After more than four decades of dedicated work for the leading organisation of the German film industry, the SPIO, the era of Helmut Poßmann as Managing Director of the SPIO and its service company S.M.S. will end on 1 July 2025. Despite his departure from this role, Poßmann will remain connected to the film industry: He will continue to be responsible for the organisation of the German Film Ball, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, as a representative of the SPIO.
Helmut Poßmann can look back on an impressive career. He has worked for SPIO without interruption since 1984 and took over the position of Managing Director in 1990. As early as 1996, he became managing director of SPIO, he also headed the German Film Artists' Relief Organisation and was a member of the board of the German Film Institute. In 1998, he played a key role in the founding of "Zukunft Kino Marketing GmbH", which he managed until 2000. Two years later, he initiated SPIO Management Service GmbH (S.M.S.) and took over its management. From 2002 to 2024, he also managed the Voluntary Self-Regulation Body of the Film Industry (FSK), which was spun off as a department of the SPIO at the time.
His commitment extends far beyond the SPIO: Poßmann has been a member of the Board of Directors of the German Film Institute since 2006 and was Chief Financial Officer and Chairman of the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation for several years, of which he has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2010 and even Chairman since April 2025.
Peter Schauerte, Vice President of the SPIO, honoured Poßmann's achievements with great words: "Helmut Poßmann has worked tirelessly for the interests of the film industry for decades. Whether in the organisation of 15 German Film Balls, the construction of the German Film House in Wiesbaden, the second world premiere of METROPOLIS or the founding of the SPIO Capital City Office - his vision and commitment have had a lasting impact on the industry."
Poßmann himself looks back with gratitude on working together with six presidents and one president of the SPIO: "The SPIO has become a part of me. I have always worked together with my colleagues in a spirit of trust and respect. Of course I'm nostalgic, but I'm also looking forward to having more time for private matters and the organisation of the German Film Ball as well as my tasks at the Murnau Foundation in the future."
From 1 July 2025, Stefan Linz, who has been Managing Director of the FSK and S.M.S. since 2019 and of SPIO since 2024, will take over the sole management of the umbrella organisation.