Speakers

Mychael Danna

Lifetime Achievement Award 2023

Mychael Danna is an Academy Award-winning film composer recognized for his evocative blending of non-western traditions with orchestral and electronic music. He composed the transculturally inspired 2013 Oscar and Golden Globe-winning score for Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. Danna also composed scores for Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm and Ride With the Devil. Other noted credits include Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated films such as his long time collaborator Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter and Exotica, Moneyball and Capote with director Bennett Miller, Monsoon Wedding, Little Miss Sunshine, (500) Days of Summer, Being Julia, Deepa Mehta’s Water, Girl, Interrupted, and Tom McCarthy’s Stillwater. Often collaborating with his brother Jeff, they have scored The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus for Terry Gilliam, The Breadwinner, The Addams Family 1 and The Addams Family 2, and Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur and Onward. He won an Emmy Award for outstanding music composition for the mini-series World Without End. Other television scores include Alias Grace (Emmy Nomination),Tyrant (3 Emmy Nominations), Camelot (Emmy Nomination) and Return to Space (Emmy Nomination) directed by Oscar-winning directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, co-scored with his friend Harry Gregson-Williams. Recent film scores are for Where the Crawdads Sing directed by Olivia Newman, and My Father’s Dragon with director Nora Twomey.

Among Mychael’s other awards are the Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing (2013), the World Soundtrack Awards for Film Composer of the Year, and Best Score of the Year (both 2013), and the Hollywood Film Award for Composer of the Year (2016). 

“The most gratifying filmmaking experiences are ones that take effort to unpeel the layers surrounding the heart of the story and to find the best musical expression of that heart,” says Danna. “Those are always the film scores I am most proud of.”

Michael Beckmann

Bassist, Film Composer, Music Consultant

Michael Beckmann is a renowned bassist, film composer and music consultant. He is co-founder of the RAINBIRDS and has written numerous successful chart productions and film scores.

Beckmann is a member of the German Film Academy and the American Guild of Music Supervisors, and lectures at the Beuth University of Applied Sciences and appears as a panel guest at music conventions and film festivals.

He has been working as a music producer and composer since 1992 and celebrated chart successes with music productions for Extrabreit, Keimzeit and Chris Norman. Since 2000, Beckmann has worked as an executive producer and music consultant on numerous film and television projects. He is known for his film music for the German blockbusters "Türkisch für Anfänger" and the three films in the "Fack ju Göhte" series. His last works include award-winning series such as "Dschermeni" (ZDF/Kika), the two Wendy films, "Schneewittchen und der Zauber der Zwerge" or the successful "Meine Mutter...." - Degeto series or the music supervising of the streaming series Herzogpark. He was the 2019 winner of the German Film Music Award for Best Film Song.

Current projects include film music for the documentary "Die Liebe ist eine Baustelle", the release of the hybrid production music library GOTMUSIC?, speaker at Soundtrack Cologne and Soundtrack Zürich in summer 2023 and monthly releases of a new album with current music starting in June 2023.

Stefan Behrisch

Composer, Conductor, Music Producer

Prof. Stefan Behrisch, born in Cologne in 1971, first studied mathematics, then guitar, piano, composition and arranging. He is active worldwide as a composer, arranger, conductor and music producer.

His work includes film scores with Howard Shore and Cliff Martinez, orchestral productions with Jacob Collier and Snarky Puppy, Sarah Connor and Max Mutzke, the new version of the "Ring des Nibelungen" for the Cologne Opera, jazz productions with Vince Mendoza and Michael Gibbs, world music with Bokanté and much more.

He has have numerous collaborations with the LA Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, HR Sinfonieorchester, Staatskapelle Dresden, WDR Big Band, Metropole Orkest, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Metropole Orkest and many more.

Many of the productions he has participated in have been nominated for Grammies and other awards and have achieved #1 chart success.

Stefan Behrisch is professor of composition at the Dresden University of Music.

Volker Bertelmann aka Hauschka

Composer

Volker Bertelmann is an internationally-acclaimed pianist, composer and experimental musician. In 2023 he was honored with an Academy Award and BAFTA in the Best Score category for his work on All Quiet on the Western Front (directed by Edward Berger).

Garth Davis’ Oscar-nominated film Lion, which he composed in collaboration with Dustin O’Halloran, was nominated for multiple awards: Oscar for Best Original Score, Golden Globe for Best Original Score, for Best Score at the Critics’ Choice Awards, for Best Original Score - Feature Film at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, and for Best Film Music at the British Academy Film Awards, or BAFTAs. 

Bertelmann has provided music for several leading films and television series. He composed the score for Patrick Melrose, Showtime’s Emmy-and BAFTA nominated mini-series, Gunpowder, the HBO mini-series starring Kit Harington, and Life After Life for BBC. He also composed film scores for Adrift, the 2018 romantic drama directed by Baltasa Kormákur, and, again in collaboration with O’Halloran, for Ammonite, which was short-listed for The Academy Awards in 2020. In 2022, he scored War Sailor, which was an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival. Bertelmann is an active member of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts, and Sciences.

Bertelmann, who in his solo work goes by the name Hauschka, is a uniquely innovative pianist; he is renowned both for his trademark sound, which he achieves by preparing the piano with various small objects, and his ability to improvise entire performances. His output is prodigious: he tours extensively, and has produced over twenty albums and EPs, both solo and in collaboration with others. He has worked, among many others, with the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, where he was the artist in residence, with Múm, the Icelandic experimental musical group, and with the Grammy-winning violinist Hilary Hahn. 

Yevgeni Birkhoff

Composer, Sound Designer

Yevgeni Birkhoff works as a composer, music producer, and sound designer. He creates music for media and international large scale event productions, composes and produces songs, and engages in the creation of acoustic sound art. Birkhoff's musical diversity is evident in his wide-ranging repertoire, from authentic EDM tracks and Musique Concrète soundscapes to orchestral scores. He has applied his talent and expertise to create tailored music and sound designs for renowned brands and clients such as Mercedes, Porsche, Electronic Arts, the Chinese Ministry of Tourism and Emaar Properties. His sound installations have been exhibited in prestigious institutions worldwide, including the German Rock and Pop Museum in Gronau, the Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood and the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.

In 2010, Birkhoff received the Peer Raben Award at "Soundtrack Cologne" for the best music in a short film. Additionally, many of the large-scale events underscored with his music have been recognized with international event industry awards, including the BrandEx Award in 2019, the German Design Award in 2016, and The Special Event 2015 Gala Award.

Recently, Yevgeni Birkhoff has been engaging with real-time media and Artificial Intelligence. He regularly holds lectures and workshops, sharing his expertise in these cutting-edge fields. In his teachings, he contributes his broad knowledge and innovative perspectives on how these technologies can be leveraged in music, audio post and event productions. His insights are highly valued in both academic institutions and industry forums.

Helge Borgarts

Video Game Composer

Helge Borgarts is a German composer and producer. Working in the games industry for more than 17 years, he was involved in more than 40 projects as a composer and/or producer. He produced and contributed music to the game “Tiger & Chicken”, which was awarded Best Mobile Core Game at the German Developer Awards. With Thomas Stanger he founded the brand “BowsToHymns” and scored trailers for developers and publishers like Crytek, Stratotainment or Higgs Games, wrote library demos for companies like Spitfire Audio, Steinberg or Orchestral Tools and provided music for SPM or Warner/Chappell. His latest works include the scores for the games “The Surge 2”, “The Surge – The Good, The Bad and the Augmented” and “A Year of Rain”. He is the program manager for games music at the renowned festival and conference for music in film and media Soundtrack_Cologne and a regular speaker and lecturer at events and universities. Since 2021 he is audio director and composer at Deck13 Interactive.

Helge works in Mülheim an der Ruhr and Cologne.

Philipp Budweg

Film Producer

Philipp Budweg - Producer | Managing Director  - Lieblingsfilm GmbH

Studied German Literature & Art History at LMU in Munich. (Degree: M.A.).
2000 Founded the film production schlicht und ergreifend together with Johannes Schmid.
2008 Re-foundation of the company. Meanwhile the producers Robert Marciniak, Thomas Blieninger and Philipp Budweg, as well as the writers/directors Johannes Schmid (Blöde Mütze!, Wintertochter, Agnes) and Marcus H. Rosenmüller (Wer früher stirbt ist länger tot) belong to Lieblingsfilm GmbH.

Philipp Budweg has been a member of the German and European Film Academy since 2012.

With RICO, OSKAR AND THE DEEP SHADOWS (2013) he won the German Film Award in the category "Best Children's Film" in 2015. The German-Italian film MOUNTAIN MIRACLE, produced in 2016, won prestigious awards worldwide, including the Lola in Gold (category "Best Children's Film 2018").

