BBC Studios and Germany’s ZDF announced at Content London the renewal of their long-term strategic partnership to co-produce and acquire world class scripted content. The multi-year deal will extend co-productions on scripted TV content, with ZDF and BBC Studios partnering to co-produce titles across the BBC Studios’ content pipeline. This follows the recent news that BBC, Netflix and ZDFneo are to partner on a second series of the hit Moonage Pictures produced YA mystery thriller "A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder." ZDF will also co-produce a third series of Expectation’s The Chelsea Detective.
The new agreement also extends the first option on pre-sales and acquisitions across BBC Studios’ catalogue that are available in Germany. Acquisitions already confirmed include “Death in Paradise” S13-14, “Beyond Paradise” S1-2 and “The Outlaws” S2-3.
Janet Brown, President, Global Content Sales, BBC Studios, said: “The extension of this long established co-production deal with ZDF underscores the close relationship we have continued to grow and our aligned editorial values. Strategic partnerships in the current climate are essential in order to produce the next big international hits, and the recommission of successful shows like ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ are only made possible with this vital backing. Coupled with a strong scripted pipeline, under this new partnership we’ll be able to entertain audiences worldwide with even more ambitious and genre defining shows.”
Jasmin Maeda, SVP International Fiction Coproductions and Acquisitions, ZDF, explained: “ZDF and BBC Studios are working together to deliver entertaining productions of the highest production standards. Since 2019, we have jointly delivered numerous successful and innovative projects. We are proud to renew and extend our trusted collaboration and hope to delight our viewers by continuing beloved series and launching exciting new programmes.”
The original partnership with ZDF was forged in 2019 and since then the two organisations have successfully collaborated on a range of titles across both genres including, “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder,” “The Famous Five Series 1,” “Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story” and “The Chelsea Detective.”
The scripted renewal agreement was brokered by BBC Studios and ZDF Studios on behalf of ZDF.