Newen launches Spark Studios, acquires German prodco Dog Haus

Flare Film CEO Martin Heisler will head Spark Studios alongside Eva Kemme

France’s Newen Studios has launched new German outfit Spark Studios with Flare Film CEO Martin Heisler and Eva Kemme as CEOs to oversee its German activities. Spark has also acquired a majority stake in German prodco Dog Haus.

Eva Kemme

Launched in July 2021 by producer André Zoch, scriptwriter Erol Yesilkaya and director Sebastian Marka, Dog Haus is a fiction production company based in Berlin and Munich. It is behind the series The Gryphon (with W&B for Amazon Prime).

“We are delighted that Sebastian, Erol, and André have decided to become part of the Newen/Spark family. We want to work with exceptional talents on exciting projects and, as part of a strong European Producers Network, help them to turn their visions for outstanding films and series into a reality,” said Heisler.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. It comes as Newen Studios continues its international expansion having previously invested in over 50 production companies and labels in Europe, the US and Canada.

It acquired a majority stake in Heisler’s independent German film production company Flare Film in 2021, which set up a TV series unit called Flare Entertainment in 2020.

At the time, Newen said Germany is a key market for the production group’s development due to its size and creative ambitions off the back of the success of local shows such as Dark, Das Boot, Babylon Berlin and How to Sell Drugs Fast.

Marka, Yesilkaya and Zoch said in a joint statement that Dog Haus “stands for ‘elevated genre,’ consciously positioned between arthouse and suspenseful entertainment.”

The trio have written and produced numerous crime dramas such as Tatort for the German public broadcaster ARD as well as Exit.