ZDF Studios

ZDF Studios GmbH (formerly known as ZDF Enterprises, stylised as ZDF.enterprises) is a wholly owned German production and distribution subsidiary of the German television network ZDF that is known for the creation and exploitation of ZDF's programming internationally outside of Germany. They also handled programming acquisitions, co-productions and distribution with other production companies around the world. It was founded in 1993. Until March 31, 2022, it was known as ZDF Enterprises. It is located at the ZDF broadcasting center in Mainz-Lerchenberg and had three offices in Munich, Cologne and New York

History

On May 11, 2001, ZDF Enterprises had entered the theme park business and greenlighted to create a theme park near its headquarters in Mainz named the ZDF Theme Park that would bring ZDF's programming catalogue into 3D attraction adaptations with theme park developer MPEG and the Mainz City Council developing documents for ZDF's theme park while ZDF Enterprises' partner Flebbe Group will be running ZDF's new theme park in Mainz.

In 2002, ZDF Enterprises entered a worldwide production partnership with Australian television production company Jonathan M. Shiff Productions to develop children's television series with ZDF Enterprises would co-produce & handle worldwide distribution to the upcoming television series produced by Jonathan M. Shiff Productions outside of Australia and New Zealand, ZDF Enterprises' partnership with Jonathan M. Shiff Productions started with the successful television series H2O: Just Add Water; their partnership would later be expanded seven years later in June 2009.

In July 2007, ZDF Enterprises announced they had acquired a 50% majority stake in Bavaria Film's independent television production subsidiary Bavaria Fernsehproduktion. The latter's previous parent, major German film production and distribution company Bavaria Film, spun off their television production arm into an independent subsidiary within Bavaria Film, in order for them to become a management holding company. The acquisition of a 50% stake by ZDF Enterprises had turned Bavaria Film's television subsidiary, Bavaria Fernsehproduktion, into a joint-venture production subsidiary, with ZDF Enterprises co-producing and handling international distribution of the company's projects outside of Germany.

In January 2011, ZDF Enterprises acquired a 49% minority stake in factual entertainment and documentary production division Studio Hamburg DocLights from NDR's Hamburg-based film and television production and service company Studio Hamburg Production Group (who they founded the division one year earlier in 2010), establishing a partnership with the two production companies. The former would co-prooduce and distribute Studio Hamburg Doclights' productions, as Studio Hamburg Production Group continued to hold a 51% stake in documentary division Studio Hamburg DocLights, alongside Jörn Röver, Michaela Hummel and Andreas Knoblauch, who continued to head the factual studio as CEOs.

In late-January 2012, ZDF Enterprises (who bought Studio Hamburg's documentary division Studio Hamburg Doclights in January 2011) established a joint-venture distribution sales unit with NDR's Hamburg-based film and television production and service company Studio Hamburg Production Group, called Studio Hamburg Enterprises. This joint-venture distribution company acquired rights to ZDF Enterprises' programming catalogue, including the ZDF and ARD libraries, with the two companies handling 50% of their joint-venture distribution unit. ZDF Enterprises' former head of merchandising Peter Lang and former Studio Hamburg head of home entertainment Jens Uwe Welge led the joint-venture distribution sales unit. The two production and distribution companies, ZDF Studios (which was renamed from ZDF Enterprises) and Studio Hamburg Production Group, rebranded their joint-venture distribution unit as OneGate Media ten years later in September 2022, with the name referencing the latter's roots in Hamburg.

In late-June 2014, ZDF Enterprises teamed up with award-winning producer & professor Uwe Kersken to form a joint-venture production outfit named G5 Fiction based in Colonge that would produce scripted international drama with ZDF Enterprises as the new joint-venture production outfit G5 Fiction would focus on historical drama.

On June 6, 2017, ZDF Enterprises expanded their operations into the UK distribution market by acquiring a 32% minority stake in British factual production and distribution company World Media Rights. This marked ZDF Enterprises' first investment in the British production and distribution company outside of Germany. World Media Rights CEO Allan Griffiths continued as CEO of the British factual production and distribution company through ZDF Enterprises.

In January 2019, ZDF Enterprises expanded their operations into the Netherlands by announcing their acquisition of Dutch unscripted production and distribution company Off the Fence, thus giving ZDF Enterprises their own Dutch production and distribution subsidiary. Off the Fence's CEO and founder Ellen Windemuth continued operating the company under ZDF Enterprises.

In April 2022, a day after the rebranding of ZDF Enterprises to ZDF Studios, ZDF Studios announced a partnership with Belgian production and distribution group Studio 100 through the latter's Munich-based German international distribution division Studio 100 Media (now Studio 100 International) to jointly launch a new international channel brand. This would bring ZDF Studios' kids & family programming library, such as Australian television series H2O: Just Add Water and Find Me in Paris, with Studio 100's kids & family programming catalogue under one streaming channel brand, Pash. This was launched on Amazon Prime Channels in the UK, Italy and Spain, with the two companies planning to launch their joint venture channel brand in other territories.

Filmography

Television

Film