Florida Entertainment GmbH
Florida Entertainment GmbH is a German television production company based in Berlin. Founded on 17 September 2018 by television presenters Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf alongside producers Arne Kreutzfeldt and Thomas Schmitt - who run the company as managing directors - it grew out of an earlier joint venture the four had with Endemol dating to 2011. As of 2023, the company employed 146 people and reported revenues of {{€}}29.4 million.
Florida Entertainment makes television formats primarily for the German broadcaster ProSieben, as well as documentaries and scripted content. Productions include Das Duell um die Welt, Circus HalliGalli, Late Night Berlin, Joko & Klaas gegen ProSieben, and Wer stiehlt mir die Show?. Through its subsidiary Florida Factual, the company has produced the political talk show Hart aber fair since January 2024.
History
On 19 December 2011, Winterscheidt and Heufer-Umlauf founded Florida TV GmbH as a joint venture with Endemol, which held 51 percent while the two presenters jointly held the rest. They parted ways with Endemol in September 2018 and, together with Kreutzfeldt and Schmitt, registered a new company called Black Flamingo GmbH on 17 September 2018. After reaching an agreement with Endemol over the original name, the company was renamed Florida Entertainment GmbH on 12 April 2019. 
That same year, Florida Entertainment established a film production subsidiary, Florida Film GmbH, in which it holds a majority stake. Florida Film produced the award-winning television film Für immer Sommer 90, the theatrical release Mittagsstunde, and scripted series such as Das Begräbnis, Legend of Wacken, and Check Check.
In 2020, Florida Entertainment took a stake in K2H, a production company run by journalist and television host Louis Klamroth. In May 2023 it bought a majority stake and renamed the company Florida Factual. Florida Factual makes documentaries for ZDFzeit, ZDFzoom, and Die Story im Ersten, and took over production of the political talk show Hart aber fair in January 2024.
From 2020, Florida Entertainment also held a stake in Studio Bummens, a podcast production firm. In May 2025, Seven.One Audio — a subsidiary of ProSiebenSat.1 Media — acquired Studio Bummens outright. Before it was sold, Studio Bummens had produced the podcast Reflektor with musician Jan Müller until 2024.
In May 2023, Florida Entertainment co-founded PrettyWellDone GmbH with content creators Dennis and Benni Wolter. The joint venture has produced the show World Wide Wohnzimmer for the streaming service Joyn since August 2024.
Premises
Florida Entertainment was based in Berlin-Kreuzberg until September 2022, when it relocated to the "Alte Teppichfabrik" (Old Carpet Factory) in Alt-Stralau. Studio Bummens moved to the same building in 2023.
Grimme Prize
Florida Entertainment and its productions have won the Grimme Prize five times:
- 2018: "Entertainment" for #Gosling-Gate (Circus HalliGalli)
- 2020: "Entertainment" for Joko & Klaas LIVE – 15 Minuten (season 1)
- 2021: "Entertainment" for Joko & Klaas LIVE – Männerwelten
- 2021: "Fiction" for Für immer Sommer 90 (Florida Film)
- 2022: "Entertainment" for Wer stiehlt mir die Show?
Nannen Prize
- 2021: Special prize to Florida TV, Joko Winterscheidt, Klaas Heufer-Umlauf, Sophie Passmann, Thomas Schmitt, Arne Kreutzfeldt, Claudia Schölzel, and Thomas Martiens for Männerwelten and A Short Story of Moria
Controversy
In March 2020, the NDR investigative format STRG_F reported that segments on Late Night Berlin and Das Duell um die Welt had featured participants who were told in advance how scenes would play out, contrary to how those scenes were presented to the audience.
Heufer-Umlauf responded on Late Night Berlin, saying that staging of this kind was simply how he and Winterscheidt make entertainment. ProSieben issued a statement saying it was "no secret" that lay actors appeared in individual segments, though it acknowledged that "the satirical approach could have been made clearer in places".
See also
- Media in Berlin
- ProSieben