Network Movie Film- und Fernsehproduktion GmbH & Co.KG

As per: June, 2010

Network Movie Film- und Fernsehproduktion was founded in 1998 and quickly became renowned for its entertaining, high quality TV dramas and popular series, as well as their international co-productions.

Award-winning TV-Movies such as „On the Other Side“ ), „Murder by the Sea“ and „News“ ; highly-rated shows such as „Duel in the Night“, „My Girlfriend’s Secret Life“; renowned crime labels such as Lars Becker’s „Night Shift“ ; as well as continuing series of TV-Movies such as „Jenny Berlin“, „Under Different Circumstances“, „The Inspector and the Sea“; TV-Events like „Kidnapped“; successful TV-Series such as „Cologne P. D.“, „Here comes Kalle“, „Stolberg“; international co-productions such as Ingmar Bergmann’s „Saraband“ , Wim Winders’ „Don’t Come Knocking“, the production „Reconstruction“ that was awarded the Golden Camera (Camera d’Or) in Cannes; and „The Eagle – The Trace of Crime” – a hard-hitting crime series that was awarded the International Emmy for best drama in 2005 – all of this is Network Movie.

Network Movie is based in two important German media locations: Cologne’s Mediapark and Hamburg’s HafenCity. The company is managed by Jutta Lieck-Klenke, who founded the company in Hamburg in 2003, and Wolfgang Cimera, who succeeded Reinhold Elschot in Cologne in June, 2009.

The Network Movie Team

Only great teams can produce high quality entertainment. And a good producer never forgets to whom he owes his success. He would be lost without his creative team, as he depends on their ideas and energy. Network Movie surrounds itself with experienced Producers and Production Managers in Cologne and Hamburg, who then cooperate with freelancers on behalf of Network Movie . Both locations produce not only on a national, but also on an international level. This is how numerous productions are filmed in Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin and Munich, but also in Schleswig-Holstein, the most Nothern State of Germany, or in the Ruhr Valley, and also in Spain, the Czech Republic, South Africa, Argentina, Sweden, Turkey, Italy, Namibia and the United States.

TV Events

The TV-movie „A Father’s Return“ , released in two parts, starring Vadim Glowna and Sophie von Kessel (the TV-movie with the highest ratings on New Year’s Eve of 2003/2004) was Network Movie’s very first event program. In 2005, other event programs included the screen adaptation of the Hedwig-Courths-Mahler Novel „Secret of the Red House“ with Natalia Wörner, Tim Bergmann and Pauline Knopf; the historical TV-movie in two parts „Stars over Madeira“ with Denise Zich, Lukas Gregorowicz and Gregor Törzs and the screen adaptation of the novel „News“ , set in post-reunification Germany, by Alexander Osang, starring Jan Josef Liefers. „Der Spiegel“ reporter and multiple recipient of the Egon-Erwin-Kisch Prize, Alexander Osang, wrote the screenplay himself. The TV-movie was presented at the Hamburg Film Festival in 2005, and won the TV Drama Award of the German Academy of the Performing Arts, the Bavarian TV Director’s Award, the Adolf-Grimme-Prize for the best screenplay and the German Television Award in the categories „Director“ and „Best Actor“ for Dagmar Manzel’s performance. It was broadcast by ZDF on the anniversary day of German’s reunification in 2005. „Through Heaven and Hell“ , an event drama in two parts, by Matthias Tiefenbacher, produced in the year 2007, takes the audience onto the odyssey of a childless couple, starring Natalia Wörner, Axel Milberg and Kai Wiesinger, that hopes to adopt a child in Argentina.
„Duel in the Night“ , starring Iris Berben, Jürgen Vogel, Ina Weisse and Uwe Kockisch, was viewed by 6.3 million viewers in early January 2008. The good ratings are deserved recognition for director Matti Geschonneck’s work, as he was nominated several times for the German Television Awards 2008. In addition, he was nominated for the Adolf-Grimme-Prize 2008, the CrimeFestival Wiesbaden and the German TV Crime Drama Prize 2008 and won 1,000 liters of wine for the production team. Matti Geschonneck’s TV-movie in two parts, „Kidnapped“, was also successful. This production was a prize winner of the 45th Golden Camera in 2010 as the Best German Television Movie. Leading Actor, Heino Ferch, was nominated for a Golden Camera as well for his accomplishment as Inspector Danner. Furthermore, „Kidnapped“ was nominated for the Adolf-Grimme-Prize in 2010.

