Absolutely, we added to our ongoing B-to-B [business to business] a B-to-C [business to consumer] element because we feel that within the digital market you simply have to take into consideration new businesses, especially as a medium-sized company like ours. In some markets we simply have to create direct relations with end-consumers and end-users.

That is why in Germany we are working with some partners on a VOD platform that will show the best of 60 years of German television. We don’t want to do it as a ZDF Enterprises or ZDF initiative. We are looking for cooperation with producers or other broadcasters or independent distributors and we are considering further online ventures.

WS: And your core program-distribution business remains strong.
CORIDASS: Yes, as far as classic business is concerned, we have brought to the market a range of factual series and that is exactly what our clients were waiting for. And the same goes for our drama co-productions. MIPTV and DISCOP were very good markets for us.

We have an advantage: during the last two or three years, when other companies were hit by the crisis, they didn’t produce or co-produce very much. That means there isn’t too much new product in the market at the moment. But we have fresh product, which is attractive to our clients.

WS: You have always had a very strong factual slate and you have broadened it lately, haven’t you?
CORIDASS: On the one hand we have access to ZDF’s exceptional output of documentaries. The classical ZDF doc is of outstanding quality. It is monothematic—it deals with a situation or an historical event, a war, or the building of a monument, and so on. I like them very much, a lot of people like them very much, but especially younger audiences or certain channels simply are not ready to watch this kind of documentary. For them there is factual entertainment or docudramas, with a lot of emotion, a certain amount of action, hard cuts, real-life people who you can identify with, such as construction workers, the homeless, truck drivers, fishermen, prisoners, et cetera. As we realized that there was a real demand in the market also for this product, we simply decided to get some of it. So whether through acquisitions, or co-productions, or the acquisition of distribution mandates, we enlarged our catalogue into that sector.

WS: Tell us about the original Danish version of The Killing.
CORIDASS: That is a success story and it provides a deep satisfaction that sometimes very risky ventures can be profitable. To invest in a ten-episode Danish cop show and to take over the global distribution is not something that is a guaranteed success. We have to say here very clearly that our link to a broadcaster was very beneficial to us. ZDF was as courageous as we were and decided to air this series. And it had a good success in second prime time. Then we did some additional sales which were a great accomplishment by my sales team, but when we sold it to BBC Four, that was something that nobody was really counting on.

Also, a broadcaster like BBC Four needs some courage to offer this series to its viewers—because you have to watch all ten episodes of The Killing in sequence—and it had an enormous success: 500,000 viewers for BBC Four for a Continental European series with subtitles. Then it went through the ceiling and we had interviews from The New York Times and the British quality papers. Shortly after The Killing aired on BBC Four, the DVD ranked number three on Amazon behind Harry Potter and The King’s Speech.

That is very satisfying: the Scandinavian makers are very happy, we are very happy and our clients are happy, so that is a good thing because it shows that with an extraordinary program, with strong stories, strong actors, and by the way, fresh faces and fresh characters, you can build a really international success.
 
WS: It can work, you don’t always need the established stars.
CORIDASS: Yes, it can work. Especially, when the main character wears a hand-knitted sweater.

WS: Yes, it’s become quite popular. Are you merchandising that?
CORIDASS: No, unfortunately—we are smart but we aren’t that smart! [Laughs]