German publicly listed media concern F.A.M.E. has taken a 30% stake in the newly-founded Munich-based production outfit BUETOW MAINUSCH Filmproduktion.

BUETOW MAINUSCH Filmproduktion, which is currently developing a feature film project as well as a TV a series and several TV movies, has been established by Babelsberg TV's managing director Michael Buetow and media consultant Christoph Mainusch.

Buetow and Mainusch had previously worked together in at commercial broadcaster RTL 2 on a series of TV movies under the "Die Jungen Wilden" label, including the award-winning Der Sandmann by Nico Hofmann. After leaving RTL 2, Buetow served as Head of German in-house productions at ProSieben before launching Studio Babelsberg's TV production arm Babelsberg TV. He produced such TV movies as Der Elefant In Meinem Bett and the comedy Mein Papa Mit Der Kalten Schnauze, which was premiered at the Filmfest in Munich this week.

Meanwhile, Mainusch has headed consultancy firm ACS Media since 1996, advising such clients as Scandinavian Broadcasting System, Disney/ABC, Deutsche Telekom and RTL Television on the development of new channels and broadcasting formats.

Buetow's departure from Babelsberg TV is likely to instigate a restructuring of all of Studio Babelsberg's production activities into a new streamlined division from August tentatively entitled "Production Services".