Berlin, 21 March 2025 - The Bundesverband Produktion Film und Fernsehen e.V. (BvP) has expanded its Board of Directors. In the regular election on 22 February, the general meeting not only confirmed the existing board members, but also appointed another member to the board. The board is now made up of four honorary members: the first production managers Nico Leonhard and Joelle Saba Suys, the production controller Bernhard Speck and the production coordinator Claudia Schüller.
"We are happy that the association has succeeded in achieving gender parity on its Board with this election," emphasises the committee. The return of Claudia Schüller to the Board, who already took on responsibility in the association in 2016, is particularly welcomed. At the same time, the BvP emphasises the need to achieve a more balanced gender ratio in the membership. "An overall view of recent surveys shows that both genders are almost equally represented in the production professions represented by the BvP. Nevertheless, the proportion of women in our organisation is only around 30 %. There is still some catching up to do here."
Claudia Schüller commented on her new role on the Executive Board: "I am looking forward to actively supporting the work of the Executive Board and all other voluntary members of the association. Especially in challenging times, it is important to find a balance between professional commitments and voluntary work. I hope that my involvement can help to make this task easier."
Schüller has already been involved with the association in the past, including in the Film & TV Skilled Labour Strategy working group. Since February 2023, this group, coordinated by the Erich Pommer Institute, has been working on concepts for the long-term strengthening of human resources and professional qualifications in the film and television industry.
The BvP Board sees its central task as promoting a continuous discourse on professional and structural challenges within the industry. "The failure of our umbrella organisation Die Filmschaffenden in 2018 severely impaired this exchange and continues to have an impact to this day. Since then, there has been a lack of cross-industry dialogue on essential questions: 'What are our common interests? What unites us?"
In times of increasing social polarisation, the BvP wants to strengthen an open and transparent dialogue within the film industry. "It is essential that professional film associations establish a common dialogue and act as reliable points of contact for the industry. Promoting a stable and representative association system therefore remains one of our central tasks."
