Moritz Polter and ITV Studios have unveiled the name of their new scripted label in Germany as Windlight Pictures and announced three key hires.
The executive producer is bringing on board Simone Ruff and Cosima Degler as Producers and Development Executives, as well as Georg Höss as Head of Legal & Business Affairs.
Ruff comes from Bavaria Fiction, where she has been working with Polter for the last two years. As a development executive and producer she collaborated closely with renowned writers, co-production partners and broadcasters. She produced the internationally-acclaimed Freud (Netflix/ORF), which is rated amongst the most popular German Netflix series worldwide, and previously she spent seven years with Wiedemann & Berg and worked as a producer on highly-praised series like Line of Separation, NSU: German History X as well as the most successful German feature film of 2016, Welcome to Germany.
Degler has been part of the Hager Moss Film team, an affiliated company of Constantin Television, since 2018. Previously she spent four years freelancing as producer and writer for various companies as well as being selected as a screenwriter for the “Drehbuchwerkstatt München”. She was awarded the FIRST STEPS NO FEAR award for Two Mothers, which celebrated its premier at Berlinale in 2013 and also won the “Dialogue en Perspective”. Millennials was nominated for Best First Feature at Berlinale in 2017.
Höss joins from Bavaria Film where he was Head of Legal & Business Affairs and a member of the management board for many years, overseeing hundreds of TV and feature film productions for Bavaria Fiction. He started his career in a leading entertainment law firm based in Munich and Cologne and joined Bavaria Film in 2001 as corporate counsel after leaving Sasse, Wilde & Rossbach in Munich. His film executive production credits include Series 2 and 3 of Das Boot and TV show Brecht, as well as the feature film Last Love with Michael Caine and Clémence Poésy.
Polter, who as well as working as an executive producer on the internationally acclaimed German-originated series Das Boot for Sky is known for Freud (Netflix/ORF) and Arctic Circle for ZDF/Elisa Viihde/YLE, said: “Our exciting journey at Windlight Pictures now begins and I am more than thrilled that Simone, Cosima and Georg have joined the company. Together we aim to create compelling and thought-provoking premium drama and build up Windlight Pictures with content that fits our company’s spirit.”
Lisa Perrin, Managing Director, International Production, ITV Studios, said: “I’m sure Simone, Cosima and Georg will bring a wealth of experience and a dynamic creative flair to Windlight Pictures as they join Moritz for this exciting new venture. It’s great to see Windlight Pictures open for business and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
Windlight Pictures, based in Munich, will focus on making premium German drama with a global resonance. ITV Studios will handle its international distribution.
As part of ITV Studios’ expansion drive in the global drama market, the major production and distribution group now includes the renowned global scripted producers Cattleya in Italy (Gomorrah, Suburra, ZeroZeroZero), Apple Tree Productions in Denmark (Equinox, Blackwater), Tetra Media Studio in France (Balthazar, Paris Police 1900) as well as a new label in Spain, Cattleya Producciones.
Jon Creamer
Share this story
