Carl Woebcken

Carl L. Woebcken, also known as Charlie Woebcken (born 25 October 1956), is a German film producer, media executive and entrepreneur. From 2004 until the end of 2023, he served as chairman of the management board of Studio Babelsberg AG and as managing director of Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures GmbH. Together with Christoph Fisser, he acquired Studio Babelsberg from the French media group Vivendi in 2004 and took the company public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange the following year. During his tenure, numerous international film and television productions were made at the Babelsberg studios.

Early life and career

Woebcken studied mechanical engineering and began his professional career as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group. He subsequently became a member of the management team at Roland Berger.

In 1998, he moved into the film and media industry. He became vice president of TV-Loonland AG in Munich and simultaneously served as managing director of Sunbow Entertainment, then a Sony subsidiary, in New York. There, he was responsible for international business activities in children's and family entertainment. Woebcken repeatedly advocated for improving the international competitiveness of Germany as a film production location. He supported reliable film funding mechanisms and tax incentives aimed at attracting and retaining international film and television productions in Germany. At the end of 2021, Woebcken and Fisser sold their majority stake in Studio Babelsberg AG to TPG Real Estate Partners. They subsequently remained with the company during its integration into the international studio group Cinespace Studios. Both left the management board of Studio Babelsberg AG effective 31 December 2023.

Woebcken is also a member of the board of trustees of the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF.

Selected credits

The following production credits are listed by filmportal.de:

Producer Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010) Heart of Stone (2016) Dream Factory (2019)

Co-producer

V for Vendetta (2005) The Counterfeiters (2007) Flame & Citron (2008) Speed Racer (2008) The Reader (2008) The International (2009) Inglourious Basterds (2009) The Ghost Writer (2010) Unknown (2011) Anonymous (2011) The Book Thief (2013) The Monuments Men (2014) Bridge of Spies (2015) Eddie the Eagle (2016) Renegades (2017) Isle of Dogs (2018) Gunpowder Milkshake (2021) The Matrix Resurrections (2021) Retribution (2023) John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) Baghead (2023) Role Play (2024)

Executive producer

Black Book (2006) In Darkness (2011) The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) The Voices (2014) Men & Chicken (2015) A Hidden Life (2019) Tides (2021) The French Dispatch (2021) Asteroid City (2023) Traumnovelle (2024)