Ortwin Sam Schneider-Freyermuth (born November 1958) is a

German American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

video game executive,

entertainment law Entertainment law, also referred to as media law, is legal services provided to the entertainment industry. These services in entertainment law overlap with intellectual property law. Intellectual property has many moving parts that include tradema ...

yer and film producer. He currently holds the position of co-founder (together with Chris Roberts), vice-chairman and general counsel of Cloud Imperium Games. He is also known for having been the CEO of film production company

Capella Films Capella Films, Inc. was a film production company founded in 1990 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Formed by Hamburg-based Deyhle-Baer Media Holdings, Capella Films constituted the production branch to Capella Intl. which specialis ...

and for producing the 1997

director's cut A director's cut is an edited version of a film (or video game, television episode, music video, or commercial) that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit in contrast to the theatrical release. "Cut" explicitly refers to the ...

version of

Wolfgang Petersen Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for the World War II submarine warfare film ''Das Boot'' (1981). His other films include ''The Ne ...

's ''

Das Boot ''Das Boot'' (, English: "The Boat") is a 1981 West German war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, and Klaus Wennemann. It has been exhibited both as ...

''.

Biography

Ortwin Freyermuth studied law at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

and at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

, Los Angeles, where he completed his

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

degree with a thesis on film distribution and copyright law in 1986. In the early 1990s, he was part of a group of German film producers who pioneered a new business model, acquiring the production and distribution rights for several

Hollywood films The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Ame ...

with both financial and popular success. After having previously served as a legal advisor to Chris Roberts' Ascendant Pictures and other production companies, he founded

Cloud Imperium Games file:Cloud Imperium Games logo.svg, Logo Cloud Imperium Games ''Star Citizen'' is an in-development multiplayer, space trading and combat simulation game. The game is being developed and published by Cloud Imperium Games for Microsoft Windows. An ...

with Roberts in April 2012 to create the video game

Star Citizen Logo Cloud Imperium Games ''Star Citizen'' is an in-development multiplayer, space trading and combat simulation game. The game is being developed and published by Cloud Imperium Games for Microsoft Windows. An extended retry of unrealized plans ...

. Freyermuth is the brother of German journalist and author Gundolf S. Freyermuth.

Academic works

* *

Filmography

Producer

* 1991: ''Shattered'' (co-producer) * 1991: ''

The Nutt House ''The Nutt House'' is an American sitcom television series that aired for five episodes on NBC from September 20 to October 25, 1989. Overview ''The Nutt House'' was the creation of executive producers Mel Brooks and Alan Spencer and was a broad ...

'' (executive producer) * 1993: ''The Real McCoy'' (executive producer) * 1993: ''

Carlito's Way ''Carlito's Way'' is a 1993 American crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma, based on the novels ''Carlito's Way'' (1975) and '' After Hours'' (1979) by Judge Edwin Torres. The film adaptation was scripted by David Koepp. It stars Al Pacin ...

'' (executive producer) * 1994: ''Body Shot'' (executive producer) * 1997: ''

'' (producer – director's cut) * 2011: ''The Ledge'' (executive producer)

Legal services

* 1988: '' Burning Secret'' (special consultant) * 1990: '' The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter'' (production executive) * 2003: '' 11:14'' (additional legal services) * 2003: ''Monster'' (legal services – as Ortwin Freyermuth Esq.) * 2005: ''Havoc'' (legal services) * 2005:

Lord of War ''Lord of War'' is a 2005 American crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Andrew Niccol, and co-produced by and starring Nicolas Cage. The film was released in the United States on September 16, 2005, to positive reviews and grosse ...

(legal advisor: Ascendant Pictures) * 2006: ''Ask the Dust'' (legal services: Freyermuth & Associates) * 2006:

Lucky Number Slevin ''Lucky Number Slevin'' (also known as ''The Wrong Man'' in Australia, ''The 7 Affair'' in Spain, ''Hitman for Hire'' in Mexico and ''Check-Mate'' in Brazil) is a 2006 neo-noir action crime thriller film directed by Paul McGuigan and written by ...

(legal services: Freyermuth & Associates, Inc. – as Ortwin Freyermuth Esq.) * 2013: 2 Guns (financing legal services: Freyermuth & Associates, Inc. for Foresight Unlimited – as Ortwin Freyermuth Esq.)

References

External links

* *
How indie film financing could shape the future of games
by Ortwin Freyermuth {{DEFAULTSORT:Freyermuth, Ortwin American film producers California lawyers Entertainment lawyers German film producers UCLA School of Law alumni American chief executives Living people 1958 births German emigrants to the United States