Germany’s Zeitsprung Pictures and MMC Studios are partnering with an award-winning up-and-coming producer-director duo to launch Peak Point Pictures in Cologne with the aim to develop and produce high-end international and domestic series and feature films, while also fostering German and European debut filmmakers.
Peak Point Pictures was set up by Zeitsprung Pictures managing director Till Derenbach, Bastie Griese, managing director of MMC Movies, and Len Reddemann and Paul Hordych, the producer and director team behind the short film “Champions and Us,” which premiered at this year’s Max Ophüls Film Festival in Saarbrücken, winning the best emerging actor prize for Tommes Diallo.
Part of the Beta Group, Zeitsprung Pictures boasts four decades of production experience in both TV and film, including such recent hits as the Netflix spy show “Kleo,” and ARD‘s period drama series “Oktoberfest” as well as theatrical releases like Philipp Stölzl’s “The Physician II,” Joachim Lang’s biopic “John Cranko,” Andreas Kleinert’s “Dear Thomas” and Hans Steinbichler’s “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
MMC Studios, meanwhile, is one of Germany’s leading production facilities for film and television. Its production arm, MMC Movies, has helped produce more than 100 international and local film and TV projects, among them “The Physician II,” David Lowery’s upcoming “Mother Mary,” starring Anne Hathaway, and the hit series “Babylon Berlin.”
Focusing on both international high-end co-productions and German and European debut projects, Peak Point Pictures aims to create opportunities for young filmmakers around the world.
“With the idea of building a mini-major studio in North Rhine-Westphalia, we want to further strengthen the region while creating a unique space in which young talent and experienced producers can jointly realize national and international projects,” said Derenbach. “The first projects are already in the pipeline.”
Peak Point Pictures is currently developing two feature film debuts.
Walid Nakschbandi, CEO of state film funder Film und Medien Stiftung NRW, added: “Peak Point Pictures demonstrates the potential that emerges when entrepreneurial drive, strong infrastructure and talent development are brought together. This founding sends a strong signal for North Rhine-Westphalia: a region with international ambitions and a location that offers space for new production models and big ideas.”
In addition to Derenbach, Griese, Reddemann and Hordych, the company’s core team includes Yvonne
Gottschalk and Meta Luis, who oversee project management and development support.