TV Movies

Network Movie tells stories – exciting, dramatic, humorous stories – bringing excellent authors together with renowned and promising directors and stars.
The following directors have cooperated with Network Movie during the past years (subject to being incomplete): Max Färberböck, Matti Geschonneck, Lars Becker, Peter Keglevic, Anno Saul, Rolf Silber, Matthias Tiefenbacher, Walter Weber, Judith Kennel, Stephan Wagner, Lars Jessen, Tim Trageser, Jörg Grünler, Martin Eigler, Michael Schneider and Ulrich Zrenner. You have seen the following renowned actresses in Network Movie productions (just to mention a few): Iris Berben, Anja and Gerit Kling, Natalia Wörner, Barbara Rudnik, Sophie von Kessel, Heike Makatsch, Katharina Böhm, Nina Kunzendorf, Andrea Sawatzki, Anna Loos, Susanne von Borsody, Ina Weisse, Cosma Shiva Hagen, Sabine Postelt, Tanja Wedhorn, Valerie Niehaus, Sissy Höfferer, Marion Kracht, Lisa Maria Potthoff, Katja Flint, Hannelore Hoger, Lisa Martinek, Minh-Khai Phan-Thi, Maja Maranow, Aglaia Szyszkowitz, Stefanie Stappenbeck, Dagmar Manzel, Anja Kruse, Ulrike Kriener, Ursula Karven, Barbara Auer, Lavinia Wilson, Christiane Paul, Nadja Uhl, Silke Bodenbender and Katharina Wackernagel. Actors that have cooperated with Network Movie are: Heino Ferch, Matthias Brandt, Joachim Król, Jan Josef Liefers, Armin Rohde, Axel Milberg, Jürgen Prochnow, Friedrich von Thun, Götz George, Dieter Mann, Sky Dumont, Gustav-Peter Wöhler, Ingo Najouks, Hanns Zischler, Michael Roll, Uwe Kockisch, Christian Ulmen, Tobias Moretti, Florian David Fitz, Kostja Ullmann, Harald Schrott, Jürgen Vogel, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Ken Duken, Rudolf Kowalski, August Zirner, Tim Bergmann, Walter Sittler, Kai Wiesinger, Henry Hübchen and Ulrich Tukur. They all meet at Network Movie to create successful and award-winning productions.
For years, Network Movie productions have reached some of the highest ratings on Monday evenings. Some of the most notable are: „My Girlfriend’s Secret Life“ starring Mariele Millowitsch and Jürgen Vogel, „The Chambermaid“ starring Stefanie Stappenbeck and Axel Milberg or „Death at the Levee“ starring Christiane Paul and David Striesow. Productions in 2007/2008 include „Not For A Million Dollars“, starring Uwe Ochsenknecht and Stefanie Stappenbeck, „A Tempting Offer“ starring Christiane Paul, Richy Müller and Devid Striesow, „Four Mermaids III: Stormy Christmas“ starring Hannelore and Nina Hoger, Lavinia Wilson and Susanne Schäfer and „Crazy about Emma“ starring Armin Rohde and Anja Kling. In November 2008, nearly 6 million viewers tuned in to watch the political thriller „The Woman from the Sea“ , by award-winning Director Niki Stein, starring Anja Kling and Ulrich Tukur. After that, in September 2009, the production „Men of the North“, a contemporary comedy about a farmer looking for a wife, by successful director Lars Jessen, had more than 6 million viewers. In March 2010, more than 5 million viewers tuned in to the TV-Movie „A Matter Of Trust“, about imposter Marie Hansen, who pretends to be a doctor, portrayed impressively by Silke Bodenbender. The highly critiqued adaptation of „The Dark Side“, by best-selling Author Frank Schätzing, was broadcast in May 2008 by TV station RTL.
Since 2008, Jutta Lieck-Klenke has also been producing TV-movies for the first public German TV channel, ARD. Productions are „Wisdom of the Clouds“ , directed by Lars Becker and „The Telephone Game“, starring Ursula Karven, directed by Matthias Tiefenbacher. Both TV-movies were commissioned by NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk).
Matti Geschonneck received further recognition for the TV-movie „Murder by the sea“. He was awarded the „Producer’s Prize“ of the Hamburg Film Festival, Actors’ Awards, TV Awards and nominations for the Golden Camera. He was also invited to attend International TV Festivals and, among others, honored in New York. In June 2010, his latest thriller „Death in Istanbul“, starring Heino Ferch, Jürgen Vogel, Ina Weisse and Peter Simonischek, will premiere at the Munich Film Festival.
„On The Other Side“ by Max Färberböck, was awarded the German Television Award for „Best Camera“ in 2001, a prize at the Television Film Festival Baden-Baden in 2001 and also the International Television Prize of Monte Carlo (Festival de Télévision de Monte Carlo), also in 2001. Holly Fink was awarded „Best Camera“ for „Forbidden Kisses“ at the German Television Awards in 2001, and „Run while you can“ by Lars Becker was awarded the International Television Award of Reims (Festival Rencontres Internationales de Télévision in Reims) in 2002. „Amigo: Death at Arrival“, also by Lars Becker, starring Jürgen Prochnow and Tobias Moretti, will premiere at Roma Fiction Fest in early June 2010.
Again and again, Network Movie strives to include difficult subjects with relevance to society in its productions. Matti Geschonneck’s „Time to Live“ starring Friedrich von Thun, Nicole Heesters, Maja Maranow, Katharina Böhm and many more, is about „assisted suicide“. Also highly critiqued: the touching TV-movie „Dealing with Father“, based on the novel with the same title by Anonymus, that deals with the residential care situation in Germany, broadcast in March 2010. It premiered at the Hof International Film Festival in 2009 and was shown at the Baden-Baden Television Film Festival in 2009, outside of the competition. „Dealing with Father“ will participate at the Festival of German Films Ludwigshafen the end of June in the competition „Film Art – Special Award: Outstanding TV-Movie of 2010“.

