FFKB Team

Nina Hipfl-Reisch

Head of guest relations, founding member, coordinator of FFKB school performances

1978 in Kitzbühel geboren, mehrere Wirtschaftsabschlüsse, beteiligt an der Organisation verschiedener Großveranstaltungen in und um Kitzbühel. Sie spricht fließend Englisch, Französisch und Italienisch und hat in Italien, den USA, Australien und Österreich gearbeitet.
Nina Hipfl-Reisch ist eine der Gründerinnen vom Filmfestival Kitzbühel.

Mike Mayr-Reisch

Managing director, head of event & organization, founding member

Born in Kitzbühel in 1981. In 2000 he joined the family business and started working at Sporthotel Reisch; in 2008 he was appointed managing director/CEO, in 2015 he took over the hotel business from his parents. He is a member of the supervisory board of the Kitzbühel Tourism Association and a partner of Kitz Promotion GmbH, which organizes the Alpenrallye, a vintage car rally held annually. As a co-founder he has been part of FFKB since 2013; he was appointed deputy managing director of Filmfestival Kitzbühel GmbH in 2015 and is responsible for creative organization within the team.

Josef Obermoser

marketing & graphics

Josef Obermoser was born in Kitzbühel in 1985. After completing his studies at the Werbeakademie in Vienna he worked as a copywriter, designer and client consultant with various advertising agencies in Austria and in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He now lives and works in Kitzbühel. Josef Obermoser has been part of the Filmfestival Kitzbühel since its beginnings, his main responsibilities include marketing and graphic design. Since February 2015 he is a partner of Filmfestival Kitzbühel GmbH.

Kathryn Perrotti

Head of FFKB-Magazin, founding member

Born in 1982, grew up in the UK, Saudi-Arabia, Italy and Austria. Kathryn Perrotti studied communications and art history in Vienna and Salzburg, before moving to Milan, to do her master’s degree in marketing and communications. Until 2020 she worked full-time for the Swarovski company at their headquarters in Wattens, Austria. From 2008 until 2011 she was part of Swarovski Entertainment and helped to set up the film production company, assuming responsibility for the departments of communication and story development. Perrotti worked on the concepts for and produced Shaker Kapur’s “Passage” and Clemens Turner’s “Panta Rhei”. After maternity leave she returned to work as part of the global sales team. As a mother of five, she currently is on maternity leave, but is planning to resume her position at FFKB in autumn of this year.

Michael Reisch

Managing director & programme team

Michael Reisch is a founding member of the FFKB. He is a cultural worker and lives in Vienna. Since 2012 he has been involved in various film and arts projects, specializing in concept design and production. From 2007 to 2012 he studied film directing in the USA. After taking his degree he worked as assistant director with Sharon von Wietersheim in Munich. In 2013 he co-founded the Filmfestival Kitzbühel; in 2014 he launched the Script

Marion Buchner

Assistant to the Managing director

Program Team

Markus Mörth

Born in Graz. Studied directing at the University of Television and Film in Munich. The graduation film “Allerseelen” receives the First Steps Award. Community service as a refugee caregiver for Caritas. Then worked as a freelance director and screenwriter, mainly for cinema (feature film), TV (documentary film). Lecturer at the Karl-Franzens-University Graz. In addition, since 2013 founder and managing director of the “Steiermark script workshop”, a cooperation with the renowned Munich script workshop. Lives with his family in Munich and Graz.

Prizes and awards (selection):
First Steps Award (“All Souls’ Day,” fic.)
Carl Mayer Screenplay Award, Audience Award Bolzano Film Festival Bozen 2017 (“Siblings”, Fic.)
Prelate Hungarian Recognition Prize for Journalism 2010 (“Life in the Between Worlds”, Doc.)

Tania Carlin

Studied acting in London. Since 2011 moderation at various film festivals such as Munich Film Festival, Berlinale, Max Ophüls Prize, Zurich Film Festival, Hofer Filmtage, DOK.fest Munich, Achtung Berlin and the children’s media festival Goldener Spatz or for film distributors. Since 2017 she has been responsible for the annual co-production seminar on commission of the FFA with representatives of international film funding agencies and production companies, as well as the “Debut im Erste” pitching sessions of the Hessian Broadcasting Corporation in 2021.

