© DWDL.de It has been ten years since Amaon brought its streaming service to Germany. And even if some viewers may not feel like celebrating given the increased prices and the recently introduced advertising, Prime Video is clearly proving to be a success story for the retail giant in this country. At least that’s what the investments that Amazon has made in recent years suggest – with the Champions League and soon Wimbledon now also in live sports. © DWDL.de “Ten years ago, the streaming service Amazon Instant Video was created from the DVD mail order company Lovefilm and Amazon Prime. Since then, we have made an enormous development to today’s Prime Video,” said Christoph Schneider, Country Director Prime Video Germany and Austria. Shortly after the Berlinale, Amazon presented numerous new projects at its annual screening “Prime Video Presents” in Berlin, which show that the streamer wants to continue to attack with a significantly broader range of genres and with a declared focus on the mainstream. © DWDL.de “Our portfolio ranges from comedy, romance, thrillers and an anti-war film to innovative formats such as true crime documentaries, reality and cooking shows,” says Philip Pratt, Head of German Originals Amazon MGM Studios at Prime Video. Due to the new genre breadth of the upcoming projects, the event on Tuesday lunchtime in Berlin’s Westhafen became a top-class get-together for the industry with around 400 guests, including producers as well as many creative people.
Prime Video wants to reach its audience not least with big names. This is noticeable in the name-dropping at the screening: Anke Engelke, Bastian Pastewka, Damian Hardung, Elyas M’Barek, Ina Müller, Karoline Herfurth, Meltem Kaptan, Michael Bully Herbig, Mirja Boes, Moritz Bleibtreu, Otto Waalkes, Steven Gätjen, among others , Tim Raue and Teddy Teclebrhan can be seen in the streaming service’s new formats. Teclebrhan, whose new show recently started on Prime Videoat the same time found words of praise for his client: “Prime has the biggest balls,” said the comedian at the beginning of the event and quickly but unsuccessfully followed up with: “Oh, dear press. Please don’t write like that!”
Specifically, Prime Video is noticeably increasing the number of German productions and has announced twelve new productions in the capital, including several documentary productions by Beetz Brothers, the food reality “Star Kitchen with Tim Raue”, in which the star chef presents young cooks and… Chefs are accompanied on their way to the Michelin star as well as a new show called “Licht aus” with presenter Steven Gätjen, in which celebrities have to spend 120 hours in absolute darkness. Non-fictional content has probably never played as big a role for Prime Video as it does now. But there is also plenty of new fiction, such as a “Dinner for One” sequel with the working title “Dinner for Five”, which UFA Fiction has been working on for over a year. The other projects presented:
- “The Tiger” (film)
The anti-war film, produced by Pantaleon Films, is set on the Eastern Front in 1943. The five-man crew of a German Tiger tank is sent on a secret mission far behind the hard-fought front line. The film is directed by Dennis Gansel and produced by Frank Kusche and Dan Maag. The main roles are played by David Schütter, Laurence Rupp, Leonard Kunz, Sebastian Urzendowsky and Yoran corpser. - “Dinner Club” (Non-Fiction)
Andreas Caminada, a Swiss 3-Michelin-star chef, goes on a culinary journey to six different countries with six German-speaking celebrities, including Karoline Herfurth. In each episode, Caminada goes on a search for classic dishes, unusual ingredients and unique culinary experiences with one of the participants. At the end, each duo prepares a dinner for all dinner club guests, bringing home the flavors and drinks they tasted on the trip. The format is an adaptation of the Italian format, produced by Potatohead Pictures in collaboration with EndemolShine. Executive director is Sven Steffensmeier, directed by Marcel Dambon and Michael Giehmann. - “Dinner for Five” (Serie)
The series prequel to “Dinner for One”, produced by UFA Fiction, takes place in England at the beginning of the 20th century. Faced with financial hardship, the young, emancipated Miss Sophie decides to get married and invites five marriage candidates to her castle. Before she can make her choice, however, one of the gentlemen is murdered. Producers are Markus Brunnemann and showrunner Tommy Wosch. Directed by Markus Sehr and Daniel Rocket Siegel based on the script by Tommy Wosch and Dominik Moser. - “Topsy-turvy” (series)
Prime Video promises a series that is as bizarre as it is morbid, set in the cemetery – and prominently starring, among others, Nicholas Ofzarek and Julia Jentsch, both of whom have already appeared in front of the camera together for “Der Pass”. Charly Hübner is also part of the cast. It is a production by Rundfilm, with Constanze Schumann and Thomas W. Kiennast acting as producers. Christopher Schier directs from a script by Judith Westermann. When a rotten grave statue kills the cemetery director, his deputy Butz Bohrlich finally sees his goal: after years in the shadows, he can now take over the scepter at Donnerscheidt Cemetery. - “Gerry Star” (Serie)
