Martin Moszkowicz Teams Up With Philipp Keel of Publishing Giant Diogenes to Produce Films and Series Adapted From Its Rich Library (EXCLUSIVE)

Leading German producer Martin Moszkowicz has teamed up with Philipp Keel, the owner of Europe’s largest independent fiction publisher, Diogenes, and a filmmaker in his own right, to adapt titles from Diogenes’ catalog.

Among Diogenes’ authors whose works have been adapted in the past are Patricia Highsmith (“Ripley,” “Carol”), Patrick Süskind (“Perfume”) and Bernhard Schlink (“The Reader”).

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“We’re actively negotiating roughly a dozen properties — some already set up, others at earlier stages. The pipeline reflects the depth of the Diogenes catalog,” Moszkowicz told Variety. ”In a market drowning in synthetic content, the human authorial voice is the premium asset — and Diogenes happens to sit on one of the densest reserves of it in the world.”

Keel added, “We are at the beginning of this adventure, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have a partner with such experience and dedication. With several projects that look very promising, we are in touch almost every day.”

Since Diogenes was founded by Keel’s father, Daniel Keel, in 1952, it has published more than 8,000 titles by more than 800 writers and artists, including Ian McEwan, John Irving, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Mick Herron and Paulo Coelho.

Keel added that it is not only the legacy authors whose work they are hoping to adapt. Since he took the reins in 2012, more than 150 new authors have been signed to Diogenes, including Daniela Krien, Simone Lappert and Sasha Filipenko. Two significant successes in that time were Krien’s “Love in Case of Emergency” (2019) and “Paradise Garden” by Elena Fischer (2023).

Moszkowicz said, “Good stories sit at the center of film and television today — everyone wants them, and Diogenes owns one of the most concentrated libraries of them anywhere in the world.”

In 2016, Keel founded the subsidiary Diogenes Entertainment and has since been attached to numerous film and series productions as an executive producer. Among them is the film adaptation of Highsmith’s “Deep Water,” produced by Entertainment 360 and New Regency Pictures, and starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, as well as Steven Zaillian’s adaptation of Highsmith’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley” as the Netflix series “Ripley,” starring Andrew Scott, which won four Emmys.

Keel met Moszkowicz, the former CEO of leading German film and TV company Constantin Film, almost 30 years ago, he told Variety. However, it was not until Constantin adapted “Perfume” as a film, which was released in 2006, that they worked together professionally. Since then, Moszkowicz said, they have been “throwing around ideas” about how to work together but in the past few months these discussions have crystalized.

“What we’re doing together is, in a way, the natural next step. Diogenes owns one of the most valuable literary catalogs in the world and has been turning books into series and feature films for decades. Philipp and I are raising that to another level as producing partners — with our combined contacts in the studio and television worlds, joining forces felt obvious,” Moszkowicz said.

“Our industry is shifting. It’s not only about IP — it’s about communities. The readers who fall in love with a book bring built-in marketability with them. Diogenes has built over 70 years of those communities, and we’re carrying that history into today’s entertainment landscape,” he added.

“Beyond traditional licensing — where you sell the screen rights and watch from the sidelines — we want a much more active role in shaping these properties and the audiences they reach. Philipp has been working that way on his own projects for years. Now we’re bringing the two skill sets together — his as a filmmaker, mine as a producer — and applying them across the catalog.

“Post-COVID, post-strikes, post-streaming-wars, output is down across the board and the industry is in a flight to quality. You need unique creative voices — and Diogenes has voices that are outstandingly rich and distinct. Not the next sequel of something. Take Patricia Highsmith — she’s never been more in demand than she is right now.

“In an era when synthetic content is infinite and cheap content is everywhere, the human authorial voice has become the premium asset in our business.

“Beyond Highsmith, the catalog runs from Dürrenmatt and Schlink to contemporary voices like Martin Suter and Charles Lewinsky — there’s genuine breadth to work with.”

For Moszkowicz and Keel protecting the writers’ “authorial vision” is a priority. “I think it’s very important that the writers have confidence in that process,” Keel said. “Apart from my passion for film and television, what’s most important to me is adapting the stories in a way it corresponds with the authors’ style and, of course, their vision. What makes my work fascinating is that I know not only the content, but also the creators behind it, saying I have got a little bit of an idea what they may like and what they would not. That goes for the writing and the talent. When reading a screenplay, for example ‘Ripley,’ I ask myself, is that the language that Patricia Highsmith would have enjoyed and appreciated?”