Constantin Film AG is an established name in the German media landscape. Since its beginnings, with „The Neverending Story“ and „The Name of the Rose“, it has had a profound influence on German movies in the last 40 years – both domestically and internationally.
Cinema continues to be our passion, but it is just one of many.
Our aim today is to entertain everyone on all channels perfectly and at all times.
From the star-studded Wednesday sneak preview to the family TV movie on Sunday, from the movie theater seat to the couch or on the road, from the world premiere to the final episode of the series, from regional comedy to Hollywood blockbuster, for young or old, with depth or chill factor, we are driven every day by one single question:
To achieve this we use all the channels, stages of exploitation and technologies that are used for entertainment today. For this reason we do not think in terms of media but of formats:
We are the number one independent in Germany for the development, creation and distribution of self-produced and acquired film rights. Here, we exhaust all the steps in the exploitation chain – from cinema distribution and home entertainment to TV broadcasting or digital exploitation.
We create, produce and market exclusive, premium-quality series for TV and video on demand, produced nationally and internationally – binge-watch factor included!
Our successful non-scripted programming also covers a broad spectrum, ranging from fashion and quizzes to sponsored sports or branded content shows.
Film production
In 2019, a total of 11 Constantin Film in-house productions or co-productions (including subsidiaries) were released to cinemas. And “Das perfekte Geheimnis” gave Constantin Film the most successful German motion picture of the year: Bora Dagtekin’s comedy broke the 5 million viewer mark and made it a top 3 film of 2019 (as of February 2020). Furthermore, the film received serveral awards, including Bayerischer Filmpreis, Bambi and Goldene Leinwand. Further hits with audiences included “Ostwind – Aris Ankunft”, “After Passion”, “The Collini Case” and Bavarian comedy “Leberkäsjunkie”.
Some of the most significant films in the history of Constantin Film include the outstanding Bernd Eichinger production "Perfume - The Story of a Murderer", the Oscar®-nominated production "Downfall" and the Oscar®-winning "Nowhere in Africa", as well as the in-house productions and co-productions "The white Massai", "The Wave", "The Baader Meinhof Complex", "Vicky the Viking", "Fack Ju Goehte 1-3" and the hugely and worldwide successful "Resident Evil"- franchise.
Theatrical distribution
In the segment of theatrical distribution, Constantin Film aims for a successful mixture of national and international in-house productions and co-productions and premium license deals.
One of its biggest hits of recent years has been "Fack Ju Goehte 1-3". The three films have attracted more than 21 million viewers in Germany alone. This makes the "Fack Ju Goehte"-trilogy the most successful German movie series ever.
Fans of all ages and genres will once again get their money’s worth at the movies in 2020: Constantin Film’s new theatrical distribution slate will provide the right selection of films for every taste. In addition to the breathtaking adaptation of Peter Wohlleben’s “The secret life of trees” (23 January) we will see the eagerly awaited reunion with Lolle in the movie sequel of “Berlin, Berlin” (19 March) and the grand finale of the Ostwind series: “Ostwind – Der große Orkan” will be released on 21 May. Other highlights of the coming year include the sixth part of the Eberhofer series, “Kaiserschmarrndrama” (13 August), the sequel to the chart-topping hit “After Passion” (“After Truth”), Milla Jovovich in “Monster Hunter” and the adaptation of the Cornelia Funke classic “Dragonrider” (6 August).
Licensing
In addition to distributing its own productions and co-productions, Constantin Film also distributes licensed content to German cinemas. It acquires the licenses to these films at international film markets. The films are then shown at the movie theater, on the television, exploited digitally and / or released on DVD. Constantin Film has been in very close contact with all TV broadcasters and streaming providers for years.
Home entertainment
Home entertainment is another important market segment for Constantin Film. Since 2004 it has been exploiting the video and DVD rights of its own productions and licensed titles independently in cooperation with its parent group, Highlight Communications AG, and the distribution organization of Paramount Home Entertainment. This has made the Constantin Film brand one of the leading independent content providers on the German home entertainment market.
TV, Entertainment and digital media
In the constantly growing segment of TV, entertainment and digital media, Constantin Television, which was founded in 2006 as a group subsidiary of Constantin Film AG, has been concentrating on the development and production of all national and international productions of the company group that are not intended for cinema exploitation. This extremely important strategical segment is reaching more and more people and thus has been expanded considerably in the last few months.
With successful TV programming such as "Dahoam is Dahoam", "Shopping Queen", "Genial daneben".
With high-quality TV series such as “Shadowhunters”, “Perfume”, “The Typist”, “Bauhaus - A New Era”, “Shades of Guilt”, “1989 – A Spy Story”, “We Are The Wave”, “The Master Butcher". Further premium series such as “We Children from Bahnhof Zoo”, “Der Feind – Recht oder Gerechtigkeit nach Ferdinand von Schirach” (AT) and “Resident Evil” will follow.
Successful projects were also implemented within the new Corporate Content segment, including the EON Games Show, with a total reach of 10 million users, 80,000 active players and more than 10,000 social media comments.
The annual reports of the past years of Constantin Film AG, a subsidiary of Highlight Communications AG, can be downloaded at www.highlight-communications.ch.