Max Wiedemann and Quirin Berg, who won an Oscar for “The Lives of Others,” and “Who Am I” director Baran bo Odar are reportedly set to make Netflix’s first German series.
Both Netflix and the filmmakers have declined to comment on the news, reported on Thursday by German trade magazine Blickpunkt: Film, which cited “dependable sources.”
Odar, who is finishing up Open Road’s “Sleepless Night,” starring Jamie Foxx and Michelle Monaghan, teamed with Munich-based Wiedemann & Berg Film on the hit German thriller “Who Am I.”
Netflix selected one of more than 70 potential series submitted by producers in Germany that took part in the subscription VOD giant’s call for pitches, according to the magazine.
Netflix has been operating in Germany since 2014 but has been slow to commission original local content, in contrast with their operations in France and Italy.
Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said in December that the company would nearly double the number of scripted series this year to 31 in addition to 10 feature films and 30 children’s shows.
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Rival streaming service Amazon announced last week that it had tapped German multihyphenate Matthias Schweighoefer and Warner Bros. for its first German-language TV series. Schweighoefer will produce, direct and star in “Wanted,” a suspense skein about a Berlin man whose life is turned upside down following a mysterious hacking attack.