Excerpt Filmography

2022 WHAT THE FINN?!, feature film. (Director: Stefan Westerwelle) (Coproduction Lieblingsfilm + sad Origami), Distribution: Weltkino

2021 MY LIFE AS LOTTA 2, feature film. (Director: Martina Plura)
(Coproduction dagstar film + Lieblingsfilm + Senator Film Cologne) Distribution: Wild Bunch Germany

2020 INTO THE BEAT, feature film. (Director: Stefan Westerwelle) (Coproduction Lieblingsfilm, SK.Produktions, Senator Film Cologne), Distributed by Wild Bunch Germany

2019 MY LIFE AS LOTTA, feature film. (Director: Neele Leana Vollmar) (Coproductioon Lieblingsfilm + dagstar film + Senator Film Cologne), Distribution: Wild Bunch Germany

2018 MATTI AND SAMI, feature film. (Director: Stefan Westerwelle) (Co-production Lieblingsfilm + Aamu Film Company), Distribution: Universum

2017 MOUNTAIN MIRACLE, feature film. (Director: Tobias Wiemann) (Coproduction Lieblingsfilm + helios sustainable films), Distribution: Farbfilm, Golden Lola for "Best Children's Film" at the German Film Awards 2018

Doreen Damm

Lawyer

Doreen Damm was born 1974 in Eisenach/Thuringia and studied law from 1992 to 1998 in Jena and Berlin (HU), 1998 obtaining a law degree (1. Staatsexamen). From 1998 to 2000, she completed her legal clerkship at the Erfurt Regional/District Court and graduated as a fully qualified lawyer in 2000 (bar exam, 2. Staatsexamen). She has been working for ZDF’s Rights Management since 2000 and was promoted Head of subdivision, Rights Acquisitions in 2018. Her main areas of activity are: collecting societies, music copyright/royalties, reporting issues, photo and footage rights.

Dascha Dauenhauer

Film Composer

It was clear from an early age that music would be the defining element in Dascha Dauenhauer’s life. The Moscow-born composer began composing and playing the piano at the age of five and was taught in Composition by Igor Shatkovsky at the Moscow Music Conservatory as a child. 

After the family moved to Berlin, Dauenhauer attended at the “Academy for exceptionally gifted children and young people” and was accepted as a young student at the “Hanns Eisler” Academy of Music in Berlin at the age of twelve. She also received composition lessons at the Julius Stern Institute.

During this time, Dauenhauer was already composing her own pieces, and her orchestra piece “Sinfonietta” celebrated its world premiere at the Berlin Philharmonic in 2004.

In 2006 Dascha Dauenhauer began her diploma studies in music theory at the UDK Berlin and subsequently studied in the master’s programme in film music at the Film University Babelsberg.

Dascha Dauenhauer has been working as a film composer since 2015, collaborating on numerous feature films as a composer and music producer. The film Jibril (by Henrika Kull) had its premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2018, just like Burhan Qurbani’s celebrated work Berlin Alexanderplatz in 2020.  „Evolution" by Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó - was selected for Cannes International Film Festival 2021.

Dascha Dauenhauer can already look back on an award-winning career: in 2018 she was nominated in three categories for the German Film Music Award and won in the category „Best short film“ and „Newcomer“. In 2020, she won the German Film Award as well as the European Film Award for her music for BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ. In 2022 she received the GEMA Music Authors’ Prize in the category Composition Audiovisual Media and received the prestigious Best Music-Award for the Series „Souls“ at the Cannes International Series Festival. 

Most recently, Dascha Dauenhauer composed the music for the ZDF series “The Swarm”, which  was premiered in February 2023 at the International Film Festival in Berlin as well as the Film „Golda“ (starring Helen Mirren) directed by Guy Nattiv.

Filmography: 

2023                        THE GERMAN HOUSE

2023                        GOLDA

2023                        THE SWARM

2022                        SOULS

2022                        Das Ende der Welt wie wir sie kennen 

2020                        Displaced

2021                        Blood Red Sky

2021                        Evolution

2021                        Glück/Bliss

2021                        The Case You

2019                        Have a Nice Dog!

2020                        Berlin Alexanderplatz

2019                        Lovemobil

2018                        Adelheid, Kornelius und die Töde

2018                        Jibril

Jessica de Rooij

Composer, Pianist, Music Supervisor

As the daughter of a jazz bandleader and a singer, Jessica de Rooij was born into music. Right after learning to walk, she started to play the piano and composed her first songs with nine years.

Her first cinema visits awakened her fascination for the music behind the pictures, so she decided to study Music & Technology at the Utrecht School of Arts in the Netherlands.

After her master's degree, she moved to Los Angeles to ghostwrite for well-known composers.

For the last decade, she worked primarily in Berlin and expanded her work as a composer for cinema and television to do music supervising.

Besides more than 40 scores for feature films, Jessica recently composed the score for the TV series “SISI” and scored the Netflix hit “Blood & Gold”.

Mara Deuschle

Sync Manager

Mara Deuschle has been working in the music industry for over a decade as a concert promoter and artist manager around Switzerland, during her business studies at the University of St. Gallen. Eager to develop her perception of the music industry on an international level, Mara moved to Denmark for her master’s degree in Management of Creative Industries at Copenhagen Business School.

Currently based in Copenhagen while still working with Swiss artists as a manager, Mara started working in music licensing in 2021 and she is now the global sync manager for APL Publishing. Her main focus at this Nordic music publisher is representing their catalogue for all types of visual media on an international level, working together with broadcasters such as ARD, SRF and the BBC, and acquiring placements on programs like VICE on Showtime in the US.

Martin Dirkov

Composer

Danish Robert Award recipient for Best Score 2023 for Holy Spider. Martin Dirkov is a Danish filmcomposer, sounddesigner and musician who's currently based in Copenhagen. He graduated from The Danish Filmschool in 2011. He has collaborated with people all over the world.

Martin has composed music for several documentaries and feature films including “Gräns” (Border) by Ali Abassi, “Shorta“ by Anders Ølholm & Frederik Louis Hviid, “Holiday” by Isabella Eklöf, “The Charmer” by Milad Alami and “Shelley” by Ali Abassi.

Along with creating the score for selected feature films, he also created the score for the acclaimed DR series "Når støvet har lagt sig" from 2020.

He also does sounddesign on films, commercials, animation and art films and quite often blends music and sounddesign on these if appropriate.

Martin has previously been nominated for Best Original Score at the Danish Film Awards (Robert) in 2017 for his composition in "Shelley" and in 2021 for his composition in "Shorta".

Nominated for the HARPA Nordic FIlm Composers Award 2023 for his composition in Ali Abbasi's "Holy Spider".

Valerie Dobbelaere

Publicist

Valerie Dobbelaere is the founder of Strike A Score, a screen composers agency that both represents Belgian screen composers and promotes screen composers on a European level. She previously coordinated the music projects and film music industry activities at Film Fest Gent and the World Soundtrack Awards for over 10 years (concert productions, masterclasses, composition contest, the annual World Soundtrack Awards, album recording, industry events, international collaborations,..) and loved establishing the necessary platform to both established and young & upcoming film (music) talent. Valerie has worked with several renowned composers such as Howard Shore, Hans Zimmer, Elliot Goldenthal, James Newton Howard, Alberto Iglesias, Giorgio Moroder and Alexandre Desplat. Valerie joined Post Bills, a Brussels based press and communication agency specialising in PR for film, TV & music projects for 5 years before creating her own agency.

Brian D’Oliveira

Composer, Musician, Creative Technologist

Brian D’Oliveira is a multi-award-winning composer, multi-instrumentalist, and creative technologist from Montreal, Canada. He is renowned for his memorable and immersive soundtracks, which have been featured in hundreds of productions over the course of his career. He also founded La Hacienda Creative Studios, a company known for its unique, handcrafted approach to music creation, utilizing cutting-edge interactive technologies. In addition to his work at La Hacienda, Brian is also the head of MNTRA Instruments, the Studio’s research and development division focused on creating next-generation audio tools for the interactive and music industries. His work can be found providing the sound and musical universes present in games like Resident Evil 7 and 8, Shadow of Tomb Raider, League of Legends. Most recently, he served as the composer behind the epic scores on Disney Plus/ "Gannibal" (2022) which has taken Japan by storm.

Marc du Moulin

ECSA Secretary General

Marc du Moulin is Secretary General of ECSA (European Composer and Songwriter Alliance). He has an in-depth understanding of the functioning of the creative industries and an extensive experience in European Affairs.

He previously worked for the European Film Agency Directors, the Motion Picture Association, the European Commission (DG CNECT) and for Eurocinema. 

