Last month somewhere in Germany, Austria or Switzerland a customer bought the millionth VHS or DVD of a TV movie adaptation of a Rosamunde Pilcher novel on Universum Film’s label “ZDF Video”. This represents another record in the successful partnership between the Munich home entertainment company, ZDF and ZDF Enterprises.

The collaboration dates back to 1992, when "Terra X – Episode 1" was the first ZDF title to be released on the German-speaking market as a VHS cassette. In those days Universum Film was trading under the name BMG Video. The first framework contract was signed in 1994, and 2001 saw the launch of the first ZDF Video DVD with Guido Knopp’s “Hitler – A Profile". When the first Rosamunde Pilcher DVD Box was marketed in the year 1994 it opened the door to a very special success story which continues to the present day: since then a staggering total of 42 feature films have been released as individual titles and as parts of video collections.

"In Universum Film we have found the ideal partner for DVD exploitation of our formats," explains Alexander Coridass, President and CEO of ZDF Enterprises. Tania Reichert-Facilides, General Manager of Universum Film, adds: "The ZDF formats constitute outstanding additions to our product range. We are looking forward to continuing this successful partnership in the years to come."

In addition to the Rosamunde Pilcher hits the ZDF video collection includes the equally successful film versions of novels by Charlotte Link and Inga Lindström, alongside a rich variety of TV highlights such as the classic series “The Country Doctor”, “The Heritage of the Guldenburgs”, “Salto Postale”, “The Black Forest Clinic” and “The Dream Voyage”. The comprehensive range also features documentaries by Guido Knopp, major TV events like “Ship of No Return - The Final Voyage of the ‘Gustloff’”, “The Great Bellheim” and “Two Aces and a King” and of course the Wallander films based on the novels by Henning Mankell. ---