Series of TV-Movies (90 Min.)

„Who-Dunnit?“ Network Movie is a serial investigator of crimes and murder mysteries. „Nightshift“, by Lars Becker, a program that has securely established itself over the past years and is now a brand in its own right, stars high-profile talent such as Barbara Auer, Armin Rohde, Minh-Khai Phan-Thi. In every new „Nightshift“, they are assisted by renowned guests such as Uwe Ochsenknecht, Mara Maranow, Uwe Kockisch, Sibell Kekili, Oskar Ortega Sanchez, Cosma Shiva Hagen, Götz George, Katja Flint and many more. Narrated at great speed, the stereotype good-or-bad pattern is superseded by reality. Lars Becker, whose premiere of „Nightshift“ is almost a tradition at the Hamburg Film Festival, was awarded the Special Prize „Hamburg Film Festival Cutlery“ by Festival Director Albert Wiederspiel for his merits in the Production City Hamburg. This Special Prize was awarded for the very first time. The tenth episode of „Nightshift“: „World of Ice“ was completed in May 2010.
Equally popular with the younger target group is the series „Jenny Berlin“, starring Aglaia Szyszkowitz as Inspector Jenny Berlin and her colleagues Rainer Strecker and Hannes Hellmann. 3SAT awarded the Audience’s Award at the Television Film Festival Baden-Baden in 2007 to Stephan Wagner’s „Jenny Berlin: Final Trial“. Network Movie completed the 13th installment in this series of TV-movies in March 2010, starring Joachim Król in a double role.
The exciting and always highly amusing Saturday evening crime drama format „Lutter“ enabled Joachim Król to return to the Ruhr area in 2007. In six further cases, he stars as Chief Superintendent from Essen, „Lutter“, directed with a great deal of local humor and versatility. He is assisted by Matthias Koeberlin, Jochen Nickel, Timo Dirkes as well as a constant high-profile group of talent.
In addition to Cologne and Hamburg, Network Movie has also discovered Schwerin and Schleswig as locations for exciting TV entertainment. In „Solo for Schwarz“, star Barbara Rudnik solved several cases as a Police Psychologist in Schwerin, until her death in 2009.
Natalia Wörner stars as Inspector and mother „Jana Winter“ in the crime drama series „Under Different Circumstances“ in Schleswig on the river Schlei. The first installment of this series was introduced at Filmfest Hamburg in October 2006. More than six million viewers tuned in to watch ZDF’s „TV Movie of the Week“ on October 23. The screenwriters Waltraud Ehrhardt and Peter Obrist were awarded the CIVIS Media Prize in the field „Entertainment“ for the second episode of this serial: „Under Different Circumstances: Till Death Do You Part“.
Since the end of 2007, the crime drama series „The Inspector and the Sea“ has been aired on ZDF. It stars Walter Sittler as Inspector Robert Anders and is set in the beautiful Swedish vacation paradise, the Isle of Gotland. Network Movie made sure to cast the Swedish parts with renowned talent from throughout Scandinavia. Inger Nilsson’s comeback as the Pathologist caused special attention: She had been a famous child star in her role as Pippi Longstockings. Seven million viewers watched the investigations in Gotland in January of 2007. In Summer 2010, Network Movie will be producing installments 9 and 10 of this series of TV-movies.
