Constantin Film

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Constantin Film AG

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1950
Seat Munich , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Martin Moszkowicz , CEO
Number of employees 829
sales € 267 million
Branch Film industry
Website constantin-film.de
As of December 31, 2017

The Constantin Film AG is a film company based in Munich , both as film distribution as a film production company operates. Today the company is a subsidiary of the Swiss Highlight Communications AG and the most successful independent manufacturer and evaluator of productions in Germany. The business activity is based on the five pillars of cinema production / acquisition of rights, TV production, theatrical distribution, home entertainment and license trading / TV exploitation.

Constantin Film AG has released 36 of the 100 most successful German films of the last 20 years, four of them from the top 5 of the best list: The Manitou's Shoe (11.7 million moviegoers), (T) raumschiff Surprise - period 1 (9 million moviegoers), Fack Ju Göhte (7.3 million moviegoers) and Fack Ju Göhte 2 (7.7 million moviegoers). The Fack Ju Göhte trilogy was brought to a close in 2017 with Fack Ju Göhte 3 (6 million moviegoers) and is now the most successful German film series of all time. Constantin Film has made a name for itself internationally with the Resident Evil blockbusters, among other things . The six-movie franchise grossed a total of $ 1.2 billion at box office, making it the most successful video game-based series in the world.

In the area of ​​television, entertainment and digital media, Constantin Television, founded in 2006 as a subsidiary of Constantin Film AG, bundles the development and manufacture of all national and international productions of the group of companies that are not intended for theatrical release.

The iconic opening music of Constantin AG, as it can still be heard today, comes from the pen of Klaus Doldinger , which replaced the original fanfare by Peter Thomas .

history

founding

The Constantin Film Distribution GmbH on 1 April 1950 by the German film Kaufmann Waldfried Barthel and the Danish film businessman Preben Philipsen founded in Frankfurt. The name was chosen in honor of Philipsen's father Constantin Philipsen , who also worked as a film salesman. After five years as chairman, Philipsen left the company in 1955. Consul Waldfried Barthel was supported in the management of the company from 1955 to 1960 by his wife Ingeborg as managing director. From 1959 to 1963, the deputy managing director and head of production, Gerhard F. Hummel , exercised an important influence in the company, which had been based in Munich since 1957. In 1963 Manfred Barthel, who was not related to Waldfried Barthel, took over the Constantin production.

On December 21, 1964, the company was renamed “Constantin Film GmbH”. On July 1, 1965, Consul Barthel sold sixty percent to the Bertelsmann group. He appointed Herbert Schmidt as additional managing director alongside Manfred Barthel. Because of the looming cinema crisis, Bertelsmann sold its stake in late 1970. Barthel bought everything back and ran into financial difficulties as a result. In 1975 he initially sold fifty percent and in 1976 the rest to the Hagen company administrator Hellmuth Gierse. In October 1977, his managing director Karl-Heinz Böllinghaus had to file for bankruptcy for the company “Constantin Film GmbH” at the local court in Munich.

In the 1950s, the "old" Constantin mainly loaned productions by United Artists as well as various entertainment films. In the 1960s her name became a household name through the Edgar Wallace films and Karl May films .

New beginning

Announcement of film recordings by Constantin Film GmbH

In 1978, film producer Bernd Eichinger bought a large part of the bankruptcy estate of Constantin Film and in 1979 became a partner and managing director of the company now known as "Neue Constantin Film GmbH". In 1983 a film production company was attached to the film distribution . From 1986 the Kirch Group was also involved in the company. In 1992, Kirch took over the majority of the Austrian subsidiary. In 2002 it gave its share to the previous minority owner - an Austrian private foundation that has since controlled Constantin Austria , Austria's largest cinema operator and major film distributor. In the course of the change of name to "Constantin Film AG", the film company went public in 1999. Eichinger played a key role in the company's new success, he was managing director from 1979 until the IPO in 1999, chairman of the board from 1999 to 2001, chairman of the supervisory board from the beginning of 2003 to mid-2006 and then deputy chairman of the supervisory board until his death on January 24, 2011.

In May 2002 the Swiss Highlight Communications AG, a media holding company headed by Bernhard Burgener , acquired around 23 percent of Constantin Film. By purchasing additional shares in Constantin's share capital, Highlight Holding became the largest single shareholder with around 41 percent and made a takeover offer to the other shareholders in mid-2003, which increased the stake to 58 percent by the end of 2003. In January 2006 Highlight also took over the block of shares that was owned by Bernd Eichinger and has since held a 90 percent stake in Constantin Film.

On April 21, 2009, a 100 percent takeover by Highlight Communications AG was resolved at the annual general meeting in the course of a so-called squeeze-out , whereby the last available shareholders were compensated by Highlight Communication. With effect from October 7, 2009, the shares were no longer listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange .

Bernhard Burgener has been Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Constantin Film since January 2014, and Martin Moszkowicz was appointed Chairman of the Management Board at the same time . Moszkowicz has been part of the company's management since 1990 - initially as a producer and managing director and, since going public in 1999, as a member of the board, most recently in the area of ​​film and television. To date, he has worked on over 300 feature film productions and countless television films as a producer, co-producer or executive producer. In addition to corporate management and strategy, Moszkowicz is also responsible for the areas of film production, world sales, film purchasing, marketing & press, corporate communications and law.

Since January 1, 2017, producer Oliver Berben has been a member of the Management Board of Constantin Film AG and is responsible for the newly created management board division TV, entertainment and digital media, which bundles the development and production of all national and international productions of the company for which no theatrical release is planned. In 1996, Berben founded MOOVIE GmbH, which has been a subsidiary of Constantin Film AG since 1999, and also took over the production department on the management board of Constantin Film Produktion GmbH. Even after his appointment to the Management Board of Constantin Film, Berben continues to work as a producer.

Productions

The company's own productions include:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bernhard Burgener new Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Constantin Film AG | Martin Moszkowicz new CEO of Constantin Film AG | Fred Kogel remains a consultant to Constantin Film AG for the topics of TV products and license trading. Constantin Film, January 8, 2014, accessed January 10, 2014 .
  2. ↑ a b Constantin Film AG - Annual financial statements for the financial year from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. May 24, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Constantin Film is again a double "industry tiger". Retrieved January 21, 2019 .
  4. ↑ InsideKino: Box Office Germany. Retrieved January 21, 2019 .
  5. ↑ 'Resident Evil' Franchise Reboot: James Wan On Board To Produce From Greg Russo Script. In: Deadline. May 22, 2017, accessed January 21, 2019 .
  6. ↑ a b Oliver Berben changes to the Constantin Film management team. Retrieved January 21, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Written in the Wind Der Spiegel, 46/1977
  8. ^ Constantin Film squeeze-out registered , finanzen.net, article from October 7, 2009
  9. ↑ Constantin Film AG. Retrieved January 21, 2019 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 9 ′ 41 ″  N , 11 ° 35 ′ 16 ″  E