RTL’s Head of Fiction Philipp Steffens Returns To Production With Frauke Neeb And Hauke Bartel Stepping In To Lead Fiction Department

- New dual heads responsible for overall area fiction for RTL, VOX & TVNOW

- RTL’s Head of Fiction Philipp Steffens returns to production

- Mediengruppe RTL pushes further integration of Broadcasting & Streaming

- VOX CEO Sascha Schwingel: "We want the strongest stories and best talents on all our platforms"

Mediengruppe RTL will combine fiction for its linear TV channels and its streaming platform TVNOW.

As part of the reorganization of its programming division, which is responsible for the development and realization of in-house produced series and films as well as for US Fiction, Frauke Neeb (41) and Hauke Bartel (34) will now jointly be responsible for all fictional ofering across the RTL media group.

Frauke Neeb ‘s credits include producing hit series “Der Club der roten Bänder” and she has already worked closely with Hauke Bartel in distribution. She moved to VOX in January 2018 as a fiction editor. Hauke Bartel has been Head of Fiction at VOX since April 2017 and credits include exceptional series such as “Das wichtigste im Leben" or currently "Rampensau".

The new dual leaders will report to RTL Managing Director Jörg Graf and VOX Managing Director Sascha Schwingel, who are working closely with Henning Tewes on their strategic program development. As COO Program Affairs & Multichannel of the Mediengruppe RTL, they know and often decide on all development and program projects as Co-Managing Director of TVNOW, he is also responsible for all contents of the streaming platform.

VOX Managing Director Sascha Schwingel "Mediengruppe RTL is not exclusively Broadcasting or Streaming - we are both, highlighted by the reorganization 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. Henning Tewes, Jörg Graf and myself are particularly pleased that we have been able to win two talents from our own ranks with Frauke Neeb and Hauke Bartel for this position. We wish both of them success in their extended tasks. "

Philipp Steffens, who has led the RTL fiction since 2014 and has helped drive forward the reorganization, sees his personal challenge on the production side in the future and has decided to leave the company.

RTL CEO Jörg Graf "I thank Philipp Steffens very much for his involvement in RTL fiction. We owe him many successful new programs such as "Deutschland'83" (i-Emmy-winner 2016) and "Magda macht schon!" (German Television Award Winner 2018) as well as 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. So I am very happy that we could win Frauke Neeb and Hauke Bartel for this new form of cooperation and wish them both a great start in a new team setup. "

Philipp Steffens commented "The last five years at RTL have been exciting, fascinating and characterized by great team spirit and a common will to succeed. Together, my editorial team and I have developed big ideas and tackled ambitious challenges. I am most grateful to my colleagues and team for their trust, cohesiveness and dedication.

With the reorganization, 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 work more closely with creatives in the near future. I am very pleased that Frauke Neeb and Hauke Bartel will take the lead on RTL fiction, they are the best choice for the role and I wish them every success!

During his tenure at RTL, Philipp Steffens was responsible for the International Emmy award-winning “Deutschland83” and for commissioning Germany‘s most successful TV drama “The Teacher”, which is currently in its 8th season. He was behind strategic talent-driven network decisions which saw the commissioning of hit shows including multi-award winning “Magda Will Manage” (Magda macht das schon), currently in its 4th season. Prior to RTL, Steffens was the creator and Executive Producer of “The Last Cop”, which recently won an international Emmy for its remake Falco.