The exec producer of Berlin ER (KRANK Berlin) has recalled the “huge shock” of Sky Deutschland’s exit from original production in 2023, and how the hit Apple TV+ drama was later rescued from the brink.
Sky, among Germany’s leading commissioners for many years, had rocked the industry when it announced it was shutting its originals division. Many German producers felt the impact of the decision, with dozens of projects at different stages of development left in limbo.
Producers were forced to scramble to retake rights to their shows, with KRANK Berlin co-producer Real Film among them. “Two years ago was a huge shock,” said Kamm, who was speaking on stage at Seriesly Berlin in Germany today alongside execs from UFA Fiction, Studio Zentral and ZDF Studios.
After learning of Sky’s demise, he instructed his line producer on KRANK Berlin to freeze production accounts. A Sky contact then revealed the show had not been officially cancelled, meaning Real and co-production partner Violet Pictures could explore a future for the show.
“It was a fascinating journey and it has been a huge rollercoaster emotionally, so intense in terms of the energy you have to put out to find new potential partners, what makes sense for whom, and we really focused on what was most plausible,” said Kamm. “At the same time you are working with the team to be best employer you can be and keep motivating people to pull through. We were lucky to do so.”
After Real Film identified pubcaster ZDF as a new buyer, negotiations to extricate it from Comcast-owned Sky began. Kamm called Sky’s team “specifically great” in tough circumstances, with some facing redundancies or significant role changes. “I can’t thank them enough,” he added.
However, Kamm knew the production team would “only get a producer’s fee to a certain percentage of what [Sky] had already invested,” and decided to change gears on his negotiating tact. “Something flipped, and I got super emotional,” he said. “It was overwhelming.”
Kamm laid out his position in no uncertain terms, defending the production to the hilt. The emotional moment worked and Berlin ER was soon allowed to move to ZDF. “Maybe, showing your true self at some point is the one thing that makes things happen,” said Kamm. “That was the craziest thing I learned.”
Apple TV+ later boarded the show through an intricate rights agreement that gives it a 12-month exclusive window before it airs on ZDF. The series, which Real made with Violet Pictures, stars Haley Louise Jones and Slavko Popadić as overworked doctors at the most overcrowded hospital in Berlin.
Last week, we revealed it had been commissioned for a second season the morning after it won Best Drama Series at the German Television Awards (Deutscher Fernsehpreis) in Cologne.
Accepting the award, Kamm had paid tribute to ZDF for rescuing the show and to Apple for amplifying its reach.
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