Studio Hamburg Scores First Co-Pro Deal

Studio Hamburg has signed its first-ever co-production deal with Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion for the high-end docuseries Reeperbahn Special Unit 65.

The series centers on FD65, Germany’s first police unit dedicated to fighting organized crime, revealing the dark and depraved world of Germany in the ’80s. The production takes place in the St. Pauli Reeperbahn red-light district of Hamburg during a time when the AIDS pandemic overturned lives and cocaine became a money machine.

Reeperbahn Special Unit 65, commissioned by NDR, SWR, WDR and rbb for the ARD Network, is the first documentary project to be supported by the German Motion Picture Fund. It is also supported by Moving Images North and nordmedia, public film funds in Northern Germany. Studio Hamburg Enterprises is the exclusive international sales agent, excluding North America.

The series is slated to premiere on ARD’s digital platform in 2022.

Christian Beetz, producer and head of Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion, said: “After having produced the Netflix original Rohwedder: A Perfect Crime, we decided to realize our next high-end documentary series together with the German public TV network ARD in Hamburg. The network’s increasingly popular online platform is perfectly suited for us to also reach younger audiences.”

Tania Reichert-Facilides, head of Studio Hamburg Enterprises, added: “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 particularly excited that this collaboration puts an innovative spin on our existing cooperation with the NDR channel, part of the ARD Network.”