Adapted from the novels by Friedrich Ani, as a series of crime dramas, „Deadly Sin“ was produced in 2008 and directed by Matti Geschonneck, also „Behind Dead Windows“ (2010), starring Hanns Zischler as Inspector Polonius Fischer. Both productions were not only highly critiqued, but also very popular among the audience. „Behind Dead Windows“ had ratings of 6.4 Million viewers. Both productions premiered at Munich Film Festival. „Behind Dead Windows“ was also nominated at Television Film-Festival Baden-Baden in 2009.
Another series of TV-movies is „Stralsund“. Directed by Martin Eigler, who also co-wrote the first screenplay with Sven Poser, Katharina Wackernagel leads her first large scale operation as young Inspector Nina Petersen in „Stralsund: Murderous Chase“ (2009) and convinces 5.61 million viewers of this high-quality show. Her counterpart is the outstanding Harald Schrott. „Stralsund: Unconscious“ with Alexander Held, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Justus von Dohnányi and many more was completed in May 2010.
The Sunday evening series of TV-movies „Love, Babies and a Big Heart“ was filmed in Munich and surroundings, starring Marion Kracht and Michael Roll. The first installment of this successful series of TV movies had ratings of up to 6.5 milion viewers at its premiere in October 2006. The sixth installment with the working title „Love, Babies and a Piece of Home“ is currrently in post production. The seventh installment starts production in July 2010.
A new series of TV-movies was added to Network Movie’s successful Sunday evening shows last year: „Katie Fforde“, based on novels of the bestselling British author. Instead of England, the stories are set in the Hudson Valley region, near Upstate New York, which found the audience’s big approval . The productions were the most successful new TV-movies on Sunday evening on ZDF.

TV Series

Network Movie’s first and immediately successful TV series was „The Stay-At-Homes”, starring Sabine Postelt, Christian Wunderlich and Tanja Wedhorn („Bianca“).
A young, female and urban „Cologne P.D.“ was Network Movie’s contribution to ZDF’s ‚Soko’ Series. The crime squad team around Sissy Höfferer as Chief Inspector Karin Reuter includes Jophi Ries, Kerstin Landsmann, Lilia Lehner and Steve Windolf and has been on the coattails of suspects and criminal offenders since 2003, enmeshed in Cologne’s favoritism and corruption, between the hoods and kiosks, tourist attractions and talkshows. The solid ratings are constantly around 4 million viewers and a market share of 20%. In Autumn 2010, ZDF will be going into the 9th season and the 130 episode!
Kalle („Here comes Kalle“), is a smart Parson-Russell Terrier in the Northern German city of Flensburg, who not only keeps criminals, but also police officer Pia (Sabine Kaack) and her colleague Olli (Marek Erhardt) on their toes. This series is currently in its 5th season and shines with constant impressive ratings.
Since October 2006, Rudolf Kowalski has been investigating on a regular basis on Friday evenings on ZDF Network as Martin Stolberg, Chief Inspector in Düsseldorf. Assisted by his team, Aurel Manthei, Annett Renneberg and Eva Scheurer, „Stolberg“, the serious person of integrity and Inspector with everyone’s trust, makes sure that the ratings remain steady. Currently, the 5th season is being shot in Cologne and Düsseldorf.

