Fred Kogel to Remain as LEONINE Studios CEO Until 2028

Mediawan Group and Fred Kogel have agreed to extend his contract as CEO of LEONINE Studios until 2028.

Kogel has been CEO of the group since 2019. LEONINE Studios joined the Mediawan Group in 2024, following a strategic partnership initiated in 2020.

Additionally, Quirin Berg, who has been responsible for the content strategy of the entire fiction division of LEONINE Studios as chief creative and co-chief production officer of fiction, will be appointed deputy chairman of the management board of LEONINE Holding.

Jochen Köstler, who has been executive VP of nonfiction and managing director of i&u Studios, will join the management board of LEONINE Holding as chief production officer of non-fiction.

“I am delighted that we will be continuing on the highly successful path of LEONINE Studios, the production and distribution group I co-founded,” Kogel said. “At the same time, I am looking forward to building on LEONINE’s success in the future with Quirin and Jochen in their expanded roles, as well as Sarah [Fischer], Max [Wiedemann], Bernhard [zu Castell] and our regional CFO Jens Mezger—my entire management team. In recent years, we have successfully tapped into additional potential thanks to our intensive collaboration with Pierre-Antoine Capton and the Mediawan Group. We will systematically continue to pursue this internationally successful course.”

Pierre-Antoine Capton, co-founder and CEO of the Mediawan Group, added, “Our collaboration with Fred Kogel and LEONINE Studios is truly strategic for Mediawan. At a time when our industry is consolidating, it perfectly illustrates what we have built: a global independent champion, driven by top-tier talent and a strong European vision. We are delighted to continue working closely with Fred and his teams and to further accelerate synergies across the group, such as Weekend Warriors, Plan B’s movie adaptation of the film Weekend Rebels, developed by LEONINE Studios’ production banner Wiedemann & Berg Film—to develop more international projects and strengthen our growth together.”