As an actress, she appeared in films such as Nymphomaniac (von Trier), Westen (Schwochow), The Invisibles (Räfle) or in TV formats such as Tatort, Bad Banks, The Specialists or Night Sisters.

Tania Carlin is delighted to be part of the program team at the Kitzbühel Film Festival.

Ina Borrmann

Born in Freiberg/Saxony. Studied theater studies and German at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, gaining knowledge, but didn’t finish. Passionate studies at the University of Television and Film Munich, Department of Film and TV Play. Completion of the KH diploma with a documentary essay. Since then, radically personal or autobiographically inspired films. Various festival participations.

For many years moderation for film distributors and festival work in various areas: program selection, moderation, location or guest management, film education e.g. for Berlinale, DOK.fest Munich, Filmfest Munich, Hofer Filmtage, Filmfestival Kitzbühel, Filmfest Achtung Berlin (prev. Filmfestival Max Ophüls Prize , NaturVision film festival).
Member of AG.DOK, PRO QUOTE Film and the Value Academy Gut Gödelitz.

Ina Borrmann lives and works as a freelance filmmaker in Berlin and has a son. She got to know the Kitzbühel Film Festival in 2015 by taking part in the screenwriting retreat.

Patrick Winkler

Patrick Winkler, born in Graz, studied journalism and theater studies in Vienna and Milan. He worked as a projectionist and did community service by looking after homeless people. In 2004 he moved to Berlin, where he received further training as a director and casting assistant and accompanied numerous film productions at Studio Babelsberg as a freelancer (including Inglourious Basterds, The White Ribbon and Homeland). Since 2018, Patrick Winkler has been working in online marketing and event organization at the Viennese film distributor “Filmladen”. He writes reviews and conducts interviews for the film magazines Deadline and Virus and lives in Vienna.

Niki Waltl

Niki Waltl is a Tyrolean cameraman and filmmaker who started filming in his early youth. At that time it was the snowboarding videos that got him excited and he too worked in the sports sector for several years. In 2009 his path then led to Barcelona, where he completed a three-year apprenticeship as a cameraman at the CECC film school. Since then, Niki has set up his base in Tyrol again and is actively involved in various film projects from here.

Mona Walch

Mona Walch grew up south of Munich. She discovered her love for culture and the art of storytelling at an early age. She graduated in Berlin and studied “Culture and Management”. During her studies she already worked passionately at the interfaces of the arts, especially in the areas of film, music, theater and free art. After working in New York, she returned to her home country and took over the management of program coordination at the Munich Film Festival.
Since 2012 she has been working as a freelance cultural manager, curator and moderator for various international film festivals and projects such as the One Young World Summit 2021. Since 2022 she has also been Head of Artist and Business Relations at TapGig. This year she will be part of the Selection Committee of the Kitzbühel Film Festival for the third time.

Social Media and Press

Gregor Schmidinger

Social Media

Gregor Schmidinger is a Vienna-based screenwriter and director. He studied screenwriting at the University of California at Los Angeles and his film work includes short films, music videos, commercials and a feature film. His two short films THE BOY NEXT DOOR (2008) and HOMOPHOBIA (2012) together have more than 15 million views on YouTube. His first feature film NEVRLAND (2019) was awarded the Youth Jury Prize at the 40th Max-Ophüls Prize Film Festival and the Thomas Pluch Special Prize for the best screenplay. Gregor Schmidinger is a member of the jury of the Austrian film evaluation commission and one of the founding members of the Porn Film Festival Vienna.

Johanna Monitzer

press support

Johanna Monitzer, born in Kitzbuehel, has been working in the media sector for over ten years. After a commercial school career, she completed an apprenticeship as a qualified media maker. Before she became self-employed in the areas of text, communication and social media in 2022, she wrote as a print journalist for various newspapers. She accompanied the Kitzbühel Film Festival for many years as head of the cultural department for the Kitzbüheler Anzeiger. With the step into self-employment, she changed sides and will from now on be responsible for press work at the film festival.