Marc holds a master's degree in UK-EU-US Copyright Law from King’s College London and a master's in European Studies from the Catholic Institute of Paris. 

Jean-Benoît Dunckel

Composer, Film Composer

Carbon, JB Dunckel’s first album in four years, considers the recent uncertainties that have befallen the planet and explores diffuse visions of how a better future might look. There are meditations on existential bliss (the airy, chiming Cristal Mind) and egotistical escapist fantasies (Sex UFO, which can’t help but recall Jeff Bezos phallic rocket). Yet Carbon also considers the subversive pleasures of nihilism: revelling in man’s insignificance compared to the cosmos (the languid Space) and wondering whether big tech might save us yet (the triumphalist Corporate Sunset). The album is a psychological test that reveals the listener’s own outlook, says Dunckel – an artist who taught pop fans how to dream more than 20 years ago as half of the trailblazing cosmic pop duo Air. Since then, he’s become a lauded, César-nominated composer for films such as François Ozon’s film Summer of 85.

He aims to make music that helps him escape reality. “It’s all about creating waves that bring me happiness – or that reveal how I feel. It has to drag me into a dream or a sort of internal pleasure.” He wants it to make listeners feel “ready to travel in space”, he says. “Music brings energy and I want them to feel this energy.” With Carbon, Dunckel is supplying the raw materials.

Dr. Yati Durant

Composer, Lecturer, Musician

Dr. Yati Durant is a U.S. born composer, lecturer, trumpeter and conductor. His musical background began with composition and jazz music from the age of 7. He was a founding member of the experimental jazz ensemble Honey Junkie and The Yati Durant Project Band in the 1990s. He studied with Portland trumpeter (and Grammy winner) Thara Memory before moving to New York, where he began a successful stint as a TV and film music composer. Yati holds a PhD in Composition from the University of Edinburgh along with a prestigious Konzertexam Meisterklasse in composition under the composer Krzysztof Meyer at the State Conservatory of Music in Cologne, Germany, and a Diploma in Electronic Composition under Hans Ulrich Humpert. He has also studied with George Crumb, Philip Lasser, Narcis Bonet, Lee Konitz and conducting with Jonathan Brett. From 2010 - 2019 Yati was a Lecturer and Programme Director of the MSc Composition for Screen Programme at the University of Edinburgh. His compositions and films have received many prizes from International festivals, including a 3rd Pl. Panorama Public Prize at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival for Erika Rabau – Der Puck von Berlin and a BAFA National Commerce Film Award nomination for the WDR/ARD documentary Ein Klavier geht um die Welt. 
He is a finalist of the 2009 Concorso Giovani Musicisti Europei in Aosta, Italy with his score to C. Chaplin’s The Vagabond. His contemporary compositions have been commissioned and performed in New York, Seattle, Berlin, Edinburgh, Cologne and Sao Paolo, released on CD and DVD by Film Dienst/Normal Records, Filmmuseum München and he remains an active performer of jazz, with regular appearances and recordings throughout Europe and USA. His TV and Film credits include work for WDR, ARD, HBO, MTV, Disney and many others.

Dr. Stefan Ellenberg

Lawyer

Dr. Stefan Ellenberg is a certified lawyer for IP rights with over 15 years of experience in the entertainment industry. He currently serves as the Head of Business Affairs at the music and media law firm Gutsch & Schlegel in Hamburg. Prior to his career as a lawyer, he gained in-house experience at Edel and Universal Music, among others. He has extensive experience in copyright matters, including drafting and negotiating complex license agreements with a focus on the music industry. Throughout his career, he has worked with numerous major and independent labels, music publishers, and platinum and gold record awarded artists. In addition, he regularly hosts webinars and speaks on topics related to copyright and trademark law.
You can reach out him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-stefan-ellenberg/

Jon Everist

Composer for Games and Film

Jon Everist is a multi award-winning and ASCAP-nominated composer for games and film, writing music for franchises such as Overwatch 2, Shadowrun and PUBG as well as Mike Bithell’s The Solitaire Conspiracy. He also scored the critically acclaimed BattleTech video game which was nominated for “Best Video Game Score of the Year” at the 34th ASCAP Screen Music Awards, and went on to win several other awards including honors from The Jerry Goldsmith Awards. Jon’s next opus for the alternate 1930s pulp adventure, The Lamplighters League, was recorded at the world famous Abbey Road Studios and will release in summer 2023.

André Feldhaus

Film Music Composer

Milena Fessmann

Music Supervisor, Radio host, Producer, DJ

Since 1991, Milena Fessmann has worked as a full-time DJ (2001-2014 Radio Eins After Work Lounge, Trompete/Berlin, European Film Awards 2015 etc.) and has worked for various radio stations. Since 1997 she works for Radio Eins/RBB with her own weekly show called "Free Falling".

In 1989 she founded CINESONG and has been working as a music supervisor on more than 400 films and series.

She is moderator of several national events and panels such as Reeperbahn-Festival 2014-22, c/o pop Cologne 2014-2022 and many more. Milena Fessmann teaches music supervising and copyright clearing at film schools such as DFFB Berlin and is advisory board member of the World Soundtrack Academy and Member of the European Filmacademy.

She founded a film production company called Sugar Town Filmproduction Gmbh & Co.kg in 2011. The first project was "The Potential of Noise- Conny Plank" by Stephan Plank and Reto Caduff. She is executive-producer of "When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit", directed by award winning director Caroline Link and her newest documentary Project is called "Jung kaputt spart Altersheime", directed by Reto Caduff about female punk and new wave in german speaking territory from 1979-89 which is currently in pre-production.

Marie-Hélène Froidevaux

Music Supervisor

After over a decade in the Music Industry, Marie-Hélène Froidevaux founded her Publishing Company "Interstellar Music" in 2016. By 2019 she started supervising on film productions and has been involved in numerous projects since. The 38-year-old is furthermore highly engaged in music policy issues and founded the Openair Bivio, a music festival at 1800 meters above sea level. A little heads up: By 2024 "Interstellar Music" is merging with Black Box Music and will become “Black Stellar Music GmbH”. 

Annette Gentz

Agent, Film and Stage Music

Annette Gentz is one of Germany’s premiere agents for film and stage music.
Her company Annette Gentz / Music & Film Arts has been producing and supervising soundtracks for European and international productions for more than 10 years, collaborating with film directors and producers, choreographers, theatres and opera houses, publishers and record labels worldwide.

Previous film projects she was involved in include scores by Volker Bertelmann/ Hauschka, Dascha Dauenhauer, Michael Nyman, Hannah von Hübbenet, Carsten Nicolai/ Alva Noto, Max Richter, Freya Arde, Frans Bak, Annette Focks and John Gürtler & Jan Miserre. Her most recent achievement was brokering the score deal for Volker Bertelmann/ Hauschka that won him the 2023 Academy Award for Best Original Score for „All Quiet On the Western Front“.

All of the artists she represents are award winning musicians and unique voices in German and international cinema.

In May, 2023 Annette Gentz has joined Universal Music as General Manager GSA, Classics & Screen.

Parallel, Annette Gentz has also been active as a mentor and moderator at several national and international festivals, conferences and networking events. She has been hosting panels on, including but not limited to, music and film scoring production, artist management, artificial intelligence as well as diversity & gender equality in the film & music sector.

Annette Gentz is an advisory board member of the World Soundtrack Academy.

Dr. Tilo Gerlach

Music Politics

Dr. Tilo Gerlach began his career as an in-house counsel at GVL in 1996. He has been Managing Director since 2001.

A doctor of law, he is also involved in the international collaboration for the rights of creators as President of AEPO-ARTIS (European umbrella organisation of the collective management organisations for performing artists) and board member of SCAPR (International umbrella organisation of the collective management organisations for performing artists).

Born in Berlin, he is also a lecturer at the Humboldt University Berlin and created numerous publications on copyright and on the rights of performing artists.

Oliver Graber

Composer, Pianist, Dramaturge

Oliver Peter Graber works internationally as a composer, pianist and dramaturge, focusing on interdisciplinary projects.

Besides his freelance artistic activity, he currently heads (sector music) together with the intensive care physician Klaus-Felix Laczika (sector medicine) the “Research Institute for Music-Medicine with a special focus on Arts for Health” at the JAM MUSIC LAB Private University in Vienna.

The focus of the institute, which is supported by the “Austrian Society of the Golden Cross” and the “C. Bechstein Foundation”, is on the sector “Piano & Brain-Health” (piano-playing against ageing and dementia) and AI-generated music for clinical use (on ICUs).

The Institute also offers a course in “Digital Arts for Health”, aimed equally at musicians, medical experts and technicians, combining aspects of AI and telemedicine with music/dance/art.

