EXCLUSIVE: Henning Molfenter, former head of production at Germany’s Studio Babelsberg, and German distributor and producer DCM are teaming up to launch a new joint venture to attract U.S. and international producers into Europe.
The new initiative, which doesn’t yet have an official name, will see the two parties combine their wealth of experience in production services, co-productions, distribution and financing. The news comes a week after Donald Trump announced his most recent plan to issue 100% tariffs on films and TV shows made abroad, a move which has been met with much pushback from the international film and TV communities.
Molfenter and DCM founders and producers Marc Schmidheiny and Christoph Daniel told Deadline that they hope the JV will offer a “turnkey” solution for international and U.S. productions looking to shoot in Europe.
Molfenter will deliver the service production element through his new shingle Babelsberg Production Group while DCM, which has a stake in Wim Wenders’ production outfit Road Movies, will look to lend its expertise in financing capabilities, production and distribution for film and TV projects that are “ready or near to shoot.” They will be in Cannes this week actively looking for projects.
Molfenter, who has exec produced projects such as The Pianist, The Bourne Supremacy and Inglorious Basterds, said the JV felt like a natural next step for him after recently establishing BPG as a gate to services, stages, locations and incentives in Germany and Europe.
“Over the years, I’ve worked with a huge network of really great people, some of whom have had projects which were great but lacked a little bit of financing – maybe the last 20% to 30% of the budget – but which we ultimately ended up passing on because our core business has been a service production company,” Molfenter tells Deadline. “But often these turned out to be great projects that would later win awards. I started talking to DCM and thought if we joined forces, we could do something really great.”
DCM, which has distributed projects such as The Artist, Moonlight and I’m Still Here, has offices in Zurich and Berlin and has worked across a wide range of co-productions in Europe from Italy to the UK and Scandinavia. Schmidheiny and Daniel said their integrated approach of combining financing, hands-on production and distribution compliments Molfenter’s expertise.
“People coming to Europe tend to want to have one party who feels responsible and makes sure that everything runs smoothly,” said Schmidheiny. “That’s what we’re aiming for – that we are the one party you approach and that you don’t have to worry about crossing borders.”
Schmidheiny, Daniel and DCM Managing Director Alexandra Bauermeister added: “We feel our offering is unique for anyone looking to Europe to shoot their film or series. Almost like a turnkey service, we invite high-quality, fully packaged projects to which we bring our passion as filmmakers, our expertise in financing and distribution, and a consistently world-class production service.
“As producers, ourselves, we understand what makes the difference when shooting abroad – and most of the time, it comes down to experience, trust and genuine on-the-ground care. These are non-negotiable elements of our approach. We don’t just want producers to shoot here once – we want them to return with their next project.”
