• New Focus: Documentaries as a Successful Genre for Streaming and TV
• Renowned industry partners and mentors support the masterclass

Today marks the start of the application period for the 10th cohort of the »Masterclass Non-Fiction« at the ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln. For this anniversary cohort, the Masterclass’s curriculum has been refined: The part-time continuing education program now focuses primarily on the development and successful exploitation of documentary formats for streaming and TV. Prof. Jennifer Mival is taking over as academic director from Prof. Uwe Kersken, who launched the Masterclass at ifs in 2009 and successfully led it until 2025. 
For the upcoming cohort, the ifs has once again secured prominent partners. WDR, RTL Deutschland, and Gruppe 5 Filmproduktion are once again supporting the programme as long-standing industry partners. The production companies bildundtonfabrik (btf) and DRIVE beta have been brought on board as new partners. Marcel Amruschkewitz (Head of Factual at RTL & VOX, RTL Deutschland), Marc Brasse (Head of NDR Originals, NDR), and Catherine Harwardt (Chief Executive Producer at DRIVE beta, producer) will serve as mentors, guiding the participants in the development of their projects. Additional mentors and instructors will be announced shortly.

Prof. Jennifer Mival: "One thing hasn’t changed since the first Masterclass: If you want to stand out with high-quality content—whether in streaming or on TV—you can’t ignore the documentary genre. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to further develop and support this successful program, with a focus on the genre’s potential for innovation and the future. A big thank you goes to all the mentors and partners—both new and long-standing—for the trust they place in the Non-Fiction Masterclass.”

Nadja Radojevic, Chief Executive Director of ifs: "With the 10th cohort, we’ve succeeded in broadening the scope of the Non-Fiction Masterclass even further with a diverse range of partners and mentors and positioning it for the future. The support from broadcasters and production companies has been outstanding. I am delighted that we were able to bring on board Prof. Jennifer Mival, a proven format and platform expert, to lead the reoriented program. My thanks go to Prof. Uwe Kersken, who founded the Non-Fiction Masterclass and led its content with great dedication and success over nine cohorts.”

The application deadline for the Masterclass Non-Fiction is 29 October 2026. The programme begins in late November. For more information on the Masterclass Non-Fiction: www.filmschule.de 

About Prof. Jennifer Mival
Prof. Jennifer Mival has extensive international leadership experience in the field of nonfiction at streaming services, TV networks, and production companies, with a focus on platform-specific programme and format development, as well as broad expertise in the international format IP licensing business. As a professor at the ifs, Jennifer Mival has headed the Master’s programme in Entertainment Producing since 2021. In addition to her professorship, she serves as a senior advisor for organizations including ARD/ARD-Mediathek, SRF/Play SRF, and Seapoint Productions. Until the end of 2020, Jennifer Mival was responsible at Netflix for building the new documentary series and unscripted portfolio for the German-speaking market and Scandinavia, featuring award-winning serial formats. Previously, she served as Executive Producer and Head of Formats at Seapoint Productions, ITV Studios, and ProSiebenSat.1. Jennifer Mival began her professional career in London, working as a Development Producer at Fremantle, among other roles.

10th Masterclass Non-Fiction with a New Focus: Documentaries as a Successful Genre for Streaming and TV
Whether on streaming platforms, TV, or YouTube, documentary formats are in higher demand than ever. New platforms and viewing habits are transforming the market—and with it, the requirements for successful content. This is precisely where the Masterclass  Non-Fiction comes in. As a ten-month part-time continuing education program, it provides in-depth industry knowledge and practical expertise in developing innovative documentary formats for streaming and TV. Renowned mentors and instructors from the industry guide participants in recognizing and specifically developing the relevance and commercial potential of their material. The focus is on concrete content development: producers, directors, writers, and journalists with initial experience in the documentary or factual sector develop their documentary ideas into projects tailored to specific platforms and target audiences—all the way to the production stage. The goal is to optimally prepare the projects for placement with streaming services, TV networks, or production companies. At the conclusion, participants present their projects to a select industry audience—thereby gaining the opportunity to establish valuable contacts for further development.
The format of the masterclass has also been modified: To better accommodate work and family life, four of the nine multi-day modules will take place online.

Review & successful projects 
The Masterclass Non-Fiction was launched in 2009 by Prof. Uwe Kersken (co-founder and CEO of Gruppe5 Filmproduktion until 2014; since 2014, developer and producer for G5fiction and partner), who oversaw its content and successfully established the program through 2025. The Masterclass’s success is also evident in the numerous projects that have emerged from the programme and have since been produced. These include, for example, the widely acclaimed documentary and festival hit »Die Kinder aus Korntal« by Julia Charakter, which won the 2023 DEFA Förderpreis. Other Masterclass projects, such as »Der große Bluff. Wie man mit Kunst kassiert« (Anke Rebbert) and »The Romika Story« (Renate Werner) were also successfully broadcast on TV. Several projects received national and international awards and nominations, such as the ARTE series »Frauen und Ozeane« (Alexandra Sorgenicht) and the Terra X documentary »Venezuelas Tafelberge« (Lars Abromeit).

Created on 07.09.2026