Gabriele Graf

Producer

Gabriele Graf studied pedagogy, graduating with a diploma. After graduating, she took the step into self-employment. For ten years, she produced an exclusive prêt-à-porter clothing line and set up franchise stores for the label. From this period comes the love for the production of artistic products.

The move into the television business followed in 1993. From 1996 to 2005 she headed the development department of Cologne-Gemini Film in Cologne (now merged into Warner TV), where she was also managing partner.

In 2006, Gabriele Graf changed again and has been working as a freelance producer ever since. Gabriele Graf develops and produces the films under the umbrella of selected production companies. Gabriele Graf produces series and television films.

Melissa Graj

producer

Melissa Graj joined Warner Bros. ITVP Germany in 2017. She has worked for the successful ZDF crime series "Wilsberg" and "Friesland" since 2018. She is now the executive producer of the ZDF crime series "Friesland" and also develops new series concepts.

John Groves

Composer, Musician, Producer

John Groves is a British composer, musician, and producer who has specialised in Sound Branding and the use of sound and music in communications.

Today he is focused on psychoacoustics and the use of sound in a healthcare context. He develops Receptive Sound Therapy programs for reducing stress, managing anxiety, and improving sleep (www.sonictonic.io) as well as sound and music-based tools to improve the health and well-being of sufferers of Alzheimer’s, dementia, and Parkinson’s.

He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at the Center for Applied Music Research, Danube University, Krems, where he has been part of the faculty for the Master of Arts course Music for Applied Media, Department for Arts and Cultural Studies at Danube University, Krems since 2010.

John Groves was associated partner for the private sector in the project “Healing Soundscapes” examining the therapeutic value of sound and music in hospitals and clinics. Principles: Hamburg University of Music and Theatre, Hamburg Medical School, Hamburg University, and the Hamburg University Hospital - UKE.

Current Book: ComMUSICation - from Pavlov's Dog to Sound Branding“.

In the past John Groves has been politicly active for composers rights as:

• Board member and treasurer of ECSA European Composers and Songwriters Alliance, Brussels.
• President of the Composers Club, Germany.
• Vice President of FFACE the Federation of Film and Audio-visual Composers of Europe, Brussels
• Deputy advisory board representative of KSK - the German Artists Insurance Fund, Berlin
• Member of the advisory board of the GVL, Berlin (German Collecting Society for Neighbouring Rights)

Ryan Groves

Composer, Machine-learning Expert

Ryan Groves is a composer, machine-learning expert and entrepreneur. He is the CTO and co-founder of Infinite Album, where he and his team created the first AI-driven music composers designed specifically for video games that composes in real time in response to game events. He is also one of the directors of the AI Song Contest, an international contest for musical artists using AI as a creative partner. 

Ryan has been building AI-driven music apps for over 12 years. First with Zya - an assisted composition app that let users create production-quality music in a cloud-based music app. Then with Ditty, the #1 music app (in 25 countries) that sang your texts automatically (acquired by Google). 

He got his Master’s in machine learning and music theory from McGill, his EMBA from ESMT Berlin, has published 9 patents and 7 academic publications, including winning the Best Paper Award for his solo work at ISMIR in 2016.

Verena Guido

Composer, Singer and Multi-Instrumentalist

Verena Guido, composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist, studied classical music and chanson from an early age. She wrote her own songs/lyrics and performed throughout Europe with numerous groups such as the band "Ballhaus".

She has written stage music for the theatres in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Bonn, Comedia Köln, the Opernwerkstatt am Rhein and many others. In recent years she has composed orchestral music for the radio plays based on the Gereon Rath novels by Volker Kutscher, which have been recorded by the WDR Funkhausorchester and sung by Meret Becker, among others. The third series  ("Goldstein") was first broadcast on WDR in June 2022 and included songs written for members of the WDR Rundfunkchor. Her music for the fantasy series "Erdsee“ (WDR, second part April 2023) can also be heard in the ARD audio library. In addition, she has written songs for the new season of "Mord mit Aussicht“ („Murder with a view“) and composed the orchestral score for a 90-minute feature „Wunderschön! - Wir wandern durch die Dolomiten", which will be broadcast by WDR television in August 2023.

www.verenaguido.de

https://soundcloud.com/verenaguido

Valentin Hadjadj

Film Composer

Trained at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon and graduated with a Master's degree in music for screen, Valentin finished his studies by composing the music for the animated feature film April and the Extraordinary World which won the Cristal Awards of the Annecy Film Festival.

He then signed the music of a dozen feature films including those of Lukas Dhont, Girl (Camera d'or Cannes 2018) and Close (Grand Prix Cannes 2022, nominated for an Oscar), Rialto by Peter Mackie Burns and A Bigger World by Fabienne Berthaud both selected for the Mostra 2019, or the films of Claus Drexel.

Martin Häne

Music Publisher

Martin Häne is a Publisher of currently 6 different Production Music labels for both major distributors as well as independents.

Before becoming a music publisher, Häne worked for 10+ years as composer for both production music as well as bespoke music.

His credits as a composer include "Fack ju Göhte 2", "Melrose Place", "Bring it on" (Universal), various Lion's Gate Films (Warrior, Frankenhood) as well as Commercials and TV Series on networks such as ABC, NBC, CW TV, among others.

As a Publisher, his mission is simple: To create Production Music with character, and helping media creators to tell their story.

You may find out more here: www.martytone.com

Vasco Hexel

Composer, Author and Educator

Vasco Hexel is a media composer, author and educator. For nearly 12 years, until early 2020, he ran the Masters Programme in Composition for Screen at the Royal College of Music, London. He was visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge, 2016-2029. He is consultant at the Film and Television Music Research Center, Beijing Normal University, and he was Head of Music at the London Film School, 2010-2013. Vasco earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Film Scoring and Vocal Performance at the Berklee College of Music, Boston. He earned his Masters degree in Composition for Screen at the Royal College of Music where he also wrote his doctoral thesis Understanding Contextual Agents and their Impact on Recent Hollywood Film Music Practice. Vasco has composed music for award-winning animations, documentaries, commercials, and feature films. His music has featured in numerous broadcasts internationally. Vasco’s music was used exclusively for the 2012 Christmas branding of S4/C (Wales) and he created the new sonic identity of Kanal D (Romania) in 2009. Past and current clients include RSA Films, Music Sales, SohoMusic as well as fashion brands Gucci and Boden. Vasco’s music is published by Universal Music, EMI, and Bosworth.

As an educator and scholar Vasco is passionate about coaching aspiring screen composers and filmmakers, devising and delivering relevant, industry-facing, hands-on training on the creation and function of music in screen media. Vasco’s academic writing and international speaking engagements continue to nourish the appreciation of film music and explore the creative practice of film music creation and collaborative soundtrack composition.

Vasco is the author of 50 Movie Music Moments (New York: Routledge, 2023), The Film and Media Creators Guide to Music (New York: Routledge, 2018) and Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s The Dark Knight – A Film Score Guide (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016). He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a member of the British Academy for Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

Natalie Holt

Composer

Natalie Holt is a multi-award-winning British composer, known equally for large orchestral arrangements and intimate, textural and at times experimental electro-acoustic compositions. Enriched by her experience as a classically trained violinist, Holt’s work exists in the liminal space between orchestral, electronic and contemporary.

She scored Marvel Studios’ acclaimed series "Loki", earning her nominations for two Emmy Awards, as well as a BAFTA, SCL Award, and the World Soundtrack Awards for “Television Composer of the Year”. In 2022, she continued her superheroic scoring streak with the LucasFilm Series "Obi-Wan Kenobi".

Holt’s other significant work includes Saul Dibb’s World War I feature "Journey's End", co-composed with Academy Award-winner Hildur Guðnadóttir, with whom she received the Best International Score Award at the Beijing International Film Festival in 2018. Her work with Martin Phipps on the HBO Max Emmy Award-nominated series "The Honourable Woman" won the 2015 Ivor Novello award and garnered a BAFTA nomination for Best Original Music. She also collaborated with Martin on the PBS series "Victoria", which garnered an Emmy Award-nomination. In 2017, Holt won a Royal Television Society Craft and Design Award for the BBC’s BAFTA award-winning drama series "Three Girls", and she was nominated for the same award in 2020 for the mini-series "Deadwater Fell".

Her music can also be heard on Netflix/Claudia Llosa’s drama feature "Fever Dream" as well as Amazon Studios’ original movie "Herself", which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, Cyrus Nowrasteh’s "Infidel", BBC’s BAFTA Award-winning series "Wallander", Adrian Shergold’s "Cordelia", Deborah Haywood's debut feature "Pin Cushion", BBC’s mini-series "Press", History Channel’s series "Knightfall", and the PBS drama series "Beecham House", and Fox’s 2022 female super hero feature "The Princess".

