Christine Strobl Takes Over at Troubled Degeto

COLOGNE, Germany -- Christine Strobl is set to take over at Degeto, the troubled acquisitions and international co-productions arm of German public broadcaster ARD. Strobl, head of TV movies at ARD affiliate SWR is expected to take over at Degeto in June.

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Degeto is one of Germany's major buyers of film rights as well as being a key co-producer for international films -- recent Degeto co-productions include Norwegian crime hit Headhunters and Jaco Van Dormael's Mr. Nobody starring Jared Leto, Diane Kruger and Sarah Polley.

But Strobl takes over a company in crisis. Former boss Hans-Wolfgang Jurgan grossly overspent Degeto's budget, forcing the company to drastically cut back. Already Degeto has said the budget gap means it will greenlight just 30 TV movies this year, half its usual output.

Acquisition and co-production budgets for feature films will also be hit, though Degeto has yet to say exactly where the cuts will come. The 40-year-old Strobl has built up a solid reputation at SWR and at her pervious job in programming for ARD's kids channel Ki.Ka but cleaning up the mess of at Degeto would prove a challenge for any exec.