Leonine Studios CEO Fred Kogel will remain in his role until at least 2028 in a contract extension agreed with parent company Mediawan Group.
The announcement comes two years after Paris-based pan-European content group Mediawan acquired Germany’s Leonine Studios, with a 25% stake from 2020.
Kogel has been CEO of Leonine Studios since 2019, which he co-founded in the same year with New York-based international investment group KKR.
Under Kogel’s leadership, Leonine Studios has evolved into one of the largest independent production and distribution groups in German-speaking Europe, with hits including School of Magical Animals 2 & 3, Girl You Know It’s Trueagain Weekend Rebelsnow ready for US remake.
In other C-suite announcements, Quirin Berg will be reappointed as Vice Chairman of the Management Board of Leonine Holding GmbH on April 1, 2026.
Berg has been responsible for the content strategy of the entire fiction division of Leonine Studios as Chief Creative- and Co-Chief Production Officer Fiction since January 2020.
Jochen Köstler, who has been Vice President Non-Fiction and Managing Director of i&u Studios within the Leonine Group since January 2024, will join the Management Board of Leonine Holding as Chief Production Officer Non-Fiction on April 1, 2026. He will be responsible for the entire non-fiction production division in the role.
The Management Board of Leonine Holding is completed by Sarah Fischer, who continues in her role as Chief People and Sustainability Officer; Max Wiedemann remains Business Development Manager and Chief Production Officer of Leonine Studios and Head of AI Mediawan Group; and Bernhard zu Castell remains Chief Distribution Officer, overseeing theatrical, home entertainment, and audio distribution, licensing and channels.
“I am pleased that we will continue the successful path of Leonine Studios, which is the production and distribution group that I co-founded,” said Kogel.
“At the same time, I look forward to building on Leonine’s success in the future with Quirin and Jochen in their expanded roles, as well as Sarah, Max, Bernhard and our regional CFO Jens Mezger – my management team.
Mediawan Group founder and CEO Pierre-Antoine Capton said Mediawan’s partnership with Leonine Studios was at the heart of the group’s ambitions to become a “global independent champion, driven by top talent and a strong European vision”.
“We are excited to continue to work closely with Fred and his teams and continue to accelerate the relationship between the team, as Weekend Warriors, Plan a B-movie adaptation of the movie Weekend Rebels developed by Leonine Studios’ production banner Wiedemann & Berg Film – to develop more international projects and strengthen our growth together,” he said.