Screenwriting Retreat

Sebastian Andrae

artistic director of the FFKB screenplay retreat

The renowned screenwriter and showrunner Sebastian Andrae has been the artistic director of the FFKB screenplay retreat since 2016. Born in Hamburg in 1968, he studied history, German and law in Göttingen from 1988 to 1992 and switched to directing in 1992 at the University of Television and Film in Munich. He had previously published plays and graduated with a degree in screenwriting for a feature film.

Since 2007 Andrae has been on the board of the Association of German Screenwriters (VDD), which is also organizing the World Conference of Screenwriters (WCOS) with international colleagues in Berlin in 2018. He was a member of several expert juries and the award committee, the script committee and as a representative of the creative minds of the Executive Committee of the Film Funding Agency (FFA) and is currently the chairman of the Committee for Innovation and Structural Issues there. Since 2009, Andrae has presented the annual German Film Award for the best screenplay (LOLA) at the Berlinale.

Among other things, Andrae is the winner of the German television award for the best comedy series ‘Magda macht das schon’, which was also nominated for a Rose d’Or, as well as the first prize of the expert jury at the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival for his family series Animals up under the roof.

Advisory Board

Michael von Wolkenstein

Michael von Wolkenstein was born in Vienna in 1940 as the son of Dr. Anton von Wolkenstein and Martha-Sophie von Wolkenstein. He has been married to Astrid since 1968 and they have two sons.

1959-1963 University of Vienna, law

1965 Founding of his own company: MW Agency for Film & TV

1966 managing partner at SASCHA-UFA Werbefilm GmbH

1971 Founding of SATEL TV & Film Production GmbH (Polygram, CABV, Selva)

1980 Founding of Satel-Doc Int. London

1971 – 2006 President, Managing Director and shareholder of the SATEL Group

Michael von Wolkenstein has produced numerous films for cinema and television, series and documentaries, including 38, The Wide Land, Pupil Gerber, Stories from the Vienna Woods, Krambambuli, All for the Mafia, Andreas Hofer, Burning Secret, The Healer, Marie Bonaparte, Opera Ball, Radetzky March, Vino Santo, Hikes through the Mark Brandenburg, The Mixer, Toward the Sun, The Piefkesaga, Kottan determines, Schlosshotel Orth, Soko Donau, Dinosaurs, Johann Strauss, John Houston, Coronation Mass, Madagascar, locations of world literature, and many more.

Other functions

Since 1990 – lay judge at the Vienna Commercial Court, court-certified expert for film and television

Since 1991 board member and treasurer of the FIAPF (Fédération International des Associations de Producteurs de Films)

Since 2006 member of the committee of the SPIO (leading organization of the German film industry)

President of the Association of Friends of the Kitzbühel Film Festival since 2013

Co-founder and Honorary President of the Austrian Film Commission

Co-founder and board member of VAM

Various awards, including recipient of the Golden Medal of Honor of the Republic of Austria

Veronica Ferres

Veronica Ferres (born 10 June 1965) grew up in Solingen. After finishing school she studied German, psychology and theatre sciences at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, before embarking on a career in acting, her true passion.

After her breakthrough with the Oscar and Golden Globe nominated film Schtonk! by Helmut Dietl, she became known to a wide audience through her lead role in Das Superweib (1996). She proved her talent as a comedian in films such as Der Nanny by and with Matthias Schweighöfer, Unter deutschen Betten and in an episode of the hit series Jerks.

Other TV productions include Die Manns, Die Frau vom Checkpoint Charlie, Das Wunder von Berlin, Marco W. – 247 Tage im türkischen Gefängnis and Sie hat es verdient, the ZDF film Tod auf Raten, Liebe auf den ersten Trick and Unzertrennlich nach Verona, as well as the ZDF two-part film Im Wald and the Netflix show Berlin Station.

The ARD feature film Meister des Todes by Daniel Harrich got political attention. The sequel aired on 1  April 2020 on ARD. In 2019 she played a lead role in the short film Malou by Director Adi Wojaczek and producer Patrick Mölleken, which premiered at the 23rd LA Shorts International Film Festival in Los Angeles. At the Oscar-qualifying 22nd Manhattan Short Film Festival Malou was selected as a finalist for a qualification for the 92nd Academy Awards 2020.

