German Television, Streaming Group ProSiebenSat.1 Sees Revenues, Profits Soar in First Quarter of 2024

Grindstone Entertainment Group has bought North American rights to Uppercut, a boxing thriller starring Ving Rhames, for Hello Moment Productions.

Dear Child (Liebes Kind) is a German miniseries that is about to become even more high-profile outside of its local territory.

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s regular strand that shines a light on breakout series and films that are shaking up the international market. In a globalized industry, a hit show can come from anywhere and local success stories can become international sensations.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Swedish director Ruben Östlund, who won Cannes Film Festival‘s Palme d’Or for “The Square” and “Triangle of Sadness,” was among the guests at the German Films and Medienboard Reception on May 18 in the garden of the Mondrian Hotel in Cannes. Östlund, who is in the Riviera resort to promote his latest production, “The Entertainment System Is Down,” was accompanied by Philippe Bober of Coproduction Office, one of the film’s producers, and Erik Hemmendorf of Plattform Produktion, Östlund’s Swedish producer. (They are pictured above.) German Films, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, was represented at the event by managing director Simone Baumann, and Medienboard, which is a film fund for the Berlin-Brandenburg region, was represented by its CEO Kirsten Niehuus.

Marta Balaga German Films celebrated its 70th anniversary at Cannes on Sunday, with its guests looking back but also looking forward. “It has gotten much better,” Managing Director Simone Baumann told Variety at the event. “We’ve had Oscar-winning ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ Oscar-nominated ‘The Teachers’ Lounge’ [for best international feature], films by Wim Wenders and with Sandra Hüller! Sure, Wim showed a Japanese movie and Sandra a French one [‘Perfect Days’ and ‘Anatomy of a Fall’], but it doesn’t matter: It’s more ‘mixed’ these days and I am proud of it, to be honest.” At Cannes, 11 German productions and co-productions have been selected this year, including Match Factory’s main competition offerings “Motel Destino” by Karim Aïnouz – who also attended the bash – and Miguel Gomes’ “Grand Tour.” Run Way Pictures is behind Mohammad Rasoulof’s anticipated “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” As festivals get “more competitive,” underlines Baumann, international collabs are here to stay.

EXCLUSIVE: Studiocanal has been rolling out sales on the first instalment of Germany-language film trilogy Woodwalkers in Cannes.

Prime Video’s German series Maxton Hall – The World Between Us has been handed a swift recommission after becoming the streamer’s most-watched international show of all time in its first week.

Movies and movie channels are driving viewing on FAST services, a packed room at the Cannes Marché du Film heard today. Owners of movie libraries and IP stand to generate significant revenue from free streaming as the sector booms, the boss of Pluto TV, one of the leaders in the field told the Cannes audience.

Mediawan CEO Pierre-Antoine Capton into France’s Legion of Honor last October, calling the exec “the ultimate French success story.” In a country rarely known to promote social mobility, Capton-esque career trajectories are scarce. A self-made entrepreneur born into a middle-class Normandy family, Capton began his professional life as a teen with an entry-level internship, eschewing elite universities, making the exec a rare bird among France’s top media execs.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent German actors Elisa Schlott (“Das Boot” TV series), Max Riemelt (“Sleeping Dog”) and Alma Hasun (“Corsage”) are set to star in Italian director Silvio Soldini‘s drama “The Tasters,” which reconstructs the untold true story of the women conscripted to be Adolf Hitler’s food tasters. Shooting is set to start on Friday in Italy’s northern Alto Adige region on the Nazi-era drama, which is being pre-sold at the Cannes Marché du Film by Rome-based Vision Distribution, headed by sales agent Catia Rossi.

Annette Hess will receive the first-ever Deadline German TV Disruptor Award at Seriencamp next month. Hess has created some of the most memorable German drama series of recent years with work including Weisensee and the Ku’damm series, to Disney+ show The Interpreter of Silence, based on Hess’ novel Deutsches Haus. Ku’damm fans are currently waiting on a new series, Ku’damm 77, which Hess is in the process of writing with production set for early 2026.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor After four Oscar wins for “All Quiet on the Western Front” last year and the Oscar nomination for “The Teachers’ Lounge” this year, Germany’s film sector seemed to be on the up, but while a government plan to revamp the country’s film funding system is broadly welcomed, its painfully slow progress is also causing some anxiety. The fact that Cannes’ various sections contain not one feature by a German filmmaker may be seen as a cause for concern, but 13 German productions and co-productions have been selected.

Maxton Hall, a German series now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, all over your TikTok feed and wondering what it's about? You're not alone.But fans of the Save Me series by Mona Kasten already know: The popular book trilogy was adapted into the series for Amazon Prime Video. Officially titled Maxton Hall: The World Between Us, the series premiered on May 9 and is a love story between Ruby and James that's a mixture of , , and . It's also one for the .Here's everything you need to know about Maxton Hall.Ruby Bell has exactly one goal: to graduate from the private school Maxton Hall well enough to go to her dream university, Oxford.

Naman Ramachandran ProSiebenSat.1 Group, which owns one of Germany’s leading broadcasters and one of its top streaming platforms, has had an encouraging start to 2024 after a rough 2023 financial year that saw revenues dip by 7%. Financial results for the first quarter of 2024, reported on Tuesday, reveal that group revenues increased by 6% to €867 million ($935 million) in the first quarter of 2024 and adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) grew by 35% to €72 million ($77.6 million) despite higher programming expenses. The group said that in addition to revenue growth, the positive numbers are due to the cost control program implemented in the previous year.

EXCLUSIVE: German actor Matthias Schweighöfer, who most recently starred in Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer, is joining forces with German director Erik Schmitt for upcoming project The Life of Wishes (working title). 

EXCLUSIVE: Big Brother seller Banijay Rights has signed a former BBC Worldwide Director as the head of its sales and co-pros in German-speaking territories.

German TV presenter Stefan Raab is stepping back into the ring with the German boxing champion who broke his nose in a previous encounter 23 years ago.

European production and sales studio Vuelta Group has bought German producer Telepool from Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook.

SquareOne Entertainment, part of rising European film studio Vuelta Group, has acquired German film and TV production, distribution and licensing company Telepool, which was owned by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook. The news was announced Wednesday by Vuelta Group chairman Jerome Levy and CEO of SquareOne and Vuelta Group Germany Al Munteanu.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to be the subjects of new bombshell revelations in a forthcoming German documentary.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who stepped down as senior working royals, before moving to Montecito, California, where they now live with their two children, will be the focus of a new show. Journalist and royal expert Ulrike Grunewald will present the documentary, which promises to uncover "fresh secrets" about the royal couple.The programme is being produced for Germany's ZDF network, with Ulrike having previously collaborated with the network on royal specials.