Zurich Summit

At the 19th Zurich Film Festival, Fred Kogel of Leonine Studios will be honoured with the Game Changer Award. Before ceremoniously accepting the award on Sunday, he will talk intimately about his successful career during the Game Changer Conversation at the Zurich Summit Conference.

"I am delighted to be honoured with the prestigious Game Changer Award. To have our achievements recognised by such an illustrious festival is a privilege. I share this award with all the employees at LEONINE who have worked with great fervour and drive to bring our vision to life. The award is not only confirmation of our passion for storytelling and our energy, but is also an incentive for us to continue to push the boundaries and shape the industry." is how Fred Kogel expresses his appreciation of the award.

Fred Kogel is renowned for his extraordinary knowledge of the media industry. In addition to his outstanding expertise in the cinema sector, he has also enjoyed many years of success as a producer in the field of entertainment, counting shows like " Wetten, dass…?" and the "Harald Schmidt Show" among his list of credits. After serving as Head of Entertainment at ZDF and Managing Director of SAT1, where he was responsible for the station's merger into ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, he gradually turned his attention to cinema, becoming CEO of Constantin Film AG from 2003 – 2009. While he served on the board, highly acclaimed, Oscar-nominated theatrical hits like DOWNFALL and PERFUME: THE SOTRY OF A MURDERER were released, which, in addition to countless other accolades, won both the German and European Film Awards and a Bambi, as well as THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX, which also received an Oscar Nomination.

Four years ago, Fred Kogel founded LEONINE Studios together with the financial investor KKR as a major player in the German production, distribution and licensing sector. These three business units cover the entire value chain of the moving image market. LEONINE Studios includes successful subsidiaries such as Wiedemann & Berg Film, Odeon Fiction, the award-winning Berlin-based production company hyperbole Medien GMBH and the documentary specialists gebrueder beetz filmproduktion. LEONINE Studios’ production company W&B Television produced the Wolfang Hohlbein adaptation of THE GRYPHON for Amazon Prime Video, the series 4 BLOCKS and GERMAN GENIUS for Warner TV, the Netflix Original Series DARK, and currently the new international Paramount+ bestseller adaption THE BILLION DOLLAR CODE. This autumn and winter, LEONINE Studios will release several new prestige productions including the children's book adaptation THE FLYING CLASSROOM, the moving family drama WEEKEND REBELS, and GIRL YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE, about the rise of the German pop duo Milli Vanilli, who are masters at uniting ambition and entertainment.

This year, Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, Co-Founders and Co-Presidents of Sony Pictures Classics, will be honoured with the award as part of the 18th Zurich Film Festival.

“In addition to helping the successful launch of many important movies the Zurich Film Festival has always been a great place to meet, engage, and exchange ideas with filmmakers, distributors, and exhibitors. This award puts the focus on 30 years of Sony Pictures Classics movies and the talented filmmakers who made them. In our opinion, they are the real game changers and we share this award with them. Thank you Zurich Film Festival for the honor.” said Michael Barker and Tom Bernard of Sony Pictures Classics.

Barker and Bernard's Sony Pictures Classics aims to distribute thought-provoking, high-quality feature films and documentaries and promote the signature style of talented filmmakers. The Zurich Film Festival honours the two American studio bosses this year for their services to film culture. The two founded Sony Pictures Classics exactly 30 years ago, and popularised auteur filmmakers such as Asghar Farhadi, Wim Wenders and Pedro Almodóvar. They have won more than 40 Academy Awards and championed diversity in cinema long before the topic became fashionable.

Pamela Abdy, MGM’s Motion Picture Group President was honoured with the Game Changer Award during the Zurich Summit industry conference at the 17th Zurich Film Festival.

"I am honored to be given this award by the Zurich Film Festival, and want to extend my deep appreciation to Christian, Reta and their entire organization. I consider it a genuine privilege to stand alongside the legendary filmmakers who have been a part of the MGM family for the last century, and I am grateful to welcome so many incredible storytellers – both new and established – to join us as we endeavor to make great films at MGM in the years ahead." affirmed Pamela Abdy, MGM's Motion Picture Group President.

Prior to Abdy’s role at MGM she has championed original ideas and authorship, working with great filmmakers including QUEEN & SLIM director Melina Matsoukas and writer Lena Waithe, A MILLION LITTLE PIECES director Sam Taylor-Johnson. Furthermore, she has worked with Academy Award®-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu on BABEL, BIRDMAN, and THE REVENANT. She was also responsible for Adam McKay’s Academy Award®-winning THE BIG SHORT and Martin Scorsese’s SHUTTER ISLAND – while serving at Paramount Pictures, Bluegrass Films, New Regency and Makeready.

The Zurich Summit welcomed MGM's Pamela Abdy and Michael de Luca for a conversation with CAA Media Finance co-head Roeg Sutherland to discuss how they have weathered the pandemic, the changing role of the studios in the current landscape, and what they see as the future of MGM, driven by their ongoing commitment to the theatrical experience.

The Gamechanger Award was presented to the distributor Ascot Elite Entertainment at the Zurich Summit. The trophy was accepted by the three co-CEOs Ralph Dietrich, Karin Dietrich and Stephan Giger.

The Gamechanger Award, which has been re-established, goes to personalities who give new impetus to the film industry with their commitment. With this year's award, the Zurich Film Festival recognizes two great achievements of Ascot Elite: On the one hand, the company has rendered outstanding services to the ZFF by bringing films and filmmakers to the ZFF for years, providing the opening film a total of eight times.

On the other hand, Ascot Elite has repeatedly championed Swiss films. In recent years, they have successfully brought films such as PLATZSPITZBABY by Pierre Monnard, BRUNO MANSER by Niklaus Hilber, ZWINGLI by Stefan Haupt, DER GOALI BIN IG by Sabine Boss or DER VERDINGBUB by Markus Imboden to the cinema and have done top media work, especially again with EDEN FÜR JEDEN by Rolf Lyssy. Ascot has helped Swiss film reach a large audience again. But they have also been involved in smaller productions such as DER UNSCHULDIGE by Simon Jaquemet. Despite all the adversities of the current market situation, Ascot Elite is strongly and wholeheartedly committed to cinema. For this we say thank you with this award!

Patrick Wachsberger, one of the most influential and respected executives in the independent film business, will be honored with this year's Game Changer Award at the Zurich International Film Festival.

The co-chairman of Lionsgate's Motion Picture Group, which is behind franchises such as THE HUNGER GAMES and DIVERGENT, will receive the Game Changer Award at the Zurich Summit.

As co-chairman of Lionsgate's Motion Picture Group, along with Rob Friedman, Wachsberger helped bring to life the global teen franchises THE HUNGER GAMES and DIVERGENT. The two men have also expanded Lionsgate's film business with projects such as Pantelion Films, aimed at Hispanic audiences, and Codeblack Pictures, aimed at African-American moviegoers.

Lionsgate now faces another major strategic shift following its $4.4 billion acquisition of premium TV provider Starz.

Lionsgate's latest film, the disaster drama DEEPWATER HORIZON from director Peter Berg starring Mark Wahlberg, will be unveiled at a gala in Zurich on September 28.