The agreement guarantees Bernd Eichinger’s exclusive production work for Constantin Film AG and secures the long-term partnership. Eichinger will also advise on company productions for which he is not responsible as producer.
The name Constantin Film has been closely associated with producer Bernd Eichinger for almost 30 years. He took responsibility for the company in 1979 and developed it continuously. Constantin Film AG went public in autumn 1999, and Eichinger served as Chief Executive until April 2001. He has been a member of Constantin Film AG’s Supervisory Board since the beginning of 2003.
Eichinger’s most successful works include German productions such as CHRISTIANE F., MAYBE… MAYBE NOT, THE SUPERWIFE and MANITOU’S SHOE, as well as Academy Award winner NOWHERE IN AFRICA and Academy Award nominee DOWNFALL. He also successfully produced international film projects including THE NEVERENDING STORY, THE NAME OF THE ROSE, THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS, the RESIDENT EVIL and FANTASTIC FOUR franchises, and the 2006 cinema blockbuster PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER.
Eichinger’s current project is an adaptation of Stefan Aust’s standard work on RAF terrorism, THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX, for which he is serving as producer and screenwriter. Director Uli Edel, whose credits include LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN and CHRISTIANE F., is staging the dramatic events that shook the democratic foundations of West Germany from 1967 through the “German Autumn” of 1977. Constantin Film plans to release the film in German cinemas on 18 September 2008.
Chief Executive Fred Kogel says: “A Constantin without Bernd Eichinger and his outstanding cinema productions is unimaginable to me. I am therefore delighted that Bernd Eichinger has decided early to extend his exclusive producer agreement with Constantin. This gives us planning security in the cinema business over the coming years and secures outstanding event productions.”
Supervisory Board Chairman Bernhard Burgener says: “Bernd Eichinger’s importance to German cinema is undisputed, as is his importance to Constantin Film AG. We look forward to many more years together.”
