Story House Pictures co-founder Andreas Gutzeit, head writer-showrunner on Beta/RTL smash hit series “Sisi,” is prepping “Disgrace,” a fast-paced thriller mini-series set during Argentina’s 1978 Soccer World Cup.
Gutzeit will serve as “Disgrace’s” showrunner and head writer, re-teaming with Swantje Oppermann and Florian Puchert, part of the German writing team with Gutzeit behind “Dignity,” the critically lauded and pioneering Story House’s Chile-Germany co-production.
At a development and scriptwriting stage, with a pilot script available, “Disgrace” features among the 10 projects playing at the Pitch Copro Series sidebar in Conecta Fiction 2023, which takes place June 26-29 in Toledo, the capital of Spain’s Castilla-La Mancha.
The mini-series follows a German special forces operative, Hajo Heller, sent to Argentina to protect Germany’s national soccer team from terrorist attacks during the 1978 World Cup.
Once arrived, he discovers that the Argentinian military junta has ‘disappeared’ his daughter, who is studying there, and will kill her along with hundreds of leftist dissidents as soon as the eyes of the world are no longer on Argentina, Gutzeit explained.
“It’s every parent’s darkest nightmare, not to be able to protect your child. That’s visceral, gut-wrenching and you always cheer for a father or mother defending his or her flock,” Gutzeit argued.
“This is a simple, archaic story of a father trying to rescue his daughter that resonates with people around the world: a fast paced, action-packed political thriller with such emotionally engaging through-lines works everywhere,” he said.
“This powerful story unfolds in front of the backdrop of the 1978 Soccer World Cup. The result will be a series that is at times shocking, breathtaking, and revelatory,” Oppermann added.
Scheduled to shoot in Germany, Chile and Argentina, “Disgrace’s” production is set to begin next year, with delivery in 2025.
The mini-series will be filmed in Spanish and German. “Similar to our German-Chilean drama series ‘Dignity,’ we will work with local co-production partners from Latin America. We are convinced that this is a unique, international project with great global potential,” Oppermann noted, adding that they are in talks with Argentine creatives for direction as well as story consultants from Latin America.
Co-produced with Invercine & Wood, “Dignity” aired on ProSieben’s Joyn, HBO Nordics and Prime Video Latin America, among others.
“’Dignity’ was three years ago. Now ‘Disgrace’ has some of the same ingredients: a powerful emotional story with a family at its center and a background of real events. So we are confident we can repeat this success. And we simply love to work in Latin America,” Gutzeit said.
“Some of the advantages [of co-producing TV fiction with Spanish-language territories] are very obvious. Talent, both behind and in front of the camera, is obviously the most important element,” argued.
“Spanish is a very sought-after language in our business, probably quite a bit more than German. But what we like most. There is a certain poetic strain that filmmakers in Latin America strive for. Pair that authenticity with a popular story fit for a mainstream audience in an action loaded thriller like ‘Disgrace’ and you get something very special,” explained.
Emmy-nominated media production outfit Story House, which operates offices in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Berlin and Munich, forms part of leading European film-TV company Bavaria Film Group, therefore sister of Munich-based sales agent Bavaria Media.
“Bavaria Media is always one of our first stops, but each deal is different and all sorts of partnerships are possible,” Gutzeit commented.
Story House is currently producing “Sisi’s” third season, which will roll out in the fall. The initial season had a red-carpet premiere during the 2021 Canneseries Festival and won Germany’s Jupiter audience award. A big hit on RTL+ and on RTL’s linear service, “Sisi” has been sold by Beta Film to over 120 territories worldwide.
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