Since the Oscar nomination in 1992 she regularly stars in international productions, e.g. Catherine the Greatwith Catherine Zeta Jones, Klimt  and Casanova Variations with John Malkovich, Les Misérables with Gérard Depardieu, Hector and the Search for Happiness with Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike and Jean Reno, Adam Resurrected with Jeff Goldblum, Pay the Ghost with Nicolas Cage, The Comedian with Robert de Niro, Danny DeVito and Harvey Keitel, Siberia with Keanu Reeves, Werner Herzog’s Salt and Fire with Michael Shannon and Gael Garcia Bernal, Death of an Author with Sir Ben Kingsley, and Berlin, I love You with Helen Mirren and Keira Knightley.

In 2019 she starred e.g. in Dreamland with Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer and Luke Evans, the mystery thrillerThe Darker the Lake directed by Lok Kwan Woo, the romantic comedy Love, Weddings and other Disasters with Diane Keaton and Jeremy Irons, Best Sellers with Michael Caine, and Every Breath You Take with Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan and Sam Claflin.

Her filmography includes more than 100 films, among them 25 international productions. She is also a successful stage actress, e.g. at Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Bayerisches Staatstheater; from 2002 until 2004 she played the “Buhlschaft”, the female lead character in Jedermann, the traditional opening play of the Salzburg Festival.

She has won numerous prizes and awards, amongst them the Adolf Grimme Prize in Gold, the Deutsche Fernsehpreis and several Golden Cameras, as well as the Bayerische Fernsehpreis and the Bambi, the international Emmy Award, and many international awards. In 2006 she received the Bavarian Order of Meritand in 2019 the prestigious Europamedaille.

In 2013 she established her own production company, Construction Film, which produces German and international movies.

Karol Martesko-Fenster

Born in Austria, Karol Martesko-Fenster has become a respected American entrepreneur who has made his mark in American independent film over the last several decades. Through his expertise in feature film, broadcast, publishing and the Internet, he is responsible in part for advancements in the media industry.

Karol is Managing Partner of Cinelan and Thought Engine / Media Group and works closely with Abramorama, Gull Gotham and Iridium One Entertainment.

In 2011 he joined S2BN Entertainment and was responsible for media interest, development, acquisition, production, licensing and distribution. In 2008, Karol Martesko-Fenster worked at Babel Networks as senior vice president and general manager, including the online and mobile distribution platform babelgum.com. He was previously a strategic advisor to various film and media companies including Arts Alliance, T5M/Rightster, Com, SBI Management and Tribeca Enterprise.

Karol acted as producer for Torno Subito – Maurizio Cattelan by Maura Axelrod and Homme Less by Thomas Wirthensohn. He was also executive producer on Phil Cox’ The Love Hotel (’14), The Bengali Detective (2013 Grierson Documentary Award, 2011 Sundance and Berlin Film Festival), Danfung Dennis’ Hell And Back Again (2013 Emmy nomination for Best Documentary). , 2013 Grierson Documentary Award, 2012 Oscar Nominee for Best Documentary, 2011 Sundance Winner of the World Documentary Grand Jury Award and Best Cinematography), Noel Dernesch & Moritz Springer’s Journey To Jah (Zurich Film Festival Audience Award 2013), Havana Markings Smash & Grab : The Story of the Pink Panthers (’13), Amy Benson’s The Girl who Knew Too Much, and Daniel McCabe’s This Is Congo.

Karol also managed all stages of production and distribution on various platforms of Emmett Malloy’s Big Easy Express (2013 Grammy Winner, 2012 SXSW Audience Award) and is collaborating with Leslie Iwerks on her film Citizen Hearst (’13), Sing Your Song with Harry Belafonte and Michael Cohl (winner of the 2012 NAACP Image Awards, 2011 Sundance US Documentary Competition). Karol was Executive Producer on James Smith’s Floored (’10), Jamie King and Peter Manns Dark Fiber (’10), Co-Executive Producer on Dean Budnick & Peter Shapiro’s Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Nightclub (’06), Executive Produced Rob Nilsson’s Frank Dead Souls (’06), produced Gordon Eriksen & Heather Johnston’s Scenes from the New World (’94), Myth or Reality – The von Trapp Family (’92) and worked with Richard Linklater on his Film Before Sunrise (’95), which opened the Sundance Film Festival and won the Silver Bear in Berlin.

