UFA, David Bernad Team Up For Series Project ‘The Spy Hotel’
The German production company UFA has teamed up with award-winning U.S. producer David Bernad to develop a series project titled “The Spy Hotel” (German working title: “Hotel Neptun”). The Neptun was one of the most luxurious hotels in the former GDR, and often served as accommodation for foreign state guests. Since it is well known that these guests were spied on by the GDR state security, the hotel was also colloquially known as the “Stasi Hotel."
UFA, one of the leading TV and streaming production companies in the German-speaking world and part of the global Fremantle network, has signed a collaboration with the award-winning U.S. producer David Bernad. The partners are jointly developing a series project with the English working title “The Spy Hotel” (German working title: “Hotel Neptun”). UFA has managed to recruit internationally renowned journalists and storyhunters Joshua Davis (“Little America”) and Joshuah Bearman (“Argo”) for the project. Nataly Kudiabor (“Where's Wanda?”, “The Mopes”, “Arthurs Gesetz”), producer and managing director of UFA Fiction, will oversee the project at UFA.
Opened in 1971 as a luxury hotel in the Baltic seaside resort of Warnemünde, the Hotel Neptun was one of the most famous luxury hotels in the former GDR, featuring, among other things, the country's first discotheque and a sophisticated sky bar. It was popularly known as the “Stasi Hotel” because, in addition to business people from the West, top politicians ranging from Willy Brandt to Fidel Castro stayed there and were spied on by the East German secret police. This part of the “Neptun” story was already highlighted years ago in the 2006 NDR documentary “Hotel ‘Neptun’ - Das Stasi-Hotel am Ostseestrand.”
U.S. producer David Bernad is known for productions such as HBO’s hit series “The White Lotus,” the mockumentary “Jury Duty” on Amazon Freevee, and the HBO series “White House Plumbers” starring Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux. Bernad has received numerous accolades for his work, including an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe, and a PGA.
