Bavaria Fiction Taps Sky Exec Amid Management Shuffle

Bavaria Fiction is reorganizing its senior management, with Marcus Ammon joining the company as managing director of content.

Long-time managing director Jan S. Kaiser will be responsible for production and finance. After five years at Bavaria Fiction, Manfred Haus-Pflüger will leave the management at the end of the financial year.

Ammon will take on responsibility for the content of all Bavaria Fiction’s productions and projects. His remit includes the development, acquisition and exploitation of TV, streaming and film programs, including casting, as well as PR and marketing. Ammon comes from Sky Deutschland Fernsehen, where he was most recently senior VP of original production. Before joining Sky, Ammon was managing director of MGM Networks (Deutschland) from 2003 to 2009. From 1999 to 2002, he worked for Universal Studios Networks Germany.

As managing director of production and finance, Kaiser will lead commercial and operational processes at Bavaria Fiction and, in this function, is also responsible for contractual matters and taxes.

Karoline Meichsner-Sertl, chairwoman of the shareholders’ board of Bavaria Fiction, said: “Marcus Ammon stands for successful productions with an outstanding reputation, developed in Germany. With him, Bavaria Fiction gains further creative strength. The shareholders of Bavaria Fiction are excited to work with Marcus Ammon—and to his support from the entire creative team.”

Commented Ammon: “I have always been fascinated by the aura that surrounds Bavaria and it is a great honor to help shape the future of this company, which has always been a home for the most creative minds in the country. I look forward to working in and with a successful and motivated team and to diving into the world of storytelling. Together, we want to seek new paths both nationally and internationally and lead Bavaria Fiction into an even more successful future, supported by a common understanding of the wishes and needs of our audience. I would like to thank Sky for twelve years of trusted and loyal cooperation, especially for the opportunity to reinvent myself again and again.”

Kaiser added: “In the current upheaval of the media landscape, Bavaria Fiction is faced with the challenge of securing its core business of commissioned productions for the public broadcasters on one hand and expanding its portfolio in the growth areas of nonlinear programs on the other. With Marcus Ammon, we are gaining an experienced program-maker who can lead Bavaria Fiction into this future. I am very much looking forward to our time together.”