In this series, we highlight our clients to help them build connections that count, and shine ahead of MIPCOM.
ZDF Studios is a commercial subsidiary of ZDF, one of the largest TV broadcasters in Europe. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Mainz, Germany, the ZDF Studios Group operates more than 30 direct and indirect subsidiaries and affiliates in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom spanning TV production, distribution and services.
Since January 2013, Ralf Rückauer has been heading ZDF Studios’ department for factual programming as VP Factual. Since January 2018 Ralf Rückauer has overseen the Unscripted department, a merger of Factual and Entertainment.
He will be at MIPCOM CANNES this fall so we wanted to know more about what ZDF Studios will be bringing to the table.
What are you bringing to MIPCOM?
ZDF Studios’ unscripted catalogue covers the genres of nature, science, history, and entertainment. We market programme rights on a national and international level and negotiate format rights.
We are always on the lookout for high quality documentaries, shows and formats that can inspire an international audience through their production quality and content concept. Titles for our catalogue are selected both independently and in collaboration with the ZDF network’s editorial departments. We work closely with producers from our own network and from the UK, Australia, Canada, the USA, Germany, and France. Together, we look for co-production partners and co-financing opportunities within and outside the ZDF network or facilitate the development and substantiation of initial project ideas through development contracts.
On the international market, we have become one of the top names for high-quality documentaries and successful show formats, working with almost all broadcasting networks and VoD platforms.
In addition, we also offer a high-quality moving image archive of some 2 million items from over 300,000 hours of programming.
Our three main highlights for MIPCOM will be:
“Fateful Planet” (5×50’), a production of our affiliate ZDF Digital Medienproduktion for Curiosity Stream in association with ZDF Studios and ZDFinfo. Scientists have identified five periods of mass extinction in the past 500 million years, during which around three-quarters of species died out over a short geological time. And yet, after each of these events, the Earth has recovered, becoming covered in water and habitable once more. The series chronicles the history of our planet from its dramatic birth, through the cosmic and terrestrial forces that have shaped it. We explore the rise of humanity, reconstructing the major events that created our unique habitat, and showing how life rebounded after catastrophic events.
“Unearthed – The Mystery of the Shaman Woman” is the story of one of the most significant cases in European archaeology: the grave of the shaman of Bad Dürrenberg, a woman buried 9,000 years ago woman with a baby in her arms. The latest research shows that she was dark-skinned, had physical deformities, and was a spiritual leader. In fact, she was the most powerful woman of her time. This 1×50’ documentary if produced by South & Browse for ZDF in association with arte and ZDF Studios.
“Welcome to the Forest“ (3×50’), produced by Doclights in association with WDR and Terra Mater, is the ultimate series! Wildlife filmmakers have portrayed the European seasonal forests countless times, but this program uses innovative camera equipment to depict fauna and flora in unprecedented detail. We explore deciduous and coniferous European forests, covering gentle, rolling hills and mountain peaks, surrounding towns and villages, along lakes and rivers, to discover their magical secrets and how climate change and our actions are causing dramatic – and perhaps irrevocable – change.
What are you looking for at MIPCOM?
Our team has big plans for this year. Sylvia Brucker will be launching a new entertainment format, a unique makeover competition show – more info coming soon. And I’m confident that Sylvia will continue to sell our classic entertainment shows “Wanna bet?”, “Dalli Dalli” and “Quiz Hunt”. Nikolas Hülbusch will be looking for new investment opportunities for our specialist factual catalogues, focusing on early-stage development and co-production projects. Andrea Liebler will bring some exciting new highlights to Cannes for our international co-production partners. Margarita Garcia will be presenting “Fateful Planet”, “Unearthed – The Mystery of the Shaman Woman” and “Welcome to the Forest”, to name but a few from our international catalogue. Kerstin Jaitner will be launching the third season of Ancient Superstructures and many other titles for our German-speaking clients and Linette Zaulich will be discussing the latest hot topics in FAST channels, OTT and VoD.
What is your favourite MIPCOM memory?
There have been countless moments in my more than 20 years of MIPs. But perhaps this was by far the best: I was on my way back to the airport and just wanted to say goodbye to my colleagues at the stand. Suddenly a couple from Portugal appeared. The guy said he was a producer from Portugal. OMG – I didn’t have any time and was in a hurry to leave, but I gave him 5 minutes to pitch his format. It was “Skydive Quiz”. I gave him the go-ahead within seconds and then found out that he is a famous magician in his home country. I will never understand how he does his magic. I had to run fast to the taxi to still get the plane, but it was worth it. A real MIP moment.
An interesting company news
Last year, ZDF Studios founded CONTENT LADEN, a creative company for factual entertainment. Headed by Tom Gamlich, the Munich-based company focuses on the development and production of innovative and high-quality formats. CONTENT LADEN has just started shooting a new entertainment show. It will certainly be a magical format and is scheduled to launch next year. Fingers crossed!
About ZDF Studios
ZDF Studios is a commercial subsidiary of ZDF, one of the largest TV broadcasters in Europe. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Mainz, Germany, the ZDF Studios Group operates more than 30 direct and indirect subsidiaries and affiliates in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom spanning TV production, distribution and services. The parent company, ZDF Studios, is responsible for global programme distribution, realisation of international co-productions, acquisition of licences and merchandising of successful programme brands under its own name, for ZDF and third parties. ZDF Studios has the largest German-language programme inventory in the world and a constantly growing range of international productions, consisting of series and mini-series, television films, documentaries and children’s programmes.
The companies of the ZDF Studios Group cover the entire value chain from the development of scripted and unscripted TV content to production, marketing, and monetizing, including TV and streaming licences as well as merchandising and online rights. The positioning of ZDF Studios as an integrated media company enables the development of innovative, outstanding, and high-quality programmes and makes the Group an attractive workplace for German and international talent to flourish in a very inspiring and creative environment.
About Ralf Rückauer
After studying Film and Television Sciences at the Ruhr University in Bochum, Ralf Rückauer started out in his career in 1997 as Junior Creative Producer at Gemini/Colon Filmproduktion in Cologne. In 1999, Rückauer moved to German pubcaster ZDF, where he worked in the channel’s “Das kleine Fernsehspiel” department, heading up the format development lab “quantum”.
Rückauer has worked for ZDF Studios since 2003, initially as Project Manager Distribution and Investments, with the focus on documentaries, and then as Sales Manager for German-speaking countries and Central and Eastern Europe. In January 2012 he was appointed Head of Sales and was responsible for the sales of full-length programming. Since January 2013 Rückauer has been heading ZDF Studios’ department for factual programming as VP Factual. Since January 2018 Ralf Rückauer has overseen the Unscripted department, a merger of Factual and Entertainment. From February 2019 to December 2020, after the purchase of Off The Fence by ZDF Studios, Ralf Rückauer acted as CEO alongside founder Ellen Windemuth.
