ZDF Studios founds ZDF Sparks - Agency for Artificial Intelligence

ZDF Sparks, a company of the ZDF Studios Group, will commence operations as an AI agency in Berlin on February 1, 2024. The proven AI expert Pirita Pyykkönen-Klauck will take over the management of the company. The firm will focus on realizing AI solutions for the ZDF network in the context of planning, communication and distribution together with the expert teams from ZDF, ZDF Studios and ZDF Digital as well as external partners.

“AI is a topic of the future with significant strategic importance for us. By founding ZDF Sparks, we are responding to the importance of the topic and positioning ourselves as an AI partner and service provider throughout the ZDF network,”  said Markus Schäfer, President and CEO of ZDF Studios GmbH.

Karoline Meichsner-Sertl, Executive Vice President of ZDF Studios, added: “In Pirita Pyykkönen-Klauck, we have been able to recruit a renowned expert who also has an excellent feel for teams and talent for this important task. We are certain that she will succeed in quickly building up a very efficient team in Berlin.”

Andreas Grün, Head of Technology Digital Media at ZDF, commented: “AI is a highly relevant core technology for ZDF, and we are continuing to actively drive its development for public broadcasters. As a strategic partner, ZDF Sparks will give us more scale in this task, and that is crucial.”

Dr Pirita Pyykkönen-Klauck has more than 25 years of experience in data science, advanced analytics, digital learning and artificial intelligence. Her professional career includes positions in research and industry in Finland, Norway, the UK, and Germany. Most recently, she was Technical Director and Head of AI Media Services at IU Group.

“Especially nowadays, there is hardly a more important topic for future-oriented companies than AI. In conversations with my future colleagues at ZDF Group, I have experienced an incredibly strong focus and enthusiasm for a strategic and technological AI vision. I am really looking forward to bringing together AI talent at ZDF Sparks and working with them and our partners to turn AI technologies into socially important applications,”  Pirita Pyykkönen-Klauck concluded.

●  FIRST-TIME DEALS WITH SVODS AND CHANNELS ACROSS CEE

At the same time, ZDF Studios announced the addition of six new clients to its customer base: Hungary’s Mediavivantis (pay TV), Vivacom Bulgaria (pay TV), Romania’s ProTV (pay TV and free TV), and Polish free TV channels Stopklatka and TVS, as well as Pickbox Croatia and Balkans (pay TV and SVOD), which have acquired a range of scripted content from ZDF Studios’ vast catalogue.

“It has been a pleasure to partner with our new customers and see our content being made available to an even wider audience in Central and Eastern Europe,”  commented Mirela Nastase, Director Drama at ZDF Studios.

Mediavivantis in Hungary, with its pay TV channels Life TV and Ozone TV, has licensed a number of romantic, heart-warming movies, including titles from the Rosamunde Pilcher Collection. The popular series are based on Pilcher’s best-selling novels, which have sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

Vivacom, one of the leading telecommunications companies in Bulgaria, snapped up “The Window” (10x45’) and hospital drama “Dr. Klein” (62x45’) for its pay TV channel. “The Window,” a thriller set in the world of professional football, was created by BAFTA and International Emmy Award-winning screenwriter James Payne.

Furthermore, ProTV’s Romanian free TV channel Acasa and regional Polish channel TVS (free TV) have both acquired a selection of Rosamunde Pilcher movies with the latter also taking titles from the Inga Lindström Collection and The Dream Voyage Collection. Meanwhile, Pickbox, with SVOD and pay TV services in Croatia and the Balkans, has licensed eight movies from Reel One Entertainment’s catalogue, which is distributed by ZDF Studios.

Lastly, Polish free TV film and series channel Stopklatka, owned by Kino Polska Group, whose major shareholder is SPI International, will be offering its viewers “SOKO Vienna” (32x45’). The police procedural drama is part of the hugely successful SOKO franchise revolving around a special task force responsible for fighting crimes committed in and around the Austrian capital.