Tradewind Pictures GmbH

What Tradewind Pictures GmbH does

Tradewind Pictures GmbH is a privately held German film production company founded in 1998 and headquartered in Cologne. The company produces a portfolio of films spanning children's and family entertainment, documentaries, dramas, and comedies, with a primary focus on family-friendly animated and live-action/animated hybrid content such as the Pettersson und Findus trilogy, Doktor Proktor, the Tafiti animated series, and the upcoming Das Sams (2027). Its core technology is film production combining live-action cinematography with computer-generated animation, with animation services delivered through partnerships with external studios including Chimney, Red Parrot Studios, Mountaineer Animation, Traumhaus Studios, and Mathias Neumann.

The company's business model is project-based and revenue is generated through licensing royalties on produced films, distribution rights for theatrical, broadcast, and streaming release, and professional services tied to international co-productions. Films are typically launched at international children's and documentary film festivals to build recognition and secure downstream distribution deals, with bilingual German/English production enabling multi-territory exploitation. The customer base is diversified across cinema audiences, TV broadcasters, streaming platforms, and festival circuits, with no single buyer dominating revenue.

Tradewind Pictures operates with a small team of approximately 10 people and is led by Managing Director Mohammad Farokhmanesh alongside a freelance creative producer and a lean production staff. Its library spans more than 25 productions released between 2000 and 2025, with two Deutscher Filmpreis in Gold awards (Best Children's Film 2011, Best Documentary 2014) anchoring its credibility in the German market and supporting its international festival and distribution presence.

Name

Tradewind Pictures GmbH

Legal name

Tradewind Pictures GmbH

Website

https://tradewind-pictures.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Tradewind Pictures GmbH is a privately held Cologne-based film production company founded in 1998 that produces German/English children's films, family entertainment, and documentaries distributed via international festivals, broadcasters, and streaming platforms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Film Production

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812), Services-Allied To Motion Picture Distribution (7829), Services-Allied To Motion Picture Production (7819)

akta.pro primary industry

Live-Action Unit Production (2nd Unit, Pickups, Reshoots) (MPADABAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Travel & Adventure Documentaries (MPADADAM)

Keywords

• Film production
• Children's film production
• Animated film production
• Documentary filmmaking
• Film distribution licensing

Headquarters

HQ city

Köln

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Film Production: The company produces films (children's films, family entertainment, documentaries) and generates revenue through production fees, licensing deals, and distribution rights.
2. Distribution Rights: Revenue generated from theatrical releases, broadcast/TV licensing, and digital streaming platform distribution of produced films.
3. Co-productions: Collaborative film productions with international partners, generating revenue through shared production costs and distributed rights.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Tradewind Pictures is a Cologne-based film production company that develops, produces, and co-produces feature films, primarily in the children's and family entertainment genre as well as the documentary genre. The company combines live-action cinematography with computer-generated animation to deliver hybrid productions such as the Pettersson und Findus series, alongside fully animated features and award-winning documentaries distributed via festivals, theatrical partners, TV broadcasters, and digital streaming platforms.