Previously, Karol was General Manager of Film at Palm Pictures and Chairman of RES Media Group, also part of Chris Blackwell’s Palm business. During those five years he oversaw the strategic reorganization of the film division and was responsible for the Palm film projects Scratch and Sex and Lucia. Karol managed all activities and brand positioning for the RES department, including responsibility for the RESFEST Digital Film Festival, a digital arts and entertainment festival that has now spread to over 6 continents, 19 countries and 40 cities.

Prior to Palm, Karol was President and Editor of Rising Tide Studio, a unified media and convergence company, for three years, where he contributed to the distribution and development of Silicon Alley Reporter and Digital Coast Reporter Magazine, as well as numerous media, finance and technology conferences.

In the early 1990s he produced Great Performances Music on PBS, as well as over 20 music TV formats and five live broadcasts including: Gala of Stars, Mozart in Salzburg by James Levine, Celebrating Gershwin: S’Wonderful & The Jazz Age, Don Giovanni with Herbert von Karajan, Madama Butterfly with Hal Prince, Pavarotti returns to Naples and From Vienna: The New Year’s Concert with Walter Cronkite.

Karol was Sales Manager during the Independent Film Market’s breakthrough in 1989 and Managing Director of the Independent Feature Project in 1990, during which he restructured the film services organization and helped initiate the Gotham Awards.

Throughout his career, Karol has always been at the forefront of new developments. This enabled him to launch Big Easy Express as the first global digital release of a feature film before its traditional iTunes release. Karol also accomplished the groundbreaking episodic mobile distribution of a feature film (Sally Potter’s RAGE), as well as web distribution of 9 prequels while making the award-winning documentary The Bengali Detectives. In addition, Karol was co-founder and initiator of conditionone.com, cinelan.com, indieWIRE.com, Filmmaker Magazine, RES Magazine and the Virtual Film Festival.

Karol has worked on the following Webby Award nominated and award-winning companies: FOCUS FORWARD – Short Films, Big Ideas ’12, Sally Potter’s RAGE ’10, epitonic.com ’03, indieWIRE.com ’01 & ’03 and sputnik7. com 2001. Karol has appeared in numerous international publications and is a regular speaker at film and media events around the globe focusing on transformative entrepreneurship and immersive, video-centric applications. Current and past platforms include Bella Gaia, The Collaborative Film, Rising Tide Studios, WorkBookProject and Hamptons International, as well as the LA Independent Film Festival.

Born in Vienna, Karol has lived in over 20 international cities and is fluent in German and English. He received a B.A. at SUNY Purchase and an M.F.A. Graduated from Columbia University with majors in Media Law, Theater Management and Film Production. When not working, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife Julia and their three children.

Nicole Beutler

Nicole Beutler, who was born in Vienna, began her classical ballet education when she was four years old.  She started her career at the theatre (Theater in der Josefstadt). In addition to her work on stage she starred innumerous cinema and TV films, as well as shows such as Schlosshotel Orth (ZDF/ORF), Bernds Hexe (RTL) or Der Bergdoktor (ZDF).

Currently she is shooting the 6th season of the show Vorstadtweiber (ORF/ARD) and the 3rd season of Walking on Sunshine (ORF).

She starred in international films such as Klimt (with John Malkovich), directed by Raoul Ruiz, Princesse Marie(with Catherine Deneuve), directed by Benoît Jacquot, and The Bucket, directed by Francesca Pollak.

In 2020 she was cast for the BBC/Netflix show The Serpent, alongside Tahar Rahim and Jenna ColemanShe is also a chansonnière, performing the programs #CHANSON, Wien – Paris – Retour and Liebes Lied! together with the Wiener Theatermusiker ensemble.

Nicole Beutler is fluent in German, French and English and works in all three languages.

