Swiss Studios Plots Streamer Assault With Debut Slate Including Oil Town Drama ‘Black Gold’ & ‘Swiss Samurai’ Limited Series

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: The recently-launched Swiss Studios is readying a slate of streamer-friendly originals, including a drama series set in a German oil town and limited series about a Swiss samurai.

Launched last month as a collective of five European production companies, Swiss Studios is seeking to take advantage of Switzerland‘s ‘Lex Netflix‘ legislation, which instructs global streamers such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ to reinvest 4% of their local income in Swiss film and television productions, or pay a tax.

Swiss Studios CEO Malte Probst told Deadline that streamers have been willing to pay the 4% “as along as the content is of they quality they need.” He estimates the tax will bring in around 20M Swiss francs ($22.4M) directly, but with associated costs could add as much as 40M Swiss francs each year. “It’s a sizeable amount,” he added.

Deadline can reveal Swiss Studios — which comprises Elite Filmproduktion, Praesens-Film Production, Contrast Series, Bavaria Fiction and Kinescope Film — has as many as 55 projects in development, with a plan to move forwards with around 12 selected via committee.