We create films and series, local content for an international audience. We offer a roof where we gather creatives with their own distinctive style and build long-term work relationships. Our productions are award-winning, widely shown at prestigious festivals, and aim to reach a broad audience.
Sommerhaus is a film production company founded by Jochen Laube and Fabian Maubach in 2015. In 2018 Thomas Stuber’s IN THE AISLES competed at Berlin International Film Festival and won two awards. One year later, Sandra Nettelbeck’s WHAT DOESN’T KILL US celebrated its world premiere on the Piazza Grande at Locarno Film Festival. Also in 2019, Katharina Eyssen’s series HOLIDAY SECRETS directed by Samira Radsi was released on Netflix.
WHEN HITLER STOLE PINK RABBIT, directed by Caroline Link and based on Judith Kerr’s semi-autobiographical novel, attracted over a million cinemagoers in 2019 and was awarded the German Film Award for Best Children’s Film.
Burhan Qurbani’s adaptation of Alfred Döblin’s famous novel BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ celebrated its world premiere in competition at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival. The film received 5 German Film Awards and composer Dascha Dauenhauer won the European Excellence Award at the 33rd European Film Awards.
Also in 2020, Warner Bros. released Maggie Peren’s romantic comedy HELLO AGAIN – A WEDDING A DAY. In 2021, the fictional Instagram series I AM SOPHIE SCHOLL, directed by Tom Lass, brought the resistance fighter from the history books into the here and now and attracted over 800,000 followers upon release.
In 2022, Katharina Eyssen’s historical Netflix series THE EMPRESS, directed by Katrin Gebbe and Florian Cossen, got off to a worldwide flying start and landed at number one in the non-English series charts. The series also won the 2023 International Emmy® Award for Best Drama Series.
Released shortly before the Football World Cup, THE NET – PROMISED LAND, directed by Rick Ostermann, is part of the ambitious international series cycle THE NET, in which several independently nationally produced stand-alone projects shed further light on the global football business, building a connected narrative about corruption and criminal activity up to the highest ranks.
The end of 2022 was marked by Warner Bros’ December release of Thomas Stuber’s new feature film DARK SATELLITES.
Currently in post-production are two episodes of BARCELONA CRIME (German TV series) directed by Andreas Kleinert, the second season of THE EMPRESS for Netflix, and Burhan Qurbani’s new feature film NO BEAST. SO FIERCE. in co-production with Goodfellas (FR) and Madants (PL).
Jochen Laube
CEO, Producer
Fabian Maubach
CEO, Producer
Michael Jungfleisch
Head of Production
Konstantinos Kapsalos
Head of Production
Sophie Cocco
Executive Producer
Leif Alexis
Executive Producer
Kristian Stern
Head of Finance
Karoline Kunz
Executive Producer &
Co-Executive Producer
Annie Schilling
Executive Producer &
Co-Executive Producer
Felix Schreiber
Co-Executive Producer
Anna Intemann
Post-production
Nicole Jatta
Finance
Katerina Chaimanta
Production Coordinator
Tanja Wassiljev
Production Coordinator
Stefanie Kulow
Production Assistant
Lauren Walcher
Production Assistant
Marlene Bartram
Assistant to the producers & Communication
Karla Greinert
Trainee
JOCHEN LAUBE
Jochen Laube, alumni of the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, completed his studies with the feature film URLAUB VOM LEBEN (2005, director, Neele Volmar). In 2006 he founded Sommerhaus Filmproduktion, with which he produced films such as NOVEMBERKIND (2008, director Christian Schwochow) and Grimme Prize-winning documentary, SONBOL.
From 2008 to 2015, Jochen Laube was a producer for teamWorx, later UFA Fiction, and headed up its production office in Ludwigsburg.
During this time he produced numerous award-winning cinema and television films, including Dietrich Brüggemann’s STATIONS OF THE CROSS, awarded the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the 2014 Berlinale, as well as the 2012 International Emmy-nominated mini-series, “BARON MÜNCHAUSEN”. He also produced Burhan Qurbani’s WE ARE YOUNG. WE ARE STRONG. for UFA Fiction, which was screened at the Rome and Tribeca international film festivals and nominated for a Lola at the 2016 German Film Awards 2016, Best Film category.
Most recently he produced the German-Canadian co-production COCONUT HERO (2014, directed by Florian Cossen) for UFA Fiction, as well as the documentary EAT THAT QUESTION – FRANK ZAPPA IN HIS OWN WORDS (2015, directed by Thorsten Schütte), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
In 2015 Jochen Laube and Fabian Maubach resumed production activities together under the umbrella of Sommerhaus Filmproduktion GmbH.
Jochen Laube was appointed to the Producers on the Move programme in Cannes in 2013, is a member of the German Film Academy and was also part of its First Steps jury. He teaches production at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy and is also the initiator and curator of the Ludwigsburg film festival “Lichtspielliebe”.
FABIAN MAUBACH
Fabian Maubach, born in Cologne, first studied politics and sociology at the Humboldt University of Berlin, and then at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg. His graduate diploma film, THE DAY I WAS NOT BORN (2009, director Florian Cossen), was shot entirely in Buenos Aires, Argentina and won numerous national and international awards. It was his first collaboration with Jochen Laube.
This collaboration continued from 2009 onwards with UFA Fiction, formerly teamWorx Ludwigsburg, where among other things he was producer of the feature film 5 YEARS (2011) – directed by Stefan Schaller and winner of the Thomas Strittmatter Prize – about the fate of Guantanamo prisoner Murat Kurnaz, Dietrich Brüggemann’s first big arthouse success, 3 ZIMMER/KÜCHE/BAD (2012) and
DIE UNSICHTBARE (2011), directed by Christian Schwochow. He also produced the German-Canadian co-production COCONUT HERO (2015), again directed by Florian Cossen.
In 2015 Fabian Maubach joined Sommerhaus Filmproduktion GmbH alongside Jochen Laube.
Fabian Maubach is a member of the ACE Producers network as well as the German and European Film Academy.