Maren Kroymann, the founder and head of Berlin-based sales outfit m-appeal, reveals her biggest professional achievement and the healthiest way to structure a working week.
It has been a glowing start to 2025 for m-appeal, the Berlin-based sales company founded by Maren Kroymann in 2008, named after Diana Rigg’s character Emma Peel from British TV series The Avengers. The 2025 Berlinale saw m-appeal pick up two major prizes: the Golden Bear for Dag Johan Haugerud’s Dreams (Sex Love) and the Silver Bear for best director for Huo Meng’s Living The Land.
The company’s nine-person team is presently working on a slate of six films, placing an emphasis on female-driven films and LGBTQ+ content. Its geographical reach is wide: recent m-appeal successes have come from the Nordics, China, Japan and Latin America.
What is your office like?
It is a Kreuzberg loft with big windows. We share the office with Niko Film, a female-led production company [run by Nicole Gerhards]. We are a mostly female team. It’s a relaxed and cool environment.
You were one of the pioneers of the four-day week. How does this work?
Our work is intense and it’s very personal. You have a lot of adrenalin and you are invested. Having three days off in a row disconnected from work is healthy and allows you to have a good work-life balance. At markets it’s the opposite. We do 15 hours a day!
What was your first job in the industry?
My first experience in sales was for MDC International in Berlin in 2005. Before that I worked at television station MultiThématique — a subsidiary of the Canal+ Group — for two years in Munich. I studied law in Paris, I speak French as well as Spanish and English too. A job in sales fits with me because it is international, language-based and it needs intercultural skills to work on a daily basis with people from all kinds of backgrounds, all kinds of business cultures.
Have you had a mentor?
No, and that has been the hardest part. I am grateful to the producers who trusted me with their films in the beginning, for instance Baumi [Karl Baumgartner] early on gave me a few films and also Andrzej Jakimowski. His film Tricks was our launchpad and sold widely, which allowed us to finance the company exclusively from income from the third month on, after a small personal investment by myself for the first months.
What was your favourite film when you were growing up?
I was born and raised in Stuttgart and went to the Rudolf-Steiner-School that objected to TV [and other forms of mass media]. I grew up with no TV at home. It was more about playing games, reading, music and doing sports. When I started going to the cinema in my teens, Hair was a film that marked me.
What has been your biggest professional achievement?
The proudest moment was to sell the two features Evil Does Not Exist and Wheel Of Fortune And Fantasy [both of which were directed by filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi]. In an extremely short time, we sold them in all territories where foreign language is possible to release. A lot of quality distributors picked up the films. We have a connection to content and values — diversity and female empowerment. Over all of these years I’ve stayed true to these convictions. I didn’t compromise.
What has been your biggest professional mistake?
If you asked me in the first eight years of my career, I would have said the biggest mistake was to create this company, because it exhausted me. I always wanted a business partner. I had a few bad experiences that traumatised me. But I’m happy I didn’t give up because what I have reached today is rewarding on all levels.
What is your favourite film festival?
Havana Film Festival. It is an amazing event. Havana brings films from all around the world to a local audience that doesn’t have as much access as we have to content. There is a love and appreciation for culture you cannot find in the western world.
What excites you about the business?
There are new audiences being mobilised. There is hope younger people are going to the cinemas, not only the old ladies. Also, exciting for a few years now with #MeToo, there is a lot of attention and energy that goes into more diversity. The industry is still very male-dominated but diversity is appreciated now.
What do you do to unwind?
Hang out with my friends and families, preferably outside. I also like to party; I’m an old party girl! I always loved electronic music. I still go partying, although less — now five or six times a year.
Who would play you in a biopic of your life, and who would direct?
The actress Jella Haase, who is quite well-known in Germany, and Leonie Krippendorff as director.
No comments yet