Product overview

Tradewind Pictures GmbH is a German film production company founded in 1998 and based in Cologne. The company produces a diverse portfolio of films spanning children's and family entertainment, documentaries, dramas, and comedies. Their notable productions include the animated Pettersson und Findus trilogy featuring live-action with animated cat Findus, the Tafiti animated series produced with Red Parrot Studios, Mountaineer Animation, and Traumhaus Studios, the Dr. Proktor children's films, and award-winning documentaries such as Beltracchi – Die Kunst der Fälschung, Chandani und ihr Elefant, Sound of Heimat, and Dharavi-Slum for Sale. The company produces films at various stages including currently in production (Das Sams 2027), in development (Tafiti II, Pettersson und Findus 4, Großvater und die Wölfe), and completed films spanning from 2000 to 2025.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fiasko (2000) A dark comedy feature film about the eccentric Bardal family in Reykjavik over 24 hours, where grandfather Karl freezes his lip to a car lock, falls in love with an old actress, and almost robs a bank. Distributed through film festivals and theatrical/broadcast channels.
• Nachts im Park (2002) A thriller feature film about a heart surgeon Hennings who is observed sitting in his colleague's garden at night and takes a police psychiatrist hostage during an interrogation.
• Mein Bruder ist ein Hund (2004) A family comedy about Marietta who uses a magic stone to wish for a dog, only to discover her brother Tobias has been transformed, and she must learn to appreciate her family. Award-winning children's film distributed internationally.
• Erik im Land der Insekten (2004) A family fantasy film where ten-year-old Erik is magically shrunk and enters a school poster about insects, spending an exciting night learning about insects and life.
• Niceland (2004) A drama about mentally disabled Jed whose world falls apart when his girlfriend Chloe dies, leading him on a philosophical journey of self-discovery with an eccentric outsider.
• 12 Tangos (2005) A documentary following tango dancers in Buenos Aires, telling their personal stories against the backdrop of Argentine economic crisis, immigration, and the history of tango.
• Mr. Average (Comme tout le monde) (2006) A comedy about Jalil, an ordinary young man who can predict poll results, who becomes the target of an advertising agency scheme to exploit his talent.
• Hidden Faces (2007) A drama about Zühre, an 18-year-old whose family attempts honor killings after she 'tarnishes' the family's honor, with the uncle trying again five years later.
• Buick Riviera (2008) A drama about Hasan Hujdur, a Yugoslav refugee in Oregon whose life revolves around his 1963 Buick Riviera until a chance encounter with a countryman resurrects his past.
• Tortuga – Die unglaubliche Reise der Meeresschildkröte (2009) A documentary following a sea turtle's extraordinary 25-year migration from Florida across the Atlantic to Antarctica and back, a journey spanning over 200 million years of evolutionary history.
• Chandani und ihr Elefant (2010) A documentary following 17-year-old Sri Lankan Chandani's dream to become the country's first female mahout (elephant handler), against centuries-old traditions.
• Sound of Heimat (2012)
• Beltracchi – Die Kunst der Fälschung (2014) A documentary about Wolfgang Beltracchi, responsible for the world's largest post-war art forgery scandal, exploring themes of originality, authenticity, and greed in the art market.
• Pettersson und Findus – kleiner Quälgeist, große Freundschaft (2014)
• Doktor Proktors Pupspulver (2015) A children's comedy where neighbors Lise and Bulle discover Professor Proktor's fart powder invention, but a villain steals the formula and imprisons them.
• Doktor Proktors Zeitbadewanne (2016)
• Pettersson und Findus – Das schönste Weihnachten überhaupt (2016)
• Pettersson und Findus – Findus zieht um (2018)
• Die Mucklas und wie sie zu Pettersson und Findus kamen (2022)
• Tafiti – Ab durch die Wüste (2025)
• Das Sams und die unglaubliche Verwandlung des überaus schüchternen Bruno Taschenbiers (2027)

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Red Parrot StudioscoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2025Animation studio partner for Tafiti and Das Sams productions. Red Parrot Studios provides animation services for Tradewind Pictures' animated film projects.
• Mathias Neumann (Animation)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2022Lead animation studio for Pettersson und Findus and Mucklas films, providing animation services and camera work.
• ChimneycoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2016Animation studio partnership for Pettersson und Findus films. Chimney provides animation and visual effects services for the animated cat character Findus.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Studio Hamburg Production: Major German production group with deep theatrical and TV production history. Comparable as a broad German industry incumbent with overlapping family and children's content capabilities, though operating at enterprise scale.
• Constantin Film: One of Germany's largest independent film production and distribution companies, active across theatrical, TV, and streaming. Comparable as a German industry incumbent whose portfolio overlaps with Tradewind's family and genre slate, but at substantially greater scale.
• UFA: Germany's largest TV and film production group (RTL Group/Bertelsheim subsidiary), producing drama, family, and entertainment content. Comparable as a broad German production incumbent operating in adjacent family-content categories, though at vastly greater scale and with different delivery mechanisms.
• Beta Film: Germany-based global distributor and co-production financier. Comparable as the type of larger counterparty Tradewind partners with for international distribution and co-financing, providing a benchmark for the upper-end counterparties in the same ecosystem.

Direct peers

• Polyphon Film- und Fernsehgesellschaft: Long-established German independent production company producing feature films and documentaries. Comparable as a German indie of similar vintage with a diversified slate and theatrical/broadcast distribution.
• Letterbox Filmproduktion: German independent production company with a portfolio spanning children's, family, and arthouse titles. Comparable as a small-to-mid-sized German indie producer with theatrical and festival-driven distribution.
• Wild Bunch: European independent sales, production, and distribution company with strong festival-circuit DNA and pan-European reach. Comparable as an indie producer-distributor leveraging festival premieres into global licensing deals — a similar GTM motion to Tradewind.
• Tobis Film: German film production and distribution company with a deep library and active production slate across genres. Comparable as a similarly sized independent German producer-distributor operating in the same market with theatrical and broadcast channels.
• Studio 100 Media: Belgium-headquartered animation and family-content production company with strong German-market presence through Studio 100 Deutschland (Maya the Bee, Heidi). Highly comparable as a mid-sized European producer focused on children's/family IP and animation.
• Rat Pack Filmproduktion: German independent production company known for high-quality commercial and feature films. Comparable as a similarly sized German indie producer operating across theatrical, broadcast, and streaming channels.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tradewind-pictures-gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tradewind Pictures GmbH