ZDF Enterprises has signed an agreement to acquire a 100 % stake in Dutch leading non-fiction content company Off the Fence. CEO and Founder Ellen Windemuth will stay in office as CEO of the Off the Fence group.
Founded in 1994, the Off the Fence group produces and distributes exceptional factual programming on a global scale. CEO Ellen Windemuth is also the Chairperson of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Summit, one of the most prestigious natural history and conservation festivals in the world.
Off the Fence Productions is an award-winning, independent producer of factual television and digital cinema content, which is broadcast worldwide. The production company has created more than 500 hours of television content for a wide range of international broadcasters including History Channel, MTV, BBC, Channel 4, MSNBC, PBS, National Geographic Channel, Discovery, The Weather Channel and ZDF. The films aim to give a fresh perspective and high production values across a range of genres that include: science, history, adventure, human stories, and natural history. Their quality has been recognised by more than 80 awards, including Royal Television Society, Emmy, Golden Panda and Grand Teton.
Off the Fence Distribution is one of the world’s leading independent factual distribution company with a catalogue of over 6,500 hours of diverse programming across Wildlife, Science, History, Travel, People & Culture and Lifestyle genres. With sales offices in Amsterdam, London, Cape Town and Mainz, Off the Fence has a truly international footprint.
“We are very excited to join such a clever and dynamic group. We have worked closely together for twenty years, and there is a lot of mutual respect. We have developed a synergistic common strategy, and I look forward to realizing it together,” said Ellen Windemuth, CEO of Off the Fence.
Fred Burcksen, President and CEO of ZDF Enterprises added: “Ellen has been a valued partner of ZDF Enterprises in general and for ZDFE.unscripted in particular for many years. We have always admired her innovative strength, creative spirit and economical power. For all of us, it was the next logical step in our partnership to join forces and networks in order to enable us to jointly be even more successful in the future.”
