Triumph at 44th WorldFest in Houston. The docufictional series ‘Pioneers Turned Millionaires’ (NRD/Arte) produced by gebrueder beetz film production Hamburg won the ‘Special Jury Award’ at the worldwide renowned US film festival.
The NDR/Arte series ‘Pioneers turned Millionaires’ tells in five episodes stories of innovation, courage, persistency, hard work, and success in a strange new country. Using high-end reconstructions and exquisite archive footage, it dives deep into the lives of five German entrepreneurs who redefined the American economy and left a major imprint on American culture.
‘Pioneers turned Millionaires’ presents one of the most fascinating and exciting eras of German and American history. How and why did immigrants like Levi Strauss, Henry E. Steinway, William E. Boeing, John Jacob Astor and Henry John Heinz succeed? And how did they write archetypical success stories that even now epitomize the American Dream?
The series visits the companies of Levi Strauss & Co., Steinway & Sons, Heinz and Boeing. We see how each man took a novel and brilliant idea, established a company and gained fame, honor, and wealth. The five biographies are the definitive portraits of these entrepreneurial giants; businessmen who have their homeland in common and their place in history secured.
Writers and directors of this entertaining series are Achim Scheunert, Kai Christiansen and Christoph Weinert. It was produced by gebrueder beetz film production Hamburg. Commissioning editor was Ulrike Dotzer. (NDR/Arte).
We are very happy about the huge success of our docufictional series and sincerely want to thank all involved parties and supporting institutions. ‘Pioneers turned Millionaires’ gives proof that our exciting presentation of historic people fascinates a worldwide audience.
Writers / Directors: Christoph Weinert, Achim Scheunert, Kai Christiansen, Ira Beetz
Commissioning Editor: Ulrike Dotzer (NDR/Arte)
Producer: Ira Beetz
Executive Producer: Reinhardt Beetz
A gebrueder beetz filmproduktion Hamburg production on behalf of NDR in cooperation with Arte. Funded by Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig Holstein GmbH and nordmedia GmbH.