Holt trained in composition at the National Film and Television School in London and studied violin at the Royal Academy of Music. Holt’s distinction in her field was recognized by being made an Associate of the Royal Academy in 2017. Her work as a professional musician has seen her perform at the London Olympics, record with artists like George Michael and Ellie Goulding and with the London Metropolitan Orchestra on countless films, as well as play with performers like Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran and Andrea Boccelli. Her multifaceted musicianship continues to enliven her composition.

She alternates between London and Los Angeles.

Matthias Hornschuh

Composer

Matthias Hornschuh lives and works as a film and radio play composer in Cologne. The studied musician and musicologist teaches at various European colleges and universities and is part of the founding team of SoundTrack_Cologne, which he left 2018.
Hornschuh is involved in industry and cultural politics, among others in the professional association mediamusic, in the Landesmusikrat NRW and in the supervisory board of GEMA. Since 2021, Hornschuh has represented the interests of German authors and performers in Berlin and Brussels as spokesman for the authors rights initiative (Initiative Urheberrecht).

Kathrin Jahrreiss

Author, Director

After graduating as a conference interpreter in 1997, Kathrin Jahrreiss has been working as a freelance interpreter for Italian and English for 25 years, mainly for TV news channels such as Phoenix or n-tv. During this time she has also translated books and film subtitles for arte. In 2011 she started to enter the field of documentary filmmaking and attended various workshops (Ulrike Franke & Michael Loeken, Andrès Veiel, Monika Preischl and others) and industry events as well as an internship at Arne Birkenstock's company "fruitmarket".
In 2019, she was a student in the non-fiction masterclass at the international film school köln (ifs) to further develop a project started in 2016.
Since 2020, she has been working more actively on the realisation of this project, a feature-length documentary about her German-Jewish family, which she is currently editing.

Philipp Jedicke

Journalist, Director

Born in 1977 in Kehl am Rhein, Philipp Jedicke studied in Constance and Toronto before moving to Cologne in 2001, where he graduated and worked as a freelance cultural journalist specialising in music and film.

In 2018, his first cinema documentary "Shut Up and Play the Piano" premieres at the Berlinale. In the same year, he receives the Förderpreis at the German Documentary Film Award. In 2019 he was a member of the documentary film jury at the Diagonale, and in 2021 at the German Documentary Film Award.

"Vienna Calling" is his second feature documentary film.

Cody Johnson

Composer and Music producer

As an in-demand composer and producer, Cody’s creative approach of an irreverent fusion of contemporary styles is featured on a wide cross section of video games, such as: Trek to Yomi, Bayonetta 3, Resident Evil 2, Synced: Off Planet, Devil May Cry 5, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. His works have garnered critical acclaim, concerts, awards (Game Awards, SXSW, G.A.N.G. Awards, NAVGTR, HMMA), feature musical artists such as Yours Truly, Suicide Silence,Volumes’ Michael Barr, and have been showcased at many conferences such as PAX, GameSoundCon, MAGfest, Tokyo Game Show, Berklee College of Music, USC, and many more.

Cody is also the CEO of the Emperia Group, a multi division full stack interactive audio solutions company that includes Emperia Sound and Music, Emperia Records, and Emperia Music Group.

Sascha Just

Film Producer

Sascha Just is a New York-based filmmaker born and raised in Berlin. She emigrated to the US to work on films about jazz and jazz-related topics.

Prior to Ellis, Sascha produced and directed Heirs, a feature-length documentary about three New Orleans artists, the short documentary Big Chief about New Orleans Black Indian Chief Darryl Montana, and the short documentary Ambassadors about a competition for the title Jazz Ambassadors.

Sascha's films screened, among others, at DOC NYC, the Krakow Film Festival, American Documentary Film Festival, RiverRun Int. Film Festival, and the USA Film Festival.

Sascha holds a BA in Film and an MA /PhD in Theater and Film Studies from the City University of New York (CUNY). She teaches in the Communications Department of Baruch College, CUNY.

Jörg Kidrowski

production sound mixer

Jörg Kidrowski is working as a production sound mixer since 2003. His did his first movies with directors of the "Berliner Schule" such as Angela Schanelec and Maren Ade. Since then he worked on more than 100 projects national and international. His last movies have been "Spencer" by Pablo Larrain, "Munich-The edge of war" by Christian Schwochow and in this year's competition of the Berlinale "Till the end of the night" by Christoph Hochhäusler.

However Jörg Kidrowski was always driven by "the good sound" on different levels. During his studies at the Berlin University of Arts he not only discovered his passion for cinema, he was also mixing concerts as well as working for Jazz Radio 101.9 Berlin as a producer and presenter.

Cornelia Köhler

Author, Presenter, Director

Cornelia Köhler has been working in the media industry since 2000, first as a producer of the sitcoms "Das Amt" and "Bernds Hexe" for Cologne-Gemini film, later in the script development for Constantin Entertainment. Since 2007 Cornelia Köhler has been an independent script-writer for cinema, TV formats and stage. Together with the composer Camille van Lunen she wrote the youth operas “Talitha, come back!” and „Over the Wall“ in 2020 and the Oratorio „Schrei, Hiob, Schrei!“.

She is editor of the magazine “Rundbrief” (Film-und Medienbüro Niedersachsen) and director and scriptwriter for a series of documentaries about German Literature. She worked as dramaturge for the feature films “Low Lights” (produced by dagstarfilm, 2009) and “Pattys Catchup” (dagstarfilm, 2011), as co-writer for the German-Lithuanian documentary “Liebe Oma, Guten Tag” (dagstarfilm, 2017, supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW.). Since 2009 she has been a member of WIFT Women in Film and Television Germany, since 2010 board member and since 2023 Chair of the Board.

https://www.cornelia-koehler.eu

Hansjörg Kohli

Composer

Hansjörg Kohli is a film composer currently living and working in Munich. He grew up in Switzerland, studied film scoring and jazz piano at Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA and the University of Performing Arts in Munich. He startet out as an orchestrator for a variety of film projects. Later on he became the head of the film music department at German National Television ZDF in Mainz.
Among his more recent works are the scores to Die Küstenpiloten (ARD/Degeto), Jenseits der Spree (ZDF), Väter - Allein zu Haus (ARD/WDR), Kirgistan - Hochgebirgsland voller Schätze (ARTE), 37Grad - Schmerz, lass nach! (ZDF).
He is teaching in the film scoring program at the Munich University of Performing Arts and also in the Master of Arts in TV Journalism program at the University of applied Sciences and Arts in Hannover.

Dr. Anselm Kreuzer

Composer

Anselm Kreuzer began playing the Cello at age 9 and soon discovered composing as his major passion. Already back then he combined the classical approach with modern sounds. After finishing school he studied musicology, media science and phonetics at the Cologne University and achieved a Ph.D. with a dissertation on Film Music. During his time as a student he got several assignments for media compositions, especially in the field of radio and television. Now he is a designated specialist for TV title themes, station IDs, scores for series and TV drama as well as music for new media and advertising.

Also he has an oeuvre of more than 1000 internationally successful production music titles. Among the magazine and news shows he composed for are Weltreisen (ARD), Check Eins - Neuneinhalb (ARD), Die Chefin (ZDF), Die lustigsten Schlamassel (RTL), Lebensläufe (MDR), RBB UM6 (RBB), ZIBB (RBB), Täter Opfer Polizei (RBB). He recently scored for TV series like Küstenwache, Kripo Holstein - Mord und Meer (ZDF), Rosenheim-Cops (ZDF), In Aller Freundschaft (ARD) and  documentaries like Natur Exklusiv (BR).

He is co founder of the production music label MUSIC SCULPTOR. Whether symphonic orchestra or electronic approach - Anselm has a passionate faible for emotional, narrative and often catchy thematic music that merges with moving pictures and stories. He often sounds the borders between composition and sound design and passes on his know how to students as a guest lecturer at several universities and media schools. Also he is engaged as a working group leader in the media industry association Eyes & Ears of Europe and as a board member of the Composers Club Germany and the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA).

Jan-Paul Laarmann

Economic development agency of Cologne

Jan-Paul Laarmann`s professional mission is the promotion of creative industries in Cologne. Together with two colleagues, he advises creatives and companies, develops funding structures and strong networks at the municipal economic development agency KölnBusiness. His main fields of activity are design, music, art and advertising. Still impressed by the inventive spirit of Cologne`s media economy, he also is enthusiastic about all projects dealing with Extendend Reality. In former positions he developed and executed EU-funded projects in creative and cultural tourism on state level for Tourismus NRW e.V., worked as a project manager for a start-up in film marketing and in communications for the annual Ruhrtriennale festival of the arts.

