Medienboard Appoints Sarah Duve-Schmid as the Next Film Managing Director

The supervisory board of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg has appointed Sarah Duve-Schmid as the successor to Kirsten Niehuus. She will become Managing Director of the film funding division and spokesperson of the Medienboard from mid-2025. Games funding will remain in Helge Jürgens' hands until his retirement in mid-2028.

Sarah Duve-Schmid will become the new Managing Director of Film Funding and Spokesperson for Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg in mid-2025. At the meeting on 17 July 2024, the Supervisory Board appointed her as the successor to Kirsten Niehuus, who will retire in the middle of next year.

Until his retirement in mid-2028, the previous incumbent Helge Jürgens, who has successfully built up and expanded this area over the last 10 years, will remain Managing Director Games and New Media. His commitment has created a diverse and creative scene in the Berlin-Brandenburg region, which will be further strengthened in the future.

Duve-Schmid is currently Deputy Director and Head of the Funding Department at the German Federal Film Board (FFA) in Berlin. She was previously Managing Director of Vision Kino for many years. She is also Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of the DFFB film academy.

Florian Graf, Head of the Berlin Senate Chancellery and Chairman of the Medienboard Supervisory Board, is delighted with the decisions made: "The Supervisory Board's decision means that Medienboard can look forward to a continued successful future. Building on the great 20 years of work by Kirsten Niehuus, who made the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region the centre of German film over two decades, Sarah Duve-Schmid stands for the further development of film funding and its funding structure, for which she brings extensive experience from the FFA. She is fully involved in the political and technical issues and can therefore seamlessly take on this responsible position. The continuation of the co-operation with Helge Jürgens will ensure continuity in the area of games and new media for the coming years. Here, too, we can build on the successful developments of recent years."

Hendrik Fischer, State Secretary in the Brandenburg Ministry of Economic Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the Medienboard Supervisory Board, adds: "Appointing a new CEO after the successful era of Kirsten Niehuus was certainly no easy task. The footsteps are big. I am now confident that we have found a worthy successor for this position in Ms Duve-Schmid, who will bring her own unique style to the position with her many years of experience at the FFA. In a two-country organisation, it will be important to skilfully coordinate the many different interests. I wish the new management team every success in this endeavour!"

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