History 1997

The studio and equipment activities of the ZDF in Munich and Bavaria Film are merged in a joint company as Bavaria Film- und Fernsehstudios GmbH, in brief: Bavaria Studios. Bavaria Film, the State Institution for Set-up-Financing (LfA) and the ZDF each have a one-third holding in the new GmbH, which starts operation on July 1. The Managing Directors are Dieter Wiese and Frank Oliver Schultz. Bavaria Film International opens its sales structures for films which are not from the Bavaria Film group and starts the world-wide marketing of cinema films by young film-makers under the label "German Independents“ managed by Michael Weber. Amongst them are titles such as JENSEITS DER STILLE or DAS LEBEN IST EINE BAUSTELLE. In the middle of the year, the german united distributors Programmvertrieb GmbH is created: the TV sales company is the merger of corresponding departments of Bavaria Film, Studio Hamburg, WDR and NDR. Bavaria Media GmbH, in which the handling of the rights of the Bavaria Film Group is put together – like the holding in german united – is created. Uschi Reich returns to the Bavaria Film Group as a feature film producer and Managing Director of the Bavaria Filmverleih- und Produktions-GmbH. The first cinema film is FRAU RETTICH, DIE CZERNI UND ICH with Iris Berben, Martina Gedeck and Jeanette Hain. In the summer, Joseph Vilsmaier makes his COMEDIAN HARMONISTS in the "Helenenstrasse“ sets and in the studios. In April, Bavaria Film Interactive manages its breakthrough: as the first large business TV project, the team under the management of Lars Reckmann creates "V!A“ for the HypoVereinsbank. In June, Askania Media GmbH is founded in Potsdam and Berlin. The managing director of this new production company is Martin Hofmann, who also continues to run the business of Saxonia Media. Alongside Bavaria Film (51 per cent), the drefa workshop is a shareholder. First project: SCHLOSS EINSTEIN, Germany's first children's weekly. At Bavaria Film in Geiselgasteig, DIE UNZERTRENNLICHEN are produced this year (production: Anna Oeller and Oliver Schündler). For the 13-part series with Katharina Böhm and Timothy Peach, great efforts are necessary: amongst others, the sets of the "Münchner Strasse“ are supplemented by a complete villa with a garden. The new Cologne TATORT detectives Bär and Behrendt, produced by Colonia Media, appear on the screen for the first time in October: WILLKOMMEN IN KÖLN has 9.18 million viewers. And with the FAHNDER, which is also being produced in Cologne in the meantime, Michael Lesch takes over the title role from Jörg Schüttauf. The most successful television film of the year is SCHIMANSKI: DIE SCHWADRON with 12.75 million viewers and a market share of 34.9 per cent. Production: Colonia Media.