Leonine Studios recruits Constantin MD Jochen Koestler to head up non-fiction

Jochen Koestler

Germany’s Leonine Studios has appointed Constantin Entertainment MD Jochen Koestler as EVP of non-fiction at the production group.

Koestler will take up his new role on 1 January 2024 and will spend a year co-heading the group’s non-fiction production division alongside Leonine Studios CEO Fred Kogel, before assuming sole responsibility in January 2025.

The non-fiction division comprises production companies including A Perfect Crime firm Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion, which it acquired in October 2022, Hyperbole Medien, i&u TV, Madame Zheng Production and SEO Entertainment.

Koestler will also join the management board of Cologne-based i&u TV, where he will be responsible for the entire entertainment division, including the genres show and comedy.

Current MD Andreas Zaik will remain responsible for informational productions, including the weekly news magazine Stern TV as well as documentaries, and will continue to act as chairman of the board. Christian Meinberger, chief digital officer of Leonine Studios and MD of i&u TV and Hyperbole Medien, will retain responsibility for the digital units producing branded entertainment and YouTube formats.

Koestler from Constantin Entertainment, where he has served as MD since 2017 and worked as a producer for more than a decade. His credits include Amazon original Last One Laughing and reality series Germany Shore. He also produced series such as K11 – Die Neuen Falle for Sat.1, Darf Er Das? – Die Chris Tall Show for RTL and Der RTL Comedy Grand Prix, and established and headed the documentary division at Constantin with projects such as Amazon original Bild.Machet.Deutschland?, Sky original Der Anschlang – Angriff Auf Den Bvb and Jan Ullrich – Der Gejagte for for Prime Video.

Kogel described Koestler as “one of Germany’s most accomplished and successful non-fiction producers” and said that he will “successfully keep the i&u TV entertainment production business on our growth path and also position it for further expansion in the future with genres such as reality. He will also support me in a significant capacity in the management of the entire Leonine non-fiction division in the coming year and will be solely responsible for this division from 2025 onwards.”