Icestorm Entertainment

Icestorm Entertainment was a German media company founded in 1997 that specialised in the licensing, restoration and home-video distribution of cultural film and television content. It began by releasing DEFA films on VHS and later moved to DVD and Blu-ray, building one of the largest catalogues of East German and Eastern European cinema available to German-speaking audiences. The company was the parent of the Icestorm Gruppe, which included Icestorm Distribution Berlin GmbH, and sold its products through specialist and retail channels as well as its own online shop. For a period it also operated IcestormTV, an online video-on-demand and streaming service, and it partnered with the magazine Super-Illu to include a DVD film with each monthly issue. Icestorm became widely known in 1998 when it secured the exclusive exploitation rights from Progress Film-Verleih for films held by the DEFA-Stiftung (DEFA Foundation). Its catalogue covered roughly 13,000 productions, including feature films, animation, documentaries, short films, the DEFA newsreel Der Augenzeuge and the satire series Das Stacheltier. Beyond DEFA titles, Icestorm released Russian films from Mosfilm, Gorky Film Studio and Lenfilm — including works by Sergei Eisenstein, Andrei Tarkovsky, Yuri Ozerov and Sergei Bondarchuk — as well as Czechoslovak and Polish films and television series. Because many exploitation rights dated from the GDR era and covered only the German-dubbed versions, these releases were typically offered with German audio only. The company was led from 2021 by managing director Yasmine Medczinski, who had worked alongside founder and shareholder Gerhard Sieber since 2018, initially as authorised signatory. Its final offices were in the Neues Deutschland publishing building in Berlin. After attempts to rescue the business, a liability from 2005 fell due and Icestorm filed for insolvency in July 2022. In the same month the DEFA-Stiftung ended its long-standing partnership with Icestorm and named the newly founded DEFA-Distribution GmbH as its new exploitation partner. The icestorm.de domain now hosts an independent film magazine devoted to DEFA and Eastern European cinema, unaffiliated with the former distribution company.

Icestorm Entertainment was founded in 1997 as a German media company focused on the distribution of videos, later expanding to DVDs and Blu-rays. It was the parent company of the Icestorm Gruppe, which consisted of Icestorm Distribution Berlin GmbH. Products were sold through specialist and retail channels and via the company's own online shop. At one point the company operated IcestormTV, an online video library offering films as video-on-demand or streaming. It also published a monthly DVD film together with the magazine Super-Illu. The company became well known in 1998 when it was granted the exclusive exploitation rights of Progress Film-Verleih for the films of the DEFA-Stiftung. According to its own definition, Icestorm Entertainment described itself as a German, internationally active company whose task was to market cultural film and television content on DVD. It focused on the worldwide acquisition of film licences for exclusive DVD distribution and on making programmes available through modern channels such as video-on-demand and streaming. Initially Icestorm Entertainment primarily exploited DEFA films on video and brought them to market. In addition to feature films, it handled animation, documentary and short films, material from the DEFA newsreel Der Augenzeuge and films from the satire series Das Stacheltier — in total about 13,000 productions. Later, DVDs and occasionally Blu-ray Discs were released. Russian and Czechoslovak films as well as television series were added to the core programme. Russian films from the Mosfilm, Gorky Film and Lenfilm studios included works by Sergei Eisenstein, Andrei Tarkovsky, Yuri Ozerov and Sergei Bondarchuk, and classics such as Der Amphibienmensch, Rette sich, wer kann, Uzala, der Kirgise, Wie der Stahl gehärtet wurde, Der stille Don and Der Weg zu den Sternen. A focus lay on war, fairy-tale and science-fiction films. The films were offered on DVD with German audio only, because the exploitation rights originated in the GDR era and covered only the synchronised versions. For Czechoslovak films, the focus was also on fairy-tale and children's films. Television series such as Die Kriminalfälle des Majors Zeman and Das Krankenhaus am Rande der Stadt were also released. Icestorm created a further Eastern European focus with Polish television series, most famously Vier Panzersoldaten und ein Hund. In addition to DEFA films, Icestorm exploited material from Deutscher Fernsehfunk and archive material from RBB. It also released German and Austrian Heimatfilme of the 1950s, music documentaries and films, documentaries with a GDR or East German connection, and to a lesser extent more recent German feature and documentary films. Icestorm Entertainment had its last seat in the Neues Deutschland publishing building in Berlin. Since 2021 the managing director was Yasmine Medczinski, who led the company from 2018, initially as authorised signatory, in cooperation with the shareholder and founder of the Icestorm companies, Gerhard Sieber. The attempt to save the company ended in summer 2022 through a liability from 2005 that was called due, and despite all efforts the company filed for insolvency. In July 2022 the company filed for insolvency. In the same month the DEFA-Stiftung declared the end of its long-standing cooperation with Icestorm Entertainment. The foundation's new exploitation partner became the newly founded DEFA-Distribution GmbH.

• 2022

  Company files for insolvency in July; DEFA-Stiftung ends cooperation and names DEFA-Distribution GmbH as new partner.

• 2021

  Yasmine Medczinski becomes managing director.

• 2018

  Yasmine Medczinski joins as authorised signatory alongside founder Gerhard Sieber.

• 1998

  Secured exclusive exploitation rights from Progress Film-Verleih for DEFA-Stiftung films.

• 1997

  Icestorm Entertainment founded as a German media company.

Specialist licensor and home-video publisher of East German, Soviet and Eastern European film heritage for German-speaking audiences.

• DEFA feature films on VHS/DVD/Blu-ray

• DEFA animation and puppet films

• DEFA documentaries and newsreels (Der Augenzeuge)

• Das Stacheltier satire series

• Russian and Soviet films from Mosfilm, Gorky Film and Lenfilm

• Czechoslovak and Polish films and TV series

• German and Austrian Heimatfilme of the 1950s

• Music documentaries and films

• IcestormTV video-on-demand and streaming service

1. 1DEFA-Kino & osteuropäisches Filmmagazin — icestorm.deicestorm.de
2. 2DEFA Babelsberg: Geschichte des größten DDR-Filmstudios — icestorm.deicestorm.de
3. 3DDR-Filmgeschichte: DEFA, Zensur und Koproduktionen — icestorm.deicestorm.de
4. 4Polizeiruf 110 vs. Tatort: Ost-West-Krimi im Vergleich — icestorm.deicestorm.de
5. 5Icestorm Entertainment — Wikidatawikidata.org
6. 6Icestorm Entertainment — Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org