Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we’ll shine a spotlight on critical executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re talking with top German talent agency Players. Headed up by Mechthild Holter and Fabian Haslob, the duo have clients that have worked across recent projects such as Babylon Berlin, Unorthodox, and Deutschland ’89. In a rare interview, they tell us why now is an excellent time for German-speaking talent to cross borders.
With film and television sectors more globalized than ever, international talent has fast become a premium for streamers as they lean on local language productions in foreign markets to offset stagnant domestic growth. Germany's Players Agency is one company at the sharp end of this change. The company Mechthild Holter founded in 1994, represents around 180 actors, writers, directors, and cinematographers and is primarily considered one of the top agencies in the German film and television industry. The company has solid relationships with several London-based agencies, such as Curtis Brown and Tavistock Wood.
For the last few decades, Players has been quietly building a client list of international and German-speaking talent that has seen success at home and abroad. It currently boasts clients such as mini-series directors and writers from Babylon Berlin (Henk Handloegten and Achim von Borries), Dogs Of Berlin (Christian Alvart), The Crown (Christian Schwochow), Barbarians (Barbara Eder), Perfume and Riviera (Philipp Kadelbach), Unorthodox (Anna Winger), Killing Eve (Emily Atef) and The Empress (Katrin Gebbe). Clients such as Oliver Hirschbeigel, director of Oscar-nominated title Downfall and Netflix series The Same Sky, and Unorthodox director Maria Schrader, have been on their books from the beginning of the company.
“We like to have the idea of getting old with our clients,” Holter tells Deadline…