Ever since school, Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann have shared their passion and enthusiasm for film. 2003 while still studying, they founded their production company Wiedemann & Berg Film. In addition to Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann, producer Justyna Muesch has also been managing director since January 2021.
In 2010 the foundation of W&B Television followed. Since February 2021 Oliver Vogel has also been the managing director.
Both companies are are part of the newly founded LEONINE Studios since January 2020. Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann are both shareholders and co-founders of LEONINE Studios and manage LEONINE Studios’ entire fiction production as Chief Production Officers. Quirin Berg furthermore assumes the position of Chief Creative Officer for LEONINE Studios and is responsible for the creative direction of the group. In his role as Chief Business Development Officer, Max Wiedemann is responsible for the development and integration of new business areas.
A combination of TV and film, a focus on high-quality and commercial projects, a sense for innovation, a great team and the often very early collaboration with outstanding creative talent have made Wiedemann & Berg one of the most successful production houses in Germany.
In 2006, their first feature film THE LIVES OF OTHERS, the directing debut of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, won an Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film, while NEVER LOOK AWAY was nominated for two Academy Awards® in 2018. Other blockbusters include Baran bo Odar’s hacker-thriller WHO AM I – NO SYSTEM IS SAFE, and Simon Verhoeven’s comedy WELCOME TO GERMANY, which with nearly 3.9 million admissions was the most successful German film of 2016, THE GOLDFISH by Alireza Golafshan or NIGHTLIFE, the most successful German movie of 2020. JGA, the company’s next comedy, is currently in production.
The company’s broad production repertoire for major German TV broadcasters covers everything from TV movies and establishing new teams for the longstanding German crime series TATORT to special event productions, multi-part films for free-to-air as well as prime-time series. Next to classic TV formats, Wiedemann & Berg also successfully positioned itself as the first company to embrace pay TV and video-on-demand. As such, in 2012, the production house created the first-ever self-produced German pay TV series for TNT Serie, followed by as cult shows like 4 BLOCKS as well as PARA – WE ARE KING and ALMOST FLY, the latest collaborations with the broadcaster. Wiedemann & Berg also produced DARK, the first German Netflix Original as well as PAGAN PEAK, one of the first originals for Sky. In addition, yet another Netflix Original, TRIBES OF EUROPA, will be released in February. Currently the new series BLACKOUT, based on Marc Elsberg’s best-selling novel, is being created for JOYN, a German streaming service, and for Sky Wiedemann & Berg is producing the mini-series “The Ibiza Affair”.
The producers and their productions have been nominated for and won numerous industry awards including: Academy Award?, Award of the German Academy for Television, BAFTA, Bambi, Bavarian Television Award, Bavarian Film Award, César, European Film Award, Hollywood Reporter Award, German Television Award, German Film Award, TV Film Award of the German Academy of Performing Arts, Golden Camera, Golden Nymph, Grimme Award, GQ Award, LA Critics Award, Magnolia Award, Mira Award, Rockie Award, Romy and the Golden Globe.
Wiedemann & Berg Film and W&B Television are LEONINE Studios companies.