The mockumentary series is about the big-dreaming but unsuccessful music producer Gerry Star, who wants to win the Deggendorf Song Contest together with his hopelessly overwhelmed and sometimes unmotivated young band in order to win back his former partner and now celebrated pop star Ingo Rose. They are accompanied by a camera team. The new series from Pajama Pictures produced by Ina-Christina Kersten, Frank Buchs and Carsten Kelber. Tom Gronau and Max Wolter are responsible for the direction and script. The cast consists, among others, of Sascha Nathan, Lars Rudolph, Milena Tscharnke and Lisa Marie Koroll. - “German Cocaine Cowboy” (Doku-Serie)
Die The four-part documentary series tells the story of a pimp from Hamburg’s red light district who becomes part of the notorious Cali cartel in the 1990s. Filming takes place on location in Colombia, Mallorca and Hamburg. Producers are Christian Beetz and Georg Tschurtschenthaler for Beetz Brothers Film Production. - “Kill My Doppelgänger” (Documentary)
The documentary is about the young beauty blogger Shahraban, who was found dead in a Mercedes in a forest near Ingolstadt in August 2022. But the body actually belongs to another woman who looks strikingly similar to Shahraban. The documentary is produced by Beetz Brothers Film Production with Christian Beetz and Georg Tschurtschenthaler as producers. - “Star Kitchen with Tim Raue” (non-fiction)
In the food reality series, the 2-star chef Tim Raue accompanies aspiring young chefs on their way to becoming a Michelin star. The format is produced by Warner Bros. International Television Production Germany under the direction of Martina Hänsel. Christoph Jens works as a producer. - “Lights out” (non-fiction)
Eight prominent participants undertake the experiment of spending 120 hours in absolute darkness, where they have to overcome numerous tasks. Moderator Steven Gätjen and psychologist Sandra Sangsari keep an eye on the situation in the control room. The show is produced by Bildergarten Entertainment with Oliver Fischer as executive producer, Stephanie Haupt and Anna Eva Heymer serving as producers. Nils Trümpener directs. - “Billion Mike” (documentary)
The documentary tells the story of Mike Wappler aka Billion Mike, one of Germany’s most prolific fraudsters. The documentary is produced by Beetz Brothers Film Production with Reinhardt Beetz, Christian Beetz and Georg Tschurtschenthaler as producers. - “The Desert Dream” (Non-Fiction)
The documentary reality show follows four ambitious young German real estate agents who emigrated to Dubai to be successful in the tough real estate industry and make a fortune. The format is produced by i&u TV production with Olesya Schip as executive producer and Oliver Wintrich as director. - “Un/Dressed” (FIlm)
The focus of the erotic thriller produced by Wiedemann & Berg is the young entrepreneur Elle, who is torn between two men: Thilo, the scion of an influential Hamburg family, and Ben, a convicted murderer. Lena Meckel, Malik Blumenthal and Gerrit Klein are in front of the camera for the film, the producers are Quirin Berg and Christina Henne. Tim Trachte directs from a script by Stefanie Sycholt.
© Prime Video Aside from these formats, other German productions are already in the starting blocks at Prime Video. For some of them there was already a foretaste in the form of a trailer at “Prime Video Presents” in Berlin, including one from “Viktor Bringt’s” – or as Philip Pratt described the comedy series with Moritz Bleibtreu in the lead role: “‘Tatortreiniger’ without deaths”. She should come in the summer. As with some other projects in Berlin, they did not want to reveal an exact start date. © Prime Video / Niren Mahajan “Perfekt Misst” with Anke Engelke and Bastian Pastewka “Perfekt Misst” – the first series produced by btf and starring Anke Engelke and Bastian Pastewka – is also scheduled to come out in the summer. The duo – and the trailer shown for the first time – caused great anticipation at the screening on Tuesday afternoon. In the context of Wimbledon, the streaming service also announced the tennis film “Perfect Match” with Lena Klenke as Steffi Graf and Toby Sebastian as Andre Agassi. On location in Berlin, Michael Kessler promoted the film, which plays Steffi Graf’s father.
Also on site: Sebastian Fitzek, who presented the next project for Prime Video after the series film adaptation of his book “Die Therapie”. “The Way Home” is a film this time – and it probably won’t be the last project for the streaming service, those involved said. With “Those about to die,” Prime Video has also purchased Roland Emmerich’s first series project: The project with Anthony Hopkins and Iwan Rheon delves into the world of gladiator fights. The series was commissioned by High End Productions together with US streaming provider Peacock. The head writer is Robert Rodat, Roland Emmerich is directing together with Marco Kreuzpaintner. It should happen sometime in 2024.
It’s quicker with other formats: The reality show “The 50” starts on March 11th before “LOL: Last One Laughing” starts its fifth season on March 28th. Prime Video has also announced a Halloween special from “LOL” for the fall. The drama series “Maxton Hall – The World Between Us” produced by UFA Fiction will celebrate its premiere on May 9th. At the end of the almost two and a half hour presentation, which once again turned out to be longer than planned for Prime Video, the impression remains: In its anniversary year, Prime Video is looking more than ever towards the mainstream.
2024-02-27 18:44:04
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