Andrea Lässig

Music Supervisor, Musician

Andrea Lässig has studied music tuition and french horn in Munich, followed by music journalism at the National Academy for Music and Theater.
In 2012 she became part of the team of Music Supervisors at the public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk with focus on TV but also radio and net programmes.

Martin Langenbach

Foley Artist

1994: First steps at re-recording studio "Konken Studios" in Hamburg.

1996: Assistent of foley artist Joern Poetzl in Munich.

Since 2008: Owner of a foley studio in Hamburg.

He has over 500 credits for German and international films, such as "Victoria", "7500", "Black Death", "Gegen die Wand", "Der Hauptmann" and is a founding member of the German Film Academy.

www.foleyartist.de

Tessa Langhans

Junior Producer

Born in 1989 in Gießen, Germany. Form 2009 to 2016 studies at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne with focus on documentary and feature film directing. 2012/2013 DAAD scholarship holder at the Facultad de Artes of the Universidad Nacional in Bogotá, Colombia. Co-founder of the production company “Leuchtfeuer Film“, scholarship company of the Mediengründerzentrum NRW 2018.

Since 2020 Junior Producer in the Fiction Department of Warner Bros. International Television Production Germany in Cologne for the ZDF series "Wilsberg".

Dimitrie Leivici

Violinist, Concertmaster, Studio Musician

Presented by American/Hollywood concert violinist and inaugural concertmaster for Synchron Stage Vienna from 2015 to 2019.

Born in Romania, Leivici studies at the University in Vienna as a solo violinist, followed by moving to the USA at the age of 21, where he completed his studies with renowned American concert artists.

During his youth, he performed extensively as a soloist as well as a chamber musician on both sides of the Atlantic and made his debut as a soloist with orchestras such as the London Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra (Barbican), and Romanian Philharmonic.

Leivici has taught full-time at California State University and was featured in masterclasses in Europe and US.

With his participation in over a thousand Hollywood motion pictures over the time span of 45 years, he has also established himself as one of the foremost experienced studio musicians in the entertainment capital of the world.

He has recorded for all the major film composers such as John Williams, James Horner, James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman, Alexandre Desplat, Elmer Bernstein, Maurice Jarre, Alan Silvestri, Michael Kamen, David Arnold and many others.

He has been featured as a concertmaster for Hans Zimmer, Harry and Rupert Gregson-Williams, and Sylvester Levay, among others.

His recording collaborations have included sessions work for Madonna, U2, Whitney Houston, Elton John, Roy Orbison, among many others. He has worked in studios such as VSL Synchron, Warner Bros., MGM-Sony, Paramount, Universal, Nashville, and Holland-Hilversum.

Leivici has served, along with radio moderator and former renowned musical stage performer Lilo Bellotto, as artistic director of the annual Hollywood Music Workshop since both founded it in 2009.

Leivici’s main attention is nowadays focused on the advancement of film music as its own art form and assisting upcoming media composers in their quest to achieve their goals and thus maintaining the high level of quality that film music has been able to accomplish over the last century!

It’s his way of giving back to this wonderful genre which has allowed him to be successful and achieve his goals as a successful artist.

PeterLicht

Musician, Singer, Author, Dramatist

PeterLicht is a musician, singer, author, and dramatist. His song 'Sonnendeck' was the underground summer hit in 2001.

Two years before the financial crisis, in 2006, he proclaimed musically and literarily the end of of capitalism (Songs/Book of the End of Capitalism). This was a great success, but unfortunately a lie.

In 2008 followed the book 'Die Geschichte meiner Einschätzung am Anfang des 3. Jahrtausends', for which he received the audience award and the 3sat award at the Ingeborg Bachmannompetition in Klagenfurt.

In 2014 published the book and the album of the same name 'In Praise of Reality'.

For a time, he was a columnist for the Süddeutsche Newspaper. In 2021 he released his now 8th studio album 'Beton und Ibuprofen' and the debut novel 'Ja okay, aber' (Tropics/Klett-Cotta).

PeterLicht is with his plays on the renowned German-language theater stages as a dramatist. 'Tartuffe oder das Schwein der Weisen' was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen.

Sophie Linnenbaum

Director, Film Producer

After completing her studies in psychology and working as a playwright, Sophie Linnenbaum studied directing at the Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. In addition to her national and international award-winning short films, she makes series and documentaries. Her first feature film THE ORDINARIES had its international premiere in the main competition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, was awarded the Förderpreis Regie at the Munich Film Festival and won the First Steps Award for best full-length feature film.

Leonard Loock

Music Producer, Sound Engineer, Cellist

Leonard Loock is a music producer and sound engineer specialized in classical and film music. He began his musical journey as a cellist, garnering recognition through national and international awards. As a soloist, he has played in concert halls across the globe and followed an invitation by the Berlin Philharmonics to a public masterclass.

His performances have been recorded multiple times for radio broadcasts and CDs. While studying cello under professor Alexander Gebert in Detmold, Leonard Loock started his studies as a tonmeister. Upon completing his studies he followed a job offer as a studio and production coordinator/engineer in London. During his time working for the prestigious Royal Academy of Music, he led numerous productions and gained prominence in music studios in and around London.

Returning to Germany, Loock continues his work as a freelancer, collaborating with esteemed radio stations such as WDR, DLF, and NDR, as well as renowned labels including Naxos, Deutsche Grammophon, Sony, and MSM-Studios. Loock is mostly booked for ensembles and professional orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, WSO, Dortmunder Philharmoniker, Duisburger Philharmoniker, WFO, Bielefelder Philharmoniker, and Ensemble Resonanz, among others.

Hanna Sophie Lüke

Composer, Music Journalist, Presenter

Hanna Sophie Lüke (M.A.) is a music composer, music journalist and presenter for music and science topics (WDR, ARTE) based in Cologne, Germany.

Her original compositions have been published worldwide by Sonoton, Universal Music and West One Music London, and have been performed by renowned orchestras (WDR Funkhausorchester, German Film Orchestra Babelsberg). In 2022 she received a composition commission for the WDR Funkhausorchester by the WDR Composers Mentorship Programme in cooperation with SoundTrack_Cologne (STC).

In 2023, she celebrates her 10th stage jubilee as presenter of the science series „EFFEKTE“ in Karlsruhe, Germany. She hosted film music panels at SoundTrack_Zurich (Zeltia Montes, Lele Marchitelli) and SoundTrack_Cologne (Flemming Nordkrog, John Ottman) and was the presenter of the award ceremony at STC 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Homepage: www.hannasophielueke.de

Nami Melumad

Composer

Nami Melumad is an Israeli-Dutch composer, based in Los Angeles, CA. Her scoring credits include over 140 projects in a wide range of genres, most notably Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder (which she co-scored with Michael Giacchino), Netflix’s The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, and the Paramount+ Series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds as well as Star Trek: Prodigy, making her the first female composer for the Star Trek franchise. She also scored EA’s VR video game Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, Disney’s Far from the Tree, the HBO Max comedy, An American Pickle, and more. Nominated for Breakthrough Composer of the Year (2020) by the International Film Music Critics Association, Nami won the BMI award for the Oscar® winning documentary short, Colette. She is an avid film fan who also enjoys painting, hiking, and having coffee with friends.

Thomas Mikusz

White Bear PR

In 2011 Thomas Mikusz co-founded White Bear PR, a Public Relations Company, specializing in Composers, Music Supervisors, Soundtrack Promotions and International Film Music Festivals.

He spearheaded the successful Award campaigns for Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet on the Western Front), Hildur Gudnadóttir (Joker, Chernobyl), Germaine Franco (Encanto) and Carlos Rafael Rivera (The Queens Gambit). In addition, he worked on the PR campaigns for the Academy Award-nominated Best Score and Best Original Song for Everything Everywhere All At Once and on the campaign for Best Original Song for Husavik from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. He works with composers such as Rachel Portman (Julia), Dickon Hinchliffe (The Lost Daughter), Uno Helmersson (Flee), Daniel Hart (The Green Knight), Natalie Holt (Loki), Dan Romer (Station Eleven), Mizer & Moore (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and John Murphy (The Suicide Squad), to name just a few.

Over the past decade he worked on a multitude of Award-winning projects and has represented clients at major Film Festivals, such as Berlinale, Festival de Cannes, Sundance, Toronto International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival.

In 2020 he was co-executive producer for "Soundtrack of our Lives," a pre-recorded variety show & fundraiser for the Recording Academy's MusiCares, which garnered him a Hollywood Music in Media Award and a Telly Award.

