Baptiste Planche becomes head of fiction at SRF
Baptiste Planche will be the new Head of Fiction at SRF. On May 1, 2022, Planche will succeed Urs Fitze, who is retiring. Under Urs Fitze's leadership, successful projects such as "Der Bestatter," "Gotthard," "Wilder" and "Tschugger" were created.
As Head of Production Fiction, Baptiste Planche has had production responsibility since 2018 for films and TV series that SRF co-produces, as well as for commissioned productions such as the Swiss "Tatort".
Before joining SRF, Planche was an independent film producer and built up a startup for interactive films, which has since relocated to Los Angeles. He studied social sciences and has been pursuing a Master's in Management and Leadership at the ZHAW since 2021.
As of fall 2022, the SRF Culture department will be reorganized. In his new responsibility as Head of Fiction, Baptiste Planche will help shape and carry forward the transfer of the department to the new multimedia organization. He succeeds Urs Fitze, who will retire at the end of April at the age of 65.
"SRF has a central role to play in the promotion and success of Swiss fiction. This is against the backdrop of profound media change, which is challenging for the film industry but also offers opportunities," Planche was quoted as saying in an SRF statement. "Thanks to our established partnerships with independent filmmaking and together with a competent and energetic team, I look forward to these challenges with confidence."
Fitze retires
Urs Fitze has headed the fiction division at SRF since 2011, which includes the editorial department for radio plays and satire and the TV editorial department for film, series and pacte. During this time, TV series in particular experienced a strong upswing. Formats such as "Der Bestatter," "Gotthard," "Wilder" and "Tschugger" were created under his leadership and have shaped the image of fictional creation at SRF.
Fitze studied film studies in Paris before coming to television in 1989 through a traineeship as a director. He then spent around twenty years working for Swiss television's cultural and entertainment formats, first as a director, then as an editor, producer and finally as a program developer for the culture and entertainment departments. During this time, he created formats such as "einfachluxuriös," "Die grössten Schweizer Hits," "Giacobbo/Müller" and "SRF bi de Lüt.
In 2010, Urs Fitze moved to the SRG General Management in Bern for a year, where he was responsible for film production, national television projects and international contacts. In 2019, Urs Fitze was awarded the Eastern Switzerland Radio and Television Prize for his work and formative influence on SRF's programming.
