RTL drama chief departs

RTL drama chief and Deutschland 83 commissioner Philipp Steffens is leaving the German broadcaster, as it reorganises its programming division.

Philipp Steffens

Steffens has been head of fiction at RTL since 2014, but according to the company has decided to resign in order to work in the production space going forward.

Steffens said: “With the reorganisation, the timing is right for my next big adventure. It has always been important to promote new talent in front of and behind the camera. I‘m looking forward to working more closely with creatives in the near future.”

He will be replaced by Frauke Neeb and Hauke Bartel, who will be responsible for all fictional offerings across the group, as the company combines fiction for its linear TV channels and its streaming platform TVNow.

Bartel has been head of fiction at RTL’s free-to-air channel Vox since 2017, with credits including Das wichtigste im Leben and Rampensau.

Neeb has worked closely with Bartel in distribution and moved to Vox in 2018 as a fiction editor. Previous credits include Club der roten Bänder.

Vox managing director Sascha Schwingel said: “Mediengruppe RTL is not exclusively broadcasting or streaming – we are both, highlighted by the reorganisation of our fiction department.

“We want the strongest stories and the best talent of Germany on all our platforms. For this reason, the entire media group RTL should in the future also have access to the wealth of experience and creative know-how of our respective expert teams.”

RTL’s CEO Jörg Graf added: “I thank Philipp Steffens very much for his involvement in RTL fiction. We owe him for many successful new programmes such as Deutschland 83 and Magda macht das schon! as well as for the valuable care of strong fictional brands like Der Lehrer as the most successful primetime series on German private television, and Alarm for Cobra 11 on RTL.

“I especially thank him for setting up a strong RTL network of creatives in front of and behind the camera. Philipp has successfully laid the foundation for a new, trusting work with talents and producers. We will continue on this path together with RTL, Vox and TVNow.”