For more information go to www.nicole-beutler.com

Stefan Arndt

Stefan Arndt was born in Munich in 1961. Together with directors Tom Tykwer, Dani Levy and Wolfgang Becker he founded the creative union X Filme Creative Pool in 1994. Arndt is the producer of X Filme Creative Pool’s films (e.g. Lola rennt, Good Bye, Lenin!, Amour, Cloud Atlas, Das weiße Band) and, in his capacity as managing director, manages the company together with Uwe Schott.

In 2000 Stefan Arndt founded X Verleih AG together with Manuela Stehr. He was a co-founder of the Berlin Sputnik-Kollektiv, and a founding member of the Deutsche Filmakademie, for which he also acted as chairman until November 2009. Since 2016 he is head of the directing department of the HFF München.

FILMOGRAPHY

Producer of:

Tom Tykwer’s Die tödliche MariaWinterschläferLola renntDer Krieger und die KaiserinHeaven (in cooperation with Miramax), DreiEin Hologramm für den König

Wolfgang Becker’s Das Leben ist eine BaustelleGood Bye, Lenin!Ich & Kaminski

Dani Levy’s Stille Nacht, MeschuggeMein FührerDie Känguru-Chroniken 

Michael Haneke’s Das weiße BankAmourHappy End 

Also: Babylon Berlin (written and directed by Tom Tykwer, Hendrik Handloegten, Achim von Borries), Absolute Giganten (Sebastian Schipper), Agnes und seine Brüder (Oskar Roehler), Cloud Atlas (Tom Tykwer, Lana and Andy Wachowski), Quellen des Lebens (Oskar Roehler), Das finstere Tal (Andreas Prochaska), Jeder stirbt für sich allein (Vincent Perez), Vor der Morgenröte (Maria Schrader), Frantz (Francois Ozon) and Zwei Herren im Anzug (written and directed by Sepp Bierbichler)

AWARDS

1x Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, 1x Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, 7x Academy Award nominations, 2x Palme D’Or, 2x Golden Globe, 38x Deutscher Filmpreis, 10x European Film Award, 16x Bayerischer Filmpreis, 6x César, 1x Critics Choice Movie Award and more.

Prof. Dr. jur. Klaus Schaefer

Born in Frankfurt am Main in 1952. From 1973 to 1977 he studied law at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. 1977 first juridical state examination, 1980 second juridical state examination in Munich. 1981 PhD at the LMU (thesis on copyright law).

1981 to 1987 legal advisor at the Bavarian ministry of education and cultural affairs and at the Bavarian state representation in Bonn, 1987 to 1989 head of division for the Bavarian ministry of science and the arts at the Bavarian state chancellery, 1989 to 1995 head of the media law and media policy division at the Bavarian state chancellery.

1995 to 2000 first appointed representative for the establishment of, then deputy managing director and authorized signatory of, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern GmbH (FFF Bayern). From 1 January 2001 until 31 January 2018 managing director of FFF Bayern.

Since 1995 lecturer at the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (HFF), 2007 awarded honorary professorship of the HFF; since 1 February 2018 lawyer in Munich/Pullach.

Nils Dünker

Dünker originally trained as a photographer. In 1990 he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked first as a set photographer and camera assistant, and then for two years as a production manager for independent productions. Back in Munich he enrolled at the HFF München to study production and media industry.

As a student he also worked as a freelance production manager for music clips and commercials. After graduating from the HFF in October 1996 he established the “Young Guns” business division within Roman Kuhn und Partner Werbefilmproduktion GmbH.

In July 1997 he joined Helkon Media AG as a producer and head of production, where he was responsible for productions such as Der Schandfleck or Nichts als die Wahrheit.

As a freelance producer for Helkon Media AG he realized the feature films Kismet and Der tote Taucher im Wald. In September 2000 he moved to Berlin, where he established and managed the Berlin storydevelopment department for TV60 Filmproduktion.

In April 2003 Nils Dünker became a self-employed producer; in July 2006 he founded Lailaps Pictures GbR. At the same time he signed a First Look Agreement with Monaco Film GmbH, for which he produced two Marcus H. Rosenmüller films, Beste Zeit and Beste Gegend. Dünker is the co-creator of the TV show bible for one of ZDF’s most successful primetime shows, Der Kriminalist. He also developed and produced the event film Westflug – Entführung aus Liebe for RTL.

