Potsdam/Cologne, May 6, 2025. UFA CEO Sascha Schwingel is reshuffling the top leadership of the production company UFA Show & Factual: Vanessa Schmit and Sascha Rustmeier will take over as managing directors of the UFA unit effective July 1, 2025. With these appointments, UFA CEO Sascha Schwingel is further advancing UFA’s transformation and bringing an experienced team on board that possesses extensive expertise in both the creative sector and media management. They succeed long-time Managing Director Ute Biernat, who is stepping down from the management team but will remain associated with UFA as a consultant.

Sascha Schwingel, CEO of UFA: “With Vanessa Schmit and Sascha Rustmeier, we have found the ideal successors for our strong entertainment unit: Vanessa is an outstanding producer who not only has many years of experience leading creative teams but also possesses exceptional expertise in the reality TV sector—a genre that UFA intends to expand further. In addition, Vanessa brings an excellent network of talent both in front of and behind the camera. Sascha Rustmeier, with his comprehensive expertise in both business and production—and, above all, his experience in new business and branded entertainment—forms, together with Vanessa, the perfect leadership team for UFA Show & Factual. I wish them both every success in their new roles and look forward to working with them!”

Vanessa Schmit: “I’m incredibly excited about this new role and look forward to further developing UFA Show & Factual with its strong brands and experienced teams. I have great respect for the achievements of Ute Biernat, who has built the company into what it is today over the past 25 years and created a UFA brand that enjoys an excellent reputation in the industry. Thanks to its international ties to Fremantle, UFA Show & Factual also has formats that have enjoyed worldwide success. Together with the existing teams, I want to drive the expansion of our strong programming brands and realign and significantly expand the reality division at UFA Show & Factual. I’m really looking forward to working with my colleagues!”

Sascha Rustmeier: “Vanessa Schmit and I are joining forces to further build on the existing success of UFA Show & Factual and drive UFA’s transformation forward. Our goal is to build up the New Business division in a sustainable manner while continuously nurturing and strengthening UFA Show & Factual’s existing core business. Vanessa will be in charge of the Content division and will thus be responsible for all program brands and content. Going forward, I will be responsible for commercial management, the New Business division, and innovation initiatives through which we aim to tap into new business areas. The colleagues at UFA Show & Factual have created major brands and are known for their exceptional team spirit. I am particularly looking forward to building on this and shaping the company’s future together with the strong team at UFA Show & Factual!”

Vanessa Schmit is an experienced TV producer who most recently spent three and a half years as Executive Director at RTL Studios, where she headed the reality TV division. Under her leadership, successful shows such as “Ex on the Beach,” “Are You the One,” and “Stranger Sins” were produced. Prior to that, the reality TV expert served as Executive Producer at Warner Bros. Germany, where she was responsible for shows including “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette.” From 2009 to 2019, Vanessa Schmit worked as a show/edit producer at ITV on the hit RTL series “Ich bin ein Star, holt mich hier raus!” Vanessa Schmit also has many years of expertise in the factual programming sector and has worked on shows such as “Goodbye Deutschland,” “Super Nanny,” and “Big Brother” (seasons 5 and 7). Vanessa Schmit began her career in the media industry at Endemol.

Sascha Rustmeier is an experienced media executive who most recently served for two years as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at RTL Studios, where he was responsible for the financial oversight and management of the entire production division. Prior to that, he had already served as Head of Production at RTL Studios, where he was responsible for the entire production division. Before joining RTL Studios, Sascha Rustmeier served as Business Unit Production Manager at Endemol Shine, where he was responsible for the financial management of the “Light Entertainment” division. At Endemol Shine Beyond, Sascha Rustmeier led and built up the entire Branded Entertainment and New Business division from 2012 to 2019. In 2015, he was awarded the prestigious “Cannes Golden Lion” for the Media Markt project “Das große Osterhasen Rasen.”

About UFA

UFA is one of the leading production companies for series, films, shows, and documentaries in the German-speaking world. UFA’s new and long-running programs reach an average of over 30 million people each week and are currently available on nearly all TV networks and streaming services. The creative studio brings together its wide range of genres under one roof through its units: UFA Fiction, UFA Serial Drama, UFA Mitte, UFA Show & Factual, and UFA Documentary. UFA is part of the international production company Fremantle, the global production arm of the RTL Group. The long-established UFA was founded in 1917 and now operates at five locations in Germany. Its headquarters are in Potsdam-Babelsberg.