ITV Studios hire Bavaria Fiction exec for new German drama prodco

Moritz Polter

ITV Studios (ITVS) has hired Bavaria Fiction’s Moritz Polter to head up a new scripted production label in Germany.

The as-yet unnamed prodco will launch later this year and has an “international scope”, ITVS said, with Moritz creating, financing and delivering “high-profile” productions for the global market. He will report to Lisa Perrin, MD of international production at ITVS, which will distribute series internationally.

Das Boot

Moritz has been behind shows including Das Boot for Sky, Freud for Netflix and Germany’s ORF, and Arctic Circle for ZDF in Germany and Finnish duo Elisa Viihde and YLE.

He was most recently executive producer for international TV series at Bavaria Fiction and becomes the latest exec to leave the firm, following former chief creative officer Oliver Vogel’s move to Leonine-owned Wiedemann & Berg TV in September.

Perrin said: “We have long been aware of the scope for high quality European drama to find international success, but currently the opportunity is at a record high. Increasingly, well-produced German drama series are proving themselves to have global resonance and several of the most successful have been brought to screen by Moritz Polter.”

Polter added: “ITV Studios is a great partner which is looking for the same thing I am looking for: bringing together exceptional talent behind and in front of the camera to create exciting, thought provoking and entertaining programmes which reach local and global audiences alike.”

Prior to Bavaria, Polter spent nine years with Tandem Productions (formerly Tandem Communications) latterly as VP of production, working on shows such as Crossing Lines and Spotless for Canal+.

The new German label joins fellow ITVS-owned scripted firms, including ZeroZeroZero prodco Cattleya, Piv Bernth’s Apple Tree Productions in Denmark, Tetra Media Studios in France, Line Of Duty firm World Productions and fellow UK outfit Mammoth Screen.