Dr Andreas Bareiß to Succeed Prof. Thomas Schadt in May

The renowned Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg is on the verge of a generational change: Dr Andreas Bareiß will take over as director of the film academy, which also offers game design courses, on 1 May. Bareiß will succeed Prof. Thomas Schadt, who has headed the Filmakademie since 2005.

The supervisory board of the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg has unanimously chosen Dr Andreas Bareiß as the new director. This was announced by Arne Braun, State Secretary for the Arts in Baden-Württemberg. He is convinced that Bareiß will tackle the challenges of the coming years with great expertise and enthusiasm. "The new director, Andreas Bareiß, is a sign of the Filmakademie's future viability," said Braun.

Bareiß has been involved with the Filmakademie as a lecturer since 2017. He also teaches at other colleges and universities, including Stuttgart Media University and the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf. Since 2018, he has worked full-time for Gaumont Germany, where he has been a member of the management board, head of the Berlin office, and a producer since 2020.

"I am grateful for the trust that the state of Baden-Württemberg has placed in me. I am incredibly excited about my new role. As director of the Film Academy, I want to make a committed contribution to successfully shaping the far-reaching transformation processes that are affecting both the media industry and educational institutions," says Bareiß. "I am fortunate to have a great team at the Film Academy with whom I can tackle the tasks ahead, so that outstanding media professionals will continue to be trained in Ludwigsburg in the future. I am particularly looking forward to working with Dr Jan Pinkava, the head of the Animation Institute."

Bareiß will initially receive a five-year contract starting on 1 May. At the same time as his appointment as director of the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, he was also appointed managing director by the supervisory board. He will succeed Prof. Thomas Schadt, who has headed the Filmakademie since 2005.

The Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg is considered one of the most renowned educational institutions not only for filmmakers but also for the animation and VFX sectors in Germany. It organises the annual FMX industry get-together and, together with the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS), the Animation Production Days. The Film Academy is also one of the top training institutions in the German games industry, and successful studios have emerged from its courses, including the DCP (Deuscher Computerspielpreis, German Computer Games Award) award-winning teams of Studio Fizbin and kaleidoscube.