Leonine Distribution

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LEONINE distribution

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1979
Seat Munich , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Bernhard zu Castell,
Fred Kogel ,
Markus Frerker
Number of employees <65
Branch media
Website leoninedistribution.com

The Leonine Distribution (formerly Universum Film) is a German media company based in Munich and is part of the Leonine .

It acquires feature film and series rights on the national and international market and exploits them in cinema and home entertainment . Universum Film is the leading independent video provider in German-speaking countries and also offers license evaluation for external partners (including Tobis , Wild Bunch , DCM , Weltkino ) in the DVD / Blu-ray and digital sectors .

history

Logo of the former Universum Film GmbH

Leonine Distribution was founded in 1979 under the name Universal Film. In the year it was founded, the company began evaluating film licenses on video cassettes . In 1987 the company was renamed BMG Video / Universum Film GmbH and in 1993 it was incorporated into BMG . In 1998 BMG Video was sold to the RTL Group . While from 2000 entrepreneurial responsibility lay with the RTL Group, in 2001 entrepreneurial responsibility was transferred to RTL Television. The managing director of Universum Film GmbH is Bernhard zu Castell. Universum Film started marketing in 2002 and coproducing motion pictures in 2005.

In February 2019, Universum Film was taken over by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. The US investor had previously taken over the Tele München Group (which includes Concorde Filmverleih). Universum Film was subordinated to the newly founded Leonine Holding in 2019 . In January 2020, Universum Film was renamed Leonine Distribution.

Business areas

Coproduction

Since entering the production of cinema titles in 2005, Universum Film has co-produced a large number of titles. The variety of genres is typical for Universum: In addition to family entertainment titles such as Kleiner Rabe Socke , Hexe Lilli saves Christmas , Niko - A Reindeer Takes Off , Sams im Glück and Das kleine Gespenst or the documentary Serengeti , Universum was involved in the production of titles like the club of the red ribbons - how it all began , Marc Rothemund's comedy Today I'm blonde or his last race with Dieter Hallervorden. International co-productions such as Transsiberian with Woody Harrelson and Ben Kingsley are also part of the portfolio.

Film rental

Since entering the cinema business, Universum has brought titles such as Luc Besson's Valerian - The City of Thousand Planets , Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight , Oliver Stones Snowden , the action films 96 Hours - Taken 3 and London Has Fallen , The Circle , Lion - Der in addition to the co-productions Long way home , Captain Fantastic - Once wilderness and back and a very hot number as well as the nature documentary Our Earth - The film and the children's film The Bunny School - Hunt for the Golden Egg on the screen.

Universum Film also has some productions in its catalog that did not originally appear under its label. For example, the extra large version of Der Schuh des Manitu or Der Wixxer and Neues vom Wixxer can be rented from Universum. These three films were originally released by Constantin Film .

In 2019 the Oscar-nominated Vice followed - The second man . In the film year 2019, Universal released film Hellboy - Call of Darkness , The Little Raven Sock - Search for the Mysterious Treasure , Asterix and the Secret of the Magic Potion , Angel Has Fallen and Roland Emmerich's Midway - For Freedom .

Films by Universum Film GmbH (selection)

Home entertainment

Home entertainment is the largest division of Leonine Distribution. Around 360 titles appear annually on DVD or Blu-ray Disc. In the Blu-ray Disc area, Universum Film is already integrating the new BD-Live technology as a pioneer, with which viewers can download the latest additional content via the Internet in the future. The feature film highlights include a. Our Earth - The Film , PS I Love You , the Almodovar Collection , Burn after Reading , Crank , News from the WiXXer , Brokeback Mountain , the Transporter series, Death Proof - Dead Safe and The Shoe of Manitu . The Kids Non Feature label stands for classic children's films and series such as Pippi Longstocking , Nils Holgersson , Wickie , Emil und die Detektiven , Caillou and many other successes by Astrid Lindgren and Erich Kästner . Universum Film has been the market leader in this area since 2007 with a market share of 16%. The television series include CSI: Las Vegas , CSI: Miami and CSI: New York as well as the romantic films by Rosamunde Pilcher and Inga Lindström. German TV series such as Berlin, Berlin or Turkish for beginners , as well as German and international cult series such as Die Schwarzwaldklinik and The Bill Cosby Show are also popular . Titles from the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF were or are distributed by Universum Film, but some titles are now available from Eurovideo or other providers ( Studio Hamburg Enterprises ).

DVDs from Leonine Distribution (selection)

Leonine Anime

Under the label Leonine Anime (formerly Universum Anime), Universum Film acquires rights to anime feature films and series and exploits them in cinema and home entertainment on DVD , Blu-ray Disc and as download. The anime are also distributed by ADV Films .

Title from Leonine Anime

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Universum Film GmbH - About Universum. Retrieved July 29, 2019 .
  2. ↑ DWDL de GmbH: KKR also takes over Universum Film from the RTL group. Retrieved July 29, 2019 .
  3. ↑ https://www.digitalfernsehen.de/news/medien-news/maerkte/leonine-ist-die-neue-mediengruppe-von-fred-kogel-546945/. In: digitalfernsehen.de. September 21, 2019, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  4. ^ Leonine Distribution GmbH, Munich. In: northdata.de. Accessed March 31, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Manitou's Shoe - Extra Large (single). Ufa / DVD, accessed August 3, 2019 .
  6. ↑ The wanker / News from the wanker. Universum Film GmbH, accessed on August 3, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Dragonball Z: Battle of Gods - Universum Anime brings 18th Dragonball Movie ( Memento from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive )