Series event “Kafka” and ORF “Universe” productions are conquering screens all over the world
Vienna (OTS) – ORF Enterprise’s Content Sales International team had a successful appearance together with Film Austria from Monday, April 8th to Wednesday, April 10th, 2024, while MIPTV celebrated its dernière in Cannes. Armin Luttenberger’s team completed more than 100 individual appointments over the three days of the trade fair. On Monday evening, at the ORF Enterprise’s traditional aperitif, industry experts from all over the world were impressed by current productions from Austria, with the focus primarily on ORF “Universum” productions, which have been bestsellers in the world for more than 37 years global licensing business. The series highlight “Kafka” with, among others, Joel Basman, Nicholas Ofczarek, Charly Hübner, Robert Stadlober, Lia von Blarer, Lars Eidinger, Liv Lisa Fries and David Kross, which was recently broadcast on ORF and continues to be broadcast on the ORF streaming platform ON can be seen, aroused great interest. Shortly after the premiere, the co-production by ORF, NDR and Superfilm was exported to the Czech Republic (Česká televize), Slovakia (RTVS), Germany (Polyband), Slovenia (RTV Slovenjia), Finland (YLE), Sweden (SVT), Licensed to Great Britain (Channel 4, Walter Presents), Mexico (TV Unam) and Switzerland (SRF).
“The MIPTV is also a showcase for the domestic creative and film industries, where Austria can regularly shine, particularly with outstanding documentaries and high-quality fictional ORF originals. The representation by Film Austria and ORF Enterprise with their strong, global network creates added value for the entire production location. “The trade fair appearance is also a successful platform to present Austria as a destination for filmmakers from all over the world,” summarizes ORF Enterprise CEO Oliver Böhm.
“With ORF ‘Universum’, the ORF Enterprise has built an excellent name for itself in the global program business. Thanks to the high quality of ORF originals in the film and series segment, we have enjoyed an excellent reputation for fictional content for years, the share of which in the licensing business is consistently increasing. The intensively maintained contacts with international partners over many years are an absolute asset for successfully placing Austrian content outside of trade fairs,” emphasizes Armin Luttenberger, Head of Content Sales International at ORF Enterprise.
“The recent high interest in ORF ‘Universum’ nature films shows that the Austrian glossy productions have been setting international standards for more than 37 years. This recognized level of quality is also possible through co-productions with international premium partners. At MIPTV we were once again able to have promising discussions about future nature films, which the Austrian audience can also look forward to on television and in streams on ORF ON in the near future,” reports Gernot Lercher, head of ORF “Universum” Nature.
“Against the background of increasing competition for the audience’s attention in the global content market, the joint appearance of ORF-Enterprise and Film Austria offers the entire domestic film and production landscape an effective stage to make their performance visible. The established collaboration between ORF Enterprise and Film Austria provides the basis for Austrian film successes beyond national borders – from finding suitable production partners to the successful distribution of the finished works,” says Film Austria board member Jakob Pochlatko (EPO Film ).
ORF originals provide entertainment in neighboring countries
In addition to the “Kafka” sales, the ORF Enterprise can look forward to further sales of ORF originals. ARD One has secured four seasons of “Vorstadtweiber”. RTL (Hungary) has decided on two successful series with three seasons of “Walking on Sunshine” and another three seasons of “Soko Kitzbühel”, which will be shown in our neighboring country in the future.
Christmas sounds from Vienna
“Christmas in Vienna 2023” with Patricia Petibon, Anita Monserrat, Joyce DiDonato, Lawrence Brownlee and the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra not only sells to the Swedish SVT, but also makes the jump across the Atlantic and is licensed by Knowledge Networks in Canada.
ORF “universe” goes around the world
The Italian RAI is including three ORF “Universe” nature films in its program: “Qatar – Pearls in the Sand”, “Migratory Birds – A Year Flies by” and “Mysterious Czech Republic – A Country Like a Fairy Tale”. FTV Prima from the Czech Republic secured an even larger package with “Qatar – Pearls in the Sand”, “The Arlberg – Wild and World Famous”, “The Secret Matter of Copernicus – Triumph of Science”, “The Egg – Departure into Life”, “The Dead Mountains”. – Wonderful World of Life”, “Gentle Mountains, Wild Moors – The Alpine Foothills”, “Migratory Birds – A Year Flies” and “Slovenia – On the Pulse of the Wilderness”. The globally active US media giant National Geographic chooses “Spirits of the Desert – The Lions of the Skeleton Coast” and “The Nicobar Islands – Resurrection of an Archipelago”.
The ORF “Universum History” documentary “Death Trap Mallorca – Happiness and Misfortune in Exile” goes to YLE (Finland) and Axess TV (Sweden). The Swedish broadcaster also secures “Secret Matter Copernicus – Triumph of Science” and “The Birth of Modern Brazil – Leopoldina of Habsburg”. TV Unam (Mexico) licenses the two-part documentary “Forbidden Desire – Milestones of Queer History”.
About ORF Enterprise
As the ORF’s marketing subsidiary, the ORF Enterprise is exclusively responsible for marketing all national media offerings from the leading Austrian media group. The portfolio includes, among other things, four television stations (ORF 1, ORF 2, ORF III Culture and Information, ORF SPORT +), three national radio stations (Ö1, Hitradio Ö3, radio FM4), the print magazine ORF gleanings, and the entire digital offering on ORF .at, the ORF-TVthek as well as ORF ON and the ORF TELETEXT. In the Content Sales International and Licensing and Media Cooperations division, ORF content and brands are licensed worldwide. The ORF-Enterprise also operates the ORF-Enterprise music publishing house and its own record label. The company is the national representative of leading international creative festivals such as Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and organizer of the national award ORF-AWARDS. The management consists of Oliver Böhm (CEO, advertising marketing, content exploitation) and Heinz Mosser (finance and administration, music publishing & label, sound & vision, ORF review). ORF Enterprise is a 100 percent subsidiary of the ORF media group. Further information on https://enterprise.ORF.at, https://contentsales.ORF.at and https://musikverlag.ORF.at