The Black Lady

Pitchee: Viviane Andereggen (director)

The Black Lady
Magdalena Goebbels. This woman is one of the figures of evil that haunt contemporary history. She was the wife of the Third Reich’s minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, a monster who chose to die with Adolf Hitler in his bunker.

This is all we knew about her. But there is so much more to learn. This woman originally sided with the oppressed. She was one of the Jewish refugees who flocked to Berlin at the beginning of the First World War. More surprising, she was brought up by a caring Jewish stepfather. And the ultimate paradox is that for many years she had a passionate love affair with Viktor Arlosoroff, a young and charismatic Ukrainian who was to become one of the founders of the state of Israël!

So what happened? How did this educated and independent woman switch to fanaticism and radicalism? How could she deny her identity to endorse Nazism? Those questions drove us to imagine The Black Lady. All the episodes aim to clarify, if not solve the Magdalena Goebbels mystery.

Illegitimate child in search of identity. Silly lover of a Zionist activist. Lonely child sent to boarding school.Tyrannical and tyrannized woman. Femme fatale. Selfish monster and murderer of her own children. Magdalena Goebbels was all of this at once.

The Black Lady is more than a biopic. It relates to an important part of European History, from WWI to WWII. More specifically, we also wanted to explore the role played by women in the history of Nazism.

Growing populist trends and anti-semitism in Europe, fake news and manipulation of the masses the process of radicalization. All those aspects of our contemporary world echo, in many ways, the story of The Black Lady. That’s why we believe this fiction about Magdalena Goebbels needs to be told.

Project information:
Genre: Historic drama biography
Format: 6x45’
Writer: Hélène Duchateau. Adapted from Anja Klabunde’s biography of Magdalena Goebbels
Director: Viviane Andereggen
Producers: Arnauld de Battice, AT-Prod, Belgium; Till Derenbach, Zeitsprung Pictures, Germany 
Development stage: In development/writing. Script of episode one and synopsis of episodes two to six available. 
Expected shooting dates: October 2021 to January 2022
Shooting locations: Belgium, Germany and Eastern Europe
Language: English
Total budget: €15m
Budget per episode: €2.5m
Financing already in place: Belgian tax shelter €3m – 20% 

What you are looking for from the US and/or international business:
At this moment, we are looking for financing and a broadcast partner. As we are at an early stage of development, we are looking for the main broadcaster to be in the US and to secure the project and give us the general editorial direction. We are also looking for coproductions or pre-purchases from UK and European channels to complete the financing of the series. And finally, we need an international distributor.

Company profiles:
Based in Brussels, AT-Prod is an independent production company created in 1994 by Arnauld de Battice. With more than 25 years of experience, AT-Prod’s line-up includes 10 feature films, 165 TV movies, 35 TV series, 22 documentaries and many upcoming projects.

The company is known to develop numerous and very diversified projects. Besides TV series and full-length films, AT-Prod is also active in the field of documentaries. Thanks to its good relations with the main actors in the sector, AT-Prod has the capacity to build up the funding plans of projects emanating from both Belgian and foreign talents.

Contact:
Arnauld de Battice
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +32 2 663 50 90

Zeitsprung Pictures was founded in 1985 by producer Michael Souvignier and is firmly established in the national and international television business as a specialist in award-winning films, series and documentaries. Souvignier’s partner, Till Derenbach, worked as a line producer and executive producer for various production companies before joining Zeitsprung Pictures full-time. Since 2008, he has been working as CEO and producer and is responsible for all Zeitsprung productions. Derenbach is the responsible producer for The Black Lady series.

Zeitsprung Pictures has produced more than 100 television productions, both fiction and non-fiction. Among them are over 80 television films, series and miniseries for all the major networks, such as ARD, ZDF, Arte, RTL, Sat.1 and ProSieben. Zeitsprung Pictures productions especially focus on historical and socio-critical topics. Zeitsprung Pictures is also known for its outstanding feature film scene, having produced projects for major studios such as Warner Bros and Universal.

Contact:
Till Derenbach
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +49 221 300 610 33