KKR-Backed German Film & TV Conglom Finally Finds A Name: Leonine

Andreas Wiseman

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The impressive new German film and TV conglomerate backed by New York investment firm KKR has finally found a name, eight months after launch: Leonine.

The entertainment firm includes local film distributors TMG and Universum Film and TV companies i&u TV and Wiedemann & Berg Film. The holding company will go by Leonine from now and from January 2020 most of the units within the company will take on the name.

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Led by Kogel, Chief Operating Officer Dr. Markus Frerker, Chief Financial Officer Joachim Scheuenpflug and Chief Distribution Officer Bernhard zu Castell, the operation will be divided into three areas: Leonine production, Leonine distribution and Leonine licensing.

The production companies, such as Wiedemann & Berg Film, Odeon Film and i&u TV, the established television brand TELE 5 as well as the SVOD channels Filmtastic, Home of Horror and Arthouse CNMA will retain their previous names. As an associated company and strong established brand, RTL II will also keep its name.

The other distribution and licensing companies will operate under the Leonine brand from the beginning of 2020. These include Tele München with its previous affiliates TM International, Concorde Filmverleih and Concorde Home Entertainment as well as Universum Film.

Recent movie acquisitions for the group include Hustlers, Knives Out and Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall.

Leonine CEO Fred Kogel said, “When choosing the new brand as our company name, the following aspects were decisive for us: it should reflect our ties to our home region of Bavaria and Munich, both of which are also highly esteemed internationally, it has got to work internationally and the trademark rights had to be available. With Leonine we have found a link to Bavaria with its heraldic animal, the lion.”

He continued, “The English meaning of the word ‘leonine’ is ‘lion-like’ and describes for us above all an attitude – courage, energy, confidence and a strong sense for team play. This is reflected in our corporate values. With a great team, we are building a company that creates content that inspires – with passion, experience, expertise and creativity – that attracts creative talent and takes advantage of the new opportunities of a changing content world. We aim to establish Leonine as a continuously reliable ‘one stop shop’ for premium content.”

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