Fred Burcksen: Last News

Naman Ramachandran Markus Schaefer will assume the role of president and CEO of ZDF Studios, succeeding Fred Burcksen, who is leaving the company after more than 26 years. Together with co-director Karoline Meichsner-Sertl, Schaefer will be in charge of ZDF Studios’ future plans.Schaefer held various management positions at All3Media Deutschland in Munich from 2004 before being appointed chief financial officer in 2010 and CEO in 2014.

ZDF Studios CEO and President Fred Burcksen is leaving after 26 years with the company and will be replaced by Markus Schaefer in July.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorStudio 100, a leading studio for kids and family entertainment, and ZDF Studios, the commercial arm of the German public broadcaster, have joined forces to offer kids and family programs on Amazon Prime Channels under the channel brand Pash.The collaboration on Amazon Prime Channels will kick off in the U.K., Italy and Spain, with further territories in the planning. The programming lineup from both ZDFS’ and Studio 100’s catalogs will include well-known series and kids’ brands such as “Maya the Bee,” “Mia and Me,” “Heidi,” “Peter Pan,” “H20” and “Find Me in Paris.”The Pash brand was created by ZDF Studios, which has already launched Amazon Prime Channels in various countries.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentZDF Enterprises, a key production-distribution component of one of Europe’s biggest public broadcaster powerhouses, Germany’s ZDF, is set to operate under the new name of ZDF Studios.Effective from April 1, the title, announced by ZDF Enterprises President and CEO Fred Burcksen on Monday in Mainz, captures much better ZDFE’s current business reach, scale and ambitions.“We are a studio, we cover all elements of our industry, from early development to longtail sales. The new name fits our business model much better and reflects our production and distribution expertise,” Burcksen said.ZDF Enterprises was launched in 1993 to handle worldwide program distribution as new content-avid private TV networks sprang up in Europe and beyond and also to deal with the business affairs of the acquisition of programs from around the world.