New drama on Maria Anna Mozart unveiled with German, Austrian, Swiss partners

Mozart/Mozart is distributed by Bavaria Media International

MIPCOM: A new six-part drama series, Mozart/Mozart, is set to begin production in the Baltics in spring 2025, focusing on the life of Maria Anna Mozart, the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Bavaria Media International is attached as the global distributor.

The fast-paced drama is being produced by Germany’s Story House Pictures in coproduction with German public broadcasters ARD, SWR, WDR, Degeto Film, Austria’s ORF and Swiss production company The Dreaming Sheep Company.

Mozart/Mozart tells the story of Maria Anna, who has long lived in her famous brother’s shadow. However, after financial ruin forces her to impersonate him, she becomes entangled in a world of imperial and musical intrigue.

The series is produced by Jens Freels and Andreas Gutzeit, the duo behind Dignity for streamer Joyn and four seasons of Sisi for RTL+. Gutzeit, who is also the head writer and showrunner, co-wrote the scripts with Swantje Oppermann (Dignity), while Clara Zoë My-Linh von Arnim (Druck, The Zweiflers) will direct.

The producer is Simona Weber, with ARD commissioning editors Henrike Vieregge and Frank Tönsmann (WDR), Brigitte Dithard (SWR) and Christoph Pellander (ARD Degeto Film) attached. ORF commissioning editors Andrea Bogad-Radatz and Nina Fehrmann-Trautz are also on board.

“Maria Anna’s story has been forgotten,” said Gutzeit. “With Mozart/Mozart, we are telling the story of a young woman who had to rely on her own talent to overcome adversity and be recognised. This story is especially relevant today, particularly for younger audiences.”

He emphasised that the series is not a traditional biopic: “Mozart/Mozart is the exact opposite: loud, wild, told with a lot of fun and even more thrilling music.” The series’ music will be created by Jessica De Rooij (Sisi).

Alexander Bickel, WDR’s head of fiction and chairman of ARD’s joint editorial department for series, described the project as “an ultra-modern historical series with which we have high hopes of attracting a broad audience on ARD and on the ARD streaming platform.”

ORF programme director Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz added: “We are shining a light on the most important name in music history from a young and female perspective. The new series will spark the streaming-savvy audience’s interest in this famous family on [streaming platform] ORF ON.”