In June 2010 Dünker, together with a silent partner based in Switzerland, transformed Lailaps Pictures GbR into a corporation. Within this new company structure Dünker co-produced Oscar winner Paul Haggis’ new film, Third Person, starring Liam Neeson, Mila Kunis, Olivia Wilde, James Franco and Adrian Brody. The following year shooting for Peter Bogdanovich’s comedy Broadway Therapy started in New York, starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson.

In collaboration with the makers of Stromberg he produced the award-winning satirical comedy Vorsicht vor Leuten, shot in Berlin and Mallorca for WDR. The production was awarded the Comedy Prize for best TV film and was nominated for a Golden Camera.

The award-winning artist portrait Our Last Tango was Lailaps’ first documentary production, realized in collaboration with Wim Wenders as executive producer.

In 2015 the film Die dunkle Seite des Mondes was produced, and shooting started for Eine unerhörte Frau, an FFF Bayern funded TV film produced for ZDF/arte and directed by Hans Steinbichler. It was distributed to German cinemas by Wild Bunch and received several awards, including the One Future Prize and the Deutsche Fernsehpreis 2018.

Together with first-time director Adrian Goiginger, Nils Dünker developed the script for Die beste aller Welten, a German-Austrian co-production that was top of the arthouse charts.

Tommy Pridnig

Tommy Pridnig is an Austrian film producer. Since 2010 he is managing partner of the film production company Lotus Film.

In 1994 he enrolled at the film academy of the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna; in 2003 he took his master’s degree. Between 2000 and 2006 he worked as a freelance production manager and executive producer. In 2006 he started working as a producer for Ulrich Seidl, since 2009 he has been a producer for Lotus Film. In 2010 he took over Lotus Film from its founder Erich Lackner and is now the company’s managing partner.

He is a three-time winner of the Austrian film award in the category production and also received the Austrian film award for best script for Thank you for Bombing. He is a member of the Akademie des Österreichischen Films, jury member of the Zürcher Filmstiftung, chairman of the AAFP and member of the supervisory committee of the VAM.

Under his management Lotus Film has realized numerous cinema and TV productions, working with directors such as Stefan Ruzowitzky, Marvin Kren, Wim Wenders, Michael Glawogger, Adrian Goiginger and Barbara Eder.

Arno Ortmair

The founder and managing partner of Film-Line Productions GmbH in Munich, Vienna, Berlin and Eclypse Filmpartner in Vienna has been a successful producer of German and international motion pictures and TVfilms for many years. Arno Ortmair is an expert for international co-productions and film financing. In 1987 he established Film-Line in Germany and Austria as a service production company for American and English motion pictures (James Bond, Shining Trough, I SPY), gaining know-how and experience that came in useful when he later went on to developing and producing his own projects.

His own productions include motion pictures such as Klimt (Raoul Ruiz, John Malkovich), The Poet (Dougray Scot, Laura Harring), or TABU – Es ist die Seele ein Fremdes auf Erden (Christoph Stark, Lars Eidinger), as well as major award-winning TV events such as Das Ewige Lied (Franz Xaver Bogner), Die Schwabenkinder (Jo Baier) or Margarete Steiff (Xaver Schwarzenberger).

In addition to his work as a producer, he also chaired the Verband Deutscher Filmproduzenten for six years,during which time he significantly expanded and rejuvenated the association and made it the most important representative body for independent producers. He represented the interests of the association as holder of the following honorary offices/member of the following panels:

  • Chairman of the Verband Deutscher Filmproduzenten
  • FFA board member
  • FFA awards committee
  • FFA Kiss innovation committee
  • FFA work group German film heritage
  • Presiding committee of Spitzenorganisation der Filmwirtschaft (SPIO)
  • International Federation of Film Producers Associations(FIAPF)
  • German Films
  • VGF advisory board
  • AGICOA
  • CSU film commission
  • Austrian producers union Film-Austria
  • European Producers Club

In May 2017, Arno Ortmair handed over the chairmanship of the Verband Deutscher Filmproduzenten to a younger board. He is now focusing on the expansion of his company in collaboration with international financing and production partners and media companies.

