Rainmaker Content recently secured a co-production and finance agreement with Woodcut Media for “Hitler: A Life in Pictures” (4 x 60’) pre-bought by Channel 4 in the UK. “We’re delighted to be working with Woodcut Media on this series which takes a very different look at the propaganda around these images of the 20th Century’s most notorious figure,” Vicky Ryan, Co-Chief Operating Officer at Rainmaker, said.
Rainmaker Content has secured worldwide distribution rights, excluding the UK, for the series executive produced by Matthew Gordon and Kate Beal and Jonathan Mayo as series producer for Woodcut Media. The series was pre-bought by Polly Scates, Acquisitions Manager, for Channel 4. “We’re sure our clients around the world will be extremely interested in this first-time opportunity to see these astonishing photographs alongside the home video footage shot by Eva Braun,” Ryan said.
The four-part, 60-minute documentary will offer archive and expert interviews to explore both the public and the private life of Germany’s infamous dictator, featuring photos and videos provided by just two photographers who both dedicated their lives to documenting him, Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler’s official photographer and Hoffmann’s photographic assistant, Eva Braun. The archive footage includes 1300 recently digitized, rarely seen photos taken by Hoffmann and material garnered from Eva’s photo collection along with more than four hours of her home videos mostly filmed at Hitler’s chalet in the Bavarian Alps. “As they say, ’a picture paints a thousand words’ and the unique images we have procured for this Hitler series speak volumes about the depth of psychological manipulation that led to the rise of the Nazi regime,” Matthew Gordon, Executive Producer, Woodcut Media said.
Displaying files that were lost for more than 27 years, found with the help of Lutz Becker, Richard Schneider, and other experts, the film’s development required a special projects preservationist tasked with digitizing Hoffmann’s photos. “Whether it’s Hitler in one of his oratorical poses or carefully staged footage of him as a peace-loving statesman, the sinister underlying propaganda was crafted and projected onto the German public to precision,” Gordon said. “This series will have viewers gripped to their seats.”