He is the US publicist for several International festivals and conferences. He also creates and curates film music content and panels during Cannes (American Pavillon), Sundance, Tribeca, and other festivals. As such he also produces content, panels, concerts and events, including the Film Music House at Sundance Film Festival.

Several times a year he gives guest lectures on Self-Promotion for Artists at Universities such as NYU, USC, University of Miami, and Columbia College Chicago & for Composer Associations around the globe.

For the past four years he served on the leadership of The Alliance for Women Film Composers, amplifying and supporting the work of women composers.

His career is quite diverse, he has worked as flight attendant, served as General Manager for the two largest German tour operators in the US, and has been Managing Director for a Miami based talent agency, representing headline entertainers to major cruise lines.

His spare time is dedicated to hiking, nature and travel.

Ali Nikrang

AI Researcher, Composer

Ali Nikrang is an AI researcher and composer at the intersection of music and artificial intelligence. He has both a technical and an artistic background (computer science at Johannes Kepler University and composition and piano performance at the Mozarteum in Salzburg).

He is a professor for AI and musical creation at the University of Music and Theatre in Munich and a researcher at the Ars Electronica Futurelab in Linz. As a musician and AI researcher, he has been involved in numerous projects combining artificial intelligence and music.

His work has been featured in various conferences and exhibitions around the world (and has also been part of several TV and radio documentaries on artificial intelligence and creativity).

Flemming Nordkrog

Film composer

Flemming Nordkrog is a Danish composer based in France. 
Winner of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award and winner of the Danish Award Carl Prisen 2021 for his score for Mathias Mariani's ‘Shine your Eyes’. 

In 1996 at the age of 23 he fell completely in love with composing for films, when he scored his first projects for the The National Film School of Denmark. Over the years, he has created music for more than 25 feature films, and numerous TV-series, documentaries, TV-movies and short films in Denmark, France, Belgium, Brazil and the US.

Flemming has recently scored Max Kestner’s Docu-musical “Little Galaxies”, show this year at SEE THE SOUND 2023. His work on this film earned him the Carl Prisen 2022 and a nomination for the European Camille Award 2022.

Other recent credits include the Berlinale 2023 documentary “Seven Winters in Teheran” by Steffi Niederzoll, French feature films “L’établi” by Mathias Gokalp and “Sixteen” by Philippe Lioret and the TV-series “Rictus" for OCS by Arnaud Malherbe.

Lone Nyhuus

General Manager of BFM, Journalist

Lone Nyhuus, was born in 1960 in Copenhagen.

As general manager for the Danish Association of Film and Mediacomposers (BFM) since 2007, Nyhuus has been an active part in developing the Nordic Film Composers Network (NFCN) and the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Days and Award.

Nyhuus holds a BA in theatre, dance and cultural communication from Copenhagen University and has worked 20 years full-time as a freelance journalist for media such as Danish Broadcasting Corporation and the daily Jyllands Posten.

Besides her work for BFM and NFCN she is freelancing with project development for organizations and performance groups. She is fluent in Swedish, Norwegian and English and is familiar with French and German.

Tina Pepper

Composer

Tina Pepper is an award-winning television and film composer based in Berlin. She started her career while studying music at the renowned Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) and went on studying at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF where she eventually graduated with a Master in film music.
Amongst others she has since written music for award winning films like ‘Combat Girl’ (David Wnendt) and ‘Teardrop’ (Damian John Harper), independent features such as ‘Away you go’ (Philipp Eichholtz) and for the Amazon original series ‘You Are Wanted’ (Matthias Schweighöfer). In 2020 she was awarded the German Television Award for Best Music for her score for the German TV Series 'Rampensau’.

Martina Pfaff

Director

Martina Pfaff studied musicology and folklore in Freiburg, Paris and Hamburg. She worked at German und international opera houses as a stage manager and director.

Since 2004 Martina Pfaff has worked for various dance films and music documentaries commissioned by WDR, BR and ARTE. For WDR she made numerous documentaries, such as a portrait of the kora player and Grammy Award winner Toumani Diabaté from Mali, the music documentary "global lokal - Streifzüge durch eine neue Musikszene Kölns" and the documentary "Kein Kinderspiel - Warum sich Jugendliche für Klassik begeistern". In recent years, she has mainly shot concert films, livestreams, DVD productions and music videos.  

Portfolio und Blog: martinapfaff.com  

Corinna C. Poeszus

Chief Licensing Officer - freque.io

Corinna C. Poeszus is a senior business executive with over 30 years experience in the music, digital media & film production, advertising and tv entertainment industries driven by the power of passion and an open mind to think outside the box. Corinna is a successful Leader and Manager with more than 18 years of experience in leading teams to their goals. Her experience is well rounded with an in-depth understanding of international media business management & operations, product branding, online marketing, social media, CRM, planning and controlling of marketing, monitoring, marketing & comms, monitoring of strategic marketing activities, B2B as well as B2C.
Her professional career took her from Polygram via Endemol Entertainment to Bertelsmann and Universal Publishing, Bavaria Media and many more.

Corinna C. Poeszus ist eine erfahrene Führungskraft mit über 30 Jahren Erfahrung in den Bereichen Musik, digitale Medien und Filmproduktion, Werbung und TV-Entertainment. Sie ist angetrieben von der Kraft der Leidenschaft und Offenheit, über den Tellerrand hinaus zu denken. Corinna ist erfolgreiche Managerin mit mehr als 18 Jahren Erfahrung, ihre Teams zu Zielen zu führen. Ihre Erfahrung zeichnet sich durch ein tiefgreifendes Verständnis der internationalen Medien, Business Management & Operations, Produkt-Branding, Online-Marketing, Social Media, CRM, Planung und Controlling von Marketing, Monitoring, Marketing & Kommunikation, Überwachung von strategischen Marketing-Aktivitäten - sowohl B2B als auch B2C.

Ihre beruflichen Stationen führten sie von Polygram über Endemol Entertainment zu Bertelsmann und Universal Publishing, Bavaria Media und viele weitere Stationen.

Franziska Pohlmann

Director, Composer

Silke Pützer

Producer

Silke Pützer, born in 1974, has been a producer at Network Movie since December 2003 and has responsibility for various projects. In addition to the ZDF television films "A Village Torn Apart", "Das Verhör in der Nacht", "Das Licht in einem dunklen Haus", "Tage des letzten Schnees“ and "Ein großer Aufbruch," she was also responsible for the series "Merz gegen Merz" and "Tilo Neumann und das Universum". She also supervised the productions "Soko Köln", "Lutter", "Helen Dorn", "Tod einer Polizistin", and "Der Verdacht". Born in Bad Honnef, she entered the film business at the age of 20. Her editorial work for "RTL Samstag Nacht" and "RTL Nachtshow" was followed by a six-year stint as a Junior Producer for a RTL subsidiary as well as further training as an IHK Fiction Producer at Filmhaus Köln (2001).

Johannes Rexin

Producer

Producer Johannes Rexin focuses on development and production of high-quality feature films and TV series of German and European origin. His company’s philosophy is centered on cooperation with select partners distinguished by their love for cinema and filmmaking.

Johannes’ credits include, among others, “Objetos” with Álvaro Morte, “Pokot”, „Hannah Arendt“, „Bal – Honey“, „Lamb“, among others.

Johannes has worked with distinguished directors, among them Agnieszka Holland, Margarethe von Trotta, Semih Kaplanoglu, Malgoska Szumowska.

Awards include the Golden Bear for “Bal” and the Deutscher Filmpreis Lola (Silver) for “Hannah Arendt”.

Carlos Rafael Rivera

Composer

Carlos Rafael Rivera is a Grammy and Emmy winning composer, whose career has spanned several genres of the music industry. Having scored one of the most viewed NETFLIX Limited Series of all time, THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, and helmed by writer/director Scott Frank, Carlos received his second Primetime EMMY Award and first GRAMMY Award, while having received the Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL), as well as the Hollywood Music in Media (HMMA), and two International Film Critics Association (IFMCA) Awards. 

His work for Film and TV includes scores for Netflix’ GODLESS, for which he received a Primetime Emmy, Universal Pictures’ A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES, starring Liam Neeson, the hit TV show and 15-time EMMY nominee HACKS for HBO Max, starring Jean Smart, as well as JUST BEYOND for DISNEY +, and the upcoming LA REINA DEL SUR 3 for TELEMUNDO.    

A protégé of RANDY NEWMAN, he earned a DMA in Composition at USC’s Thornton School of Music, where he studied with Donald Crockett and Stephen Hartke. As a guitarist, he has performed onstage as opening act for The Who at the Hollywood Bowl; recorded studio sessions for Island/Def Jam, and Universal Records; and had songs featured on feature soundtracks (CRASH, DRAGONFLY), as well as NETFLIX’s FIREFLY LANE, ABC’s SCRUBS, MTV, and VH-1.  

