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WarnerMedia, RTL Deutschland Team Up on Two Sides of the Abyss

WarnerMedia and RTL Deutschland are partnering for the first time on the six-part co-production “Two Sides of the Abyss.”

RTL Deutschland has secured first-run rights to the Warner TV original for Germany, where it will initially stream on its newly renamed RTL Plus platform, as well as free-TV rights thereafter.

Warner TV Serie (formerly TNT Serie) will offer the series on pay TV in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, while WarnerMedia streaming platform HBO Max will launch the series as a Max Original in 61 territories across the U.S., Latin America and Europe. WarnerMedia International Television Distribution will handle international distribution outside of these territories.

Created and written by Kristin Derfler,  “Two Sides of the Abyss” follows Wuppertal police officer Luise Berg (Anne Ratte-Polle) as she heads for an inevitable catastrophe after her daughter’s murderer is released early from prison. A psychologically complex game of confusion begins in which the boundaries of guilt and innocence, perpetrators and victims, law and justice are constantly blurred.

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Anno Saul (“Charité”) is directing the series, with Derfler also serving as creative producer.

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Leading the cast are Ratte-Polle (“Dark”), Lea van Acken (“Sløborn”) and newcomer Anton Dreger. Renato Schuch (“Dogs of Berlin”), Dirk Martens, Ann-Kathrin Kramer, Senita Huskić, Claudia Eisinger and Maximilian Brauer also star.

Produced by Warner Bros. ITVP Deutschland GmbH, “Two Sides of the Abyss” began production in January and shooting will continue until April in the German cities of Cologne and Wuppertal as well as in Belgium.

“We are very pleased to be working with RTL for the first time, alongside our colleagues in the Cologne team at Warner Bros. ITVP,” said Hannes Heyelmann, EVP of programming for EMEA at WarnerMedia. “‘Two Sides of the Abyss’ is an unsparingly and atmospherically layered thriller that we are confident will resonate both locally in Germany and with HBO Max audiences.”

Hauke Bartel, head of fiction at RTL Deutschland, added, “We want to showcase the best dramas and top talent on our streaming service RTL+ and on RTL Deutschland’s linear channels. ‘Two Sides of the Abyss’ fits into that category and is our first collaboration with WarnerMedia. We’re very excited to be working with this amazing creative partner to bring Kristin Derfler and Anno Saul’s intense and gripping thriller series to a wide audience.”

Executive producing are Verena Monssen and Bernd von Fehrn for Warner Bros. ITVP Deutschland; Nico Grein for RTL Plus under the direction of Hauke Bartel, head of fiction at RTL Deutschland; and Hannes Heyelmann and Anke Greifeneder, who also serves as editorial director, for Warner TV Serie. Warner Bros. ITVP’s Roxana Richters is producing.

“Two Sides of the Abyss” is a Warner Bros. ITVP Deutschland production for RTL Plus and Warner TV Serie.

(Pictured: Anton Dreger, Anne Ratte-Polle and Lea van Acken)

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