Movies for the Big Screen

The teen drama „Friedenau“, that is to be shown on ZDF channel’s slot for special TV-Movies, „Das kleine Fernsehspiel“, after its distribution on the big screen, completed production in May 2010. The movie tells us the story of teenagers Ariane (Jella Haase) and Oona (Sarah Horváth) in a mixture of real film, animation and music video. It was directed by Ziska Riemann, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Luci van Org. The project was co-funded by Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein Filmförderung, nordmedia, Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film (Board of Trustees of Young German Film) and DFFF (German Film Fund).
A further project was submitted for film incentives in the year 2010: The adventure „My Great Grandfather and I“, based on the children’s book with the same title, by James Krüss, to be filmed on the Island of Helgoland.
„The Forger“ (working title), by Cioma Schönhaus, is another movie in pre-production. It is a story of survival about a Jew being chased by the Gestapo.

International Co-productions

Since its launch, Network Movie has also been renowned for its quality in the field of international co-productions. Initiated by Producer Peter Nadermann, a multitude of international movies, TV-movies, series and TV-events was co-produced. Some of the first projects were the adaptations of Swedish bestselling novelist Henning Mankell . „The Fifth Woman“, „Sidetracked“, „One Step Behind“, and „Wallander’s Last Case“ were produced in cooperation with Swedish Television SVT. „The Fifth Woman“ was awarded „Best Mini-Series“at the 1st Venice Film Festival, and at the Cologne Conference with the „TV-Movie Award 2002“. A new series starring Rolf Lassgård as Swedish Profiler „Sebastian Bergman“ is currently being filmed.
In France, Network Movie co-produced „Frank Riva: The Man Who Appeared Out Of Thin Air“, starring Alain Delon and Sophie von Kessel in 2003.
Currently, Network Movie is developing the European Crime-Series „The Team“, a sequel of the successful Danish formats „The Eagle“ and „Protectors“.
In Summer 2009, Network Movie started a series of Ken Follett-adaptations in conjunction with Constantin Television, beginning with the thriller „Whiteout“, starring Heiner Lauterbach and Isabella Ferrari, filmed in Scotland and Berlin. Furthermore, Network Movie is cooperating with Swiss partner C-Films and producing a series of adaptations of successful novels by Martin Suter. The first movie in this series, „The Last Weynfeldt“, starring Stefan Kurt and Marie Bäumer is currently in post production.
Network Movie was and is also involved in an entire series of successful multiple award-winning European art house productions as their co-producer, among others: „The Man Without A Past“ by Aki Kaurismäki (among others: three awards in Cannes 2002, nominated for an Oscar in 2003), „Reconstruction“ by Christoffer Boe (among others: „Camera d’Or“ Cannes 2003), „Don’t Come Knocking“ by Wim Wenders (among others: Best Camera, European Film Award 2005), Ingmar Bergman’s last movie „Saraband“, „Trilogie 1“ by Theo Angelopoulos (FIPRESCI-Award Berlin 2004), „Gabrielle“ by Patrice Chéreau (among others: „Lumière“-Award for Isabelle Huppert), „Adam’s Apples“ by Anders Thomas Jensen (among others: Audience Awards at the Film Festivals in Hamburg, Sao Paolo, Wisconsin and Warsaw, 3 Danish „Roberts“, etc.), „Nobody’s Perfect“ by Joaquin Oristrell, „When a Man Comes Home“ by Thomas Vinterberg and „Son of Rambow“ by Garth Jennings (among others: Audience Award in Locarno 2008). But also smaller movies like the black comedy „Factotum“, based on Charles Bukowski’s autobiography, or the young surprising success „Lost Person’s Area“ by Karoline Strubbe (among others: Award for Screenplay in Cannes 2009) or this year’s „Snabba Cash“, directed by Daniel Espinosa are fruits of Network Movie’s involvement in the movie genre. Dagur Kari’s latest comedy „The Good Heart“, starring Brian Cox and Paul Dano will premiere in German movie theaters this November.
Also this year, Network Movie will start pre-production of the adaptation of the globally successful novel „The Visit of the royal Physician“ by Per Olov Enquist in cooperation with Nordisk Film. Lasse Hallström will direct this dramatic historic story about an early revolutionary period of the young international avantgarde in Denmark’s royal family.