The former CEO of UFA Serial Drama has joined Munich-based TV production company Neue Deutsche Filmgesellschaft (NDF) as a producer.

Rainer Wemcken stepped down as CEO of UFA Serial Drama at the end of 2016 after heading the company, which was originally called Grundy UFA, for two decades.

While at UFA, Wemcken oversaw such hit series as RTL Television’s daily soap Gute Zeiten, schlete Zeiten and women’s prison drama Hinter Gittern – Der Fraunknast, as well as Sat.1’s Verliebt in Berlin, an adaptation of the Ugly Betty franchise.

“After 20 years of working at UFA, I have a great desire to take on new challenges,” Wemcken said.

NDF co-CEO Eric Welbers described Wemcken as a perfect fit for the company, “both on a personal and a professional level.”

Wemcken’s experience in daily and weekly series production also complements NDF’s production activities, according to the company.

NDF produces primetime series such as ZDF dramas Der Bergdocktor and Die Bergretter, as well as ARD Das Erste hits For Heaven’s Sake, about a group of nuns living in a convent in Bavaria, and police procedural Morden im Norden.

One of Germany’s oldest operating production companies (founded in 1947), NDF has recently expanded its international operations. Earlier this month it partnered with Italian producer Alessandro Passadore to establish Viola Film, a new film and TV production company in Rome.

Passadore, who will head the company, has been active in Italian television for the past two decades, overseeing production of such shows as Rai crime dramas Don Matteo, Inspector Rex and Rocco Schiavone.

Viola Film will focus on TV series and feature films for the Italian market and will operate as a service provider and coproduction partner for international producers looking to shoot in Italy.

Welcoming the opportunity to partner with NDF on Italian and international projects, Passadore stressed that Italy’s 30% foreign production tax rebate – recently increased from 25% – made the country particularly attractive as a shooting location.