Dr. Gottfried Langenstein

Born in Munich on 15 March 1954

Studied philosophy, psychology and politics

1979 – 1982 Theaterfestival München, responsible for French productions, such as Mephisto and Richard III by Ariane Mnouchkine

1986 – 1987 coordinator of the science exhibition for the celebration of Berlin’s 750th anniversary

1989 – 1995 head of the ZDF department for general foreign relations

1995 – 1998 ZDF online coordinator

1995 – 2000 senior head of the ZDF international affairs department

1996 – 2000 member of the supervisory board of TransTel GmbH

1994 – 2000 head of the ZDF festival commission

1998 – 2000 vice-president of the TV committee of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)

2000 – 2017 chairman of the board of 3sat

2002 – 2017 board of trustees “Museumsinsel” and Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK)

2002 – 2016 ARTE managing board/vice-president and president

Current Roles:

Member of the foundation board of Allianz Kulturstiftung

Member of the board of trustees of Technische Universität München

Member of Wüstenrot Stiftung

Member of the board of trustees of Mecklenburger Festspiele

Member of MaxPlanck-Gesellschaft

Member of the advisory committee of Filmfestival Kitzbühel

Honours:

Knight of the Legion of Honour

Bavarian Order of Merit

Medal for Outstanding Service to Bavaria in a United Europe

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Badge of Honour

Holger Fuchs

Der gebürtige Bayer entdeckte während seines Studiums als Vorführer im Programmkino in Ulm seine Leidenschaft zum Film. 1995 folgte eine abgeschlossene Ausbildung zum Filmtheaterkaufmann (rinke medien consult) und eine Beteiligung als Gesellschafter bei Pro Video Mediatheken.
Bis 1998 arbeitete er im Filmvertrieb bei PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (Universal Pictures) in Hamburg und wechselte dann zu Buena Vista International (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Germany) nach München. Dort war er als Theatrical Branch Manager bis 2007 tätig.
Ab 2007 übernahm Holger bei Concorde Filmverleih die Funktion des Verleihchefs. Von 2010 bis 2016 war er Marketing & Sales Director beim Constantin Film Verleih. Bis 2020 fungierte er als Geschäftsführer und Ko-Produzent für den Concorde Film Verleih (Tele München Gruppe / Leonine Studios) in Grünwald. Bis 2022 Geschäftsführer und Produzent der Mavie Films GmbH in Potsdam.
Seit 2022 Geschäftsführer der Opus Mediengruppe sowie Geschäftsführer der Pexcom GmbH – Public Exhibition & Communication, der United Contents GmbH, der VEA- Verwertungseinrichtung Audiovision GmbH in München, sowie der Großes Kino Merchandise & Event GmbH in Wachenheim.

Heinrich Ambrosch

Heinrich Ambrosch ist ein österreichischer Filmproduzent, geschäftsführender Gesellschafter der SATEL Film und Mitglied im Vorstand des Verbandes der Österreichischen Filmproduzenten AAFP.

In seiner Funktion als Produzent ist er für die die langlaufende ORF/ZDF-Serie „SOKO Donau/Wien“, die preisgekrönte Reihe „Die Toten von Salzburg“, die erste Kooperation von ORF und Netflix „Freud“ sowie zahlreiche internationale Koproduktionen wie „Im Netz der Camorra“, „Lucky Per“ (Regie Bille August) und die Verfilmung der erfolgreichen Graphic Novel „Nachts im Paradies“ verantwortlich.

Heinrich Ambrosch ist mehrfacher ROMY-Preisträger, erhielt 2007 den Fernsehpreis der Erwachsenenbildung für die Mysteryreihe „8×45“ und für seine Produktion „Freud“ die Gold Medaille in der Kategorie „Crime Drama“ bei den NY Film & TV Awards.

Vor seiner Zeit bei Satel war Heinrich Ambrosch sendungsverantwortlicher Redakteur im Bereich Fiktion beim Österreichischen Rundfunk (ORF), sowie als Dramaturg, Stoffentwickler und Drehbuchautor tätig. Von 2000 bis 2005 war er österreichischer Repräsentant im Board of Management bei EURIMAGES.“