Five Swiss producers join forces to launch Swiss Studios alliance

Five leading Swiss production companies including Elite Filmproduktion and Contrast Series have joined forces to found Swiss Studios AG in Zurich.

Other shareholders in the new film and TV development and production alliance are Praesens-Film Production, Bavaria Fiction Switzerland and Kinescope Film.

Dr. Malte Probst, chief product officer fiction at Swisscom subsidiary blue Entertainment, has been appointed as the alliance’s chairman and CEO.

He described the founding of Swiss Studios as “a groundbreaking step for the Swiss and European creative industries” and “time to bring the new opportunities arising from the ‘Lex Netflix’ for Switzerland to life with exciting content.”

The term ‘Lex Netflix’ refers to the amendment to Switzerland’s Film Act, which requires all audiovisual services, including commercial broadcasters and streaming platforms, to invest in independent Swiss film production or its promotion.

The investment obligation amounts to 4% of their annual gross income generated in Switzerland and is expected to see an additional CHF 18m (€19.2m) invested in Swiss films and audiovisual content.

The new company’s CFO Oliver Gremaud explained that Swiss Studios would be offering everything from a single source – development, production, distribution and marketing of media projects – as well as licensing distribution and other services related to handling investment and accounting obligations.

“With our range of services, we are also open to all producers in Switzerland who want to make use of these services,” he added.

Contrast Series’ Ivan Madeo was one of the producers of six-part espionage drama Davos 1917 with Germany’s Letterbox Filmproduktion.

Praesens-Film’s Corinna Rossi co-produced Anna Gutto’s 2022 thriller Paradise Highway, starring Juliette Binoche and Morgan Freeman.