New True-Crime Series on Hamburg’s Red-Light District

The German documentary production house gebrueder beetz is working on a new true-crime series about the history of Hamburg’s red-light district in the 1980s.

The five-episode series features interviews and previously unpublished archive material. The Reeperbahn Series (working title) is the first-ever documentary project to be supported by the German Motion Picture Fund and is commissioned by the ARD network, with the NDR channel taking the lead.

The project is further supported by Moving Images North (MOIN). Studio Hamburg Enterprises serves as co-producer and exclusive sales agent (German and international rights, except North America). The release is slated for late 2022 on the ARD network’s online platform.

Christian Beetz, producer and head of gebrueder beetz filmproduktion, said: “After having produced the Netflix original A Perfect Crime, we decided to realize our next high-end documentary series together with the German public TV network ARD in Hamburg. The ARD network’s increasingly popular online platform is perfectly suited for us to also reach younger audiences. Moving Images North Film Fund has supported us in this project from the very beginning, enabling us to maintain international distribution rights and participate in the success of this series.”

Tania Reichert-Facilides, head of Studio Hamburg Enterprises, said: “Our aim is to be a strong partner for producers. We are thrilled to join this superb project by gebrueder beetz as co-producer. We are specifically excited that this collaboration puts an innovative spin on our existing cooperation with the NDR channel, part of the ARD network.”