Kinowelt chief executive Jan-Pelgrom de Haas is stepping down from the company at the end of this month for family reasons.

He will continue to act as a consultant to the sales and distribution company until a replacement is found. Romain Bessi, chief executive of parent company StudioCanal, will oversee the role in the interim.

De Haas had joined the Leipzig-based company at the beginning of July

2008. He has nearly 20 years experience in the film industry and has also held roles at UFA Film, Fernsehproduktion GrundyUFA and Trebitsch Produktion.

StudioCanal took over Kinowelt in January last year. At the time, StudioCanal chairman Olivier Courson said it waimed to expand Kinowelt into Germany’s leading independent film distribution company over the next three years.