His music has been acclaimed by the Miami Herald, the San Francisco Examiner, and the LA Times, helping establish him as a composer with the unique ability of incorporating a large diversity of musical influences into his captivating compositions, which reflect his multi-cultural upbringing in Central America and the United States. 

His work for Visual Media and the Performing Arts can be heard in concert halls and at festivals around the world, being featured by Arturo Sandoval, the Cincinnati Pops, Colin Currie, Chanticleer, Cavatina Duo, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the American Composers Orchestra, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, the Pro Musica Mundi Choir, and the Beethoven Academy Orchestra; commissioned by the Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony and the American Wind Symphony; recorded by Varêse-Sarabande, Warner, BMG, Sony, Naxos, and Cedille labels; and awarded by the Herb Alpert Foundation, the Guitar Foundation of America, BMI, and twice by ASCAP.  

He has served as Composer-in-Residence with the Miami Symphony Orchestra and was a musical consultant for “Invitation to World Literature,” an educational series funded by the Annenberg Foundation and produced by WGBH. He is a voting member of the Television Academy (EMMYS) and the Recording Academy (GRAMMYs), and a board member of the Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL). He is a sought-out guest composer and lecturer throughout the Americas and Europe.  

Carlos is Assistant Professor and Director of the Media Scoring and Production Program at the acclaimed Frost School of Music at the University of Miami and is represented by Bradley Rainey at WME.

Anna Rosenkilde

Film Composer, Musician

Anna Rosenkilde is a Danish film composer, songwriter, instrumentalist, singer and
performer. She studied at The Danish National Academy of Music and finished her
master degree in Film Composition in 2018 in close collaboration with the National
Film School of Denmark.

The last few years she has scored several fiction, documentary and animation
films. Her style of music is often atmospheric, simple layered, poetic and melodic
and combines acoustic elements with electronics.

She has also released two solo albums and played many concerts. Her non film
compositions include songs, music for choir, music for a dance performance and
the music/sound art part of a collection of audiovisual artworks.
In 2022 she started the network Polyphonia in Denmark - a network for women
and other gender minorities in the film and media music composition business.

Corinna Rottschy

Orchestral Manager

After studying music in schools, Corinna Rottschy studied vocals and was employed at WDR, first as a speaker and then as a broadcasting editor. She has been manager of the WDR Funkhausorchester since 2014.

Sanna Salmenkallio

Film composer

For me music is a way to explore the world. I compose with curiosity.
 
Sanna Salmenkallio is one of the most experienced film composers in Finland. She has composed the score for more than 30 films, mostly artistically ambitious documentary features. As a composer she has worked with symphony orchestras, smaller ensembles, and electronic music. 

Salmenkallio has created her own style by mixing classical background to different contemporary and experimental elements. Her strength, in addition to composing, is a deep understanding of dramaturgy. She has won four Jussi Awards for the best film score in Finland. She has also composed lots of music for theatre and dance performances. She loves experimental film and theatre as well and works regularly with community art projects.

She has both classical music education from Sibelius Academy and an education as Sound Designer from Theatre Academy, which creates an inspiring dialogue between sound and music. She has also a passion for Arabic music, which she studied in Cairo. As a violinist she is specialized on improvisation.

Working languages : Finnish, English, Swedish. Also, able to work with Danish and French material.

Jørund Fluge Samuelsen

Composer

Frank Scheffer

Director, documentary maker and film maker

Having studied at the Academy for Industrial Design in Eindhoven, the Vrije Academie (Free Academy) in The Hague and at the Dutch Film Academy in Amsterdam, the Dutch documentary maker and experimental filmmaker Frank Scheffer (Venlo, 1956) is known for his films Time is Music (1988), Voyage to Cythera (1999), Conducting Mahler (1996) and A Labyrinth of Time (2004), amongst many others. Scheffer's intuitive, poetic films predominantly deal with the connections between film language and music, the similarities in their relation to rhythm, the experience of time and memory. Drawing his inspiration from the works of the post-war generation of composers, including Louis Andriessen, Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, John Cage, Elliot Carter, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Frank Zappa, Scheffer uses visual images like a composer uses notes to create a new, abstract experience. In his films, image and sound combine to offer the audience a new, individual visual and aural experience - which is why he is often referred to as a 'pure filmmaker'.

Nicole Schmeier

Film editor

Nicole Schmeier born 1970 in Monheim.

1989 - 1991 Studied media science and did an internship in psychiatry in Marburg for several months.

1991 - 1998 Studied social pedagogy in Cologne.

1999 - 2009 Worked as a qualified pedagogue in a social psychiatric residential home in Cologne.

2009 - 2012 Studied Editing Image and Sound at the ifs internationale filmschule köln, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

2012 - 2013 Work as training coordinator in the subject Digital Film Arts / Editing Image and Sound at the ifs internationale filmschule köln.

since 2013 she works as freelance editor.

since 2019 has a position as a lecturer in the field of editing.

Filmography (selection)

2012: Wahrer Anfang 

2013: Mrs. Highlander – von einer die auszog 

2013: Dorf in der Heide 

2013:Like Bird 

2014: Entr'Art 

2014: Blaues Gras im grünen Wald

2014: Hier und Heute Dokumentation – Von Amts wegen 

2015: In der Schwebe  

2015: Terra X - Rom am Rhein (episode 3)

2015: The Art of Moving 

2015: Der Angler – Bohren und der Club of Gore

2015: Niemals geht man so ganz 

2017: Ich. Du. Inklusion – Wenn Anspruch auf Wirklichkeit trifft  

2017: plan b – Kleine Miete, tolle Wohnung 

2018: Kaputt und... zugenäht - Staffel 3 

2018: Salonika – A City with Amnesia 

2018: Der Mann der nicht da war

2018: Kaputt und... zugenäht - Staffel 4 

2019: Solange Sie noch Arme haben 

2019: Kaputt und... zugenäht - Staffel 5 

2020: Der Endlose Moment 

2020: Kaputt und... zugenäht - Staffel 5 

2021: Hella & Bernd 

2022: Total Thrash 

2022: 37 Grad Leben – Nächste Hilfe auf Gleis 1 

2022: Hinter guten Türen 

2023: The Return of the Projectionist 

2023: Der dritte Bruder (AT)

Ralf Schulze

Music Publisher, Festival Director

Biography Ralf Schulze:
1991–94: Market Research for Warner Music Germany, Hamburg.
1995 Phd „The German Music Industry – Market structures and Competitive strategies.“
since 1995: Music Publisher and Music Supervisor for Film-/TV-Projects.
since 2002: amboss Film+Musik - Musicpublisher for Film-/TV-Productions.
since 2005: amboss Recordings - Musiclabel, focus on Soundtracks/Scores.
since 2007: UNERHÖRT! Musikfilmfestival Hamburg (2022 zum 13. Mal .... 6.-9. November!)
since 2013: FilmCollect Clearing GmbH – Copyright Agency for Filmproducers

Cinema-Projects: (ca. 100)
Die Häschenschule - Der große Eierklau, An Impossible Project, Men of Hope, Die Rückkehr der Heinzelmännchen, Brechts Dreigroschenoper, Hi AI, The Bra, Pre Crime, Of Fathers and Sons, Tschick, Grüße aus Fukushima, Willkommen bei den Hartmanns, Mein Blind Date mit dem Leben, Jonathan, Who am I, Die Häschenschule, Quatsch, Rabe Socke 1 + 2 + 3, Der Rhein von Oben, Athos, Food Markets, Who Taught You To Drive, HELL. Hände weg von Mississippi. Absurdistan. 2 Days in Paris, The Three Investigators in the Secret of Skeleton Island. Knallhart. Rosenstraße, Das Experiment, L'Amour, L'Argent, L'Armour, Im Juli, Hierankl, Tuvalu, Gran Paradiso, Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod, Sonnenallee, Playboys, Lola Rennt

TV-Project: (ca. 300)
Der Schwarm, Das weiße Hause am Rhein, Oktoberfest 1900, Nur eine Frau, Jeanny – Das 5. Mädchen, Tatort: Des Teufels langer Atem, Lang Lebe die Königin, Der Rebel: Von Leimen nach Wimbledon, Babylon Berlin, Agent Hamilton, Die Toten vom Bodensee, Szene D, Wolfsland, Professor T, Die Slawen, Borderless Sky
Berlin - Abschnitt 40, Sesamstraße 1998-2006, Berlin, Berlin Staffel 1+2, Großstadtrevier. Die Kids von Berlin

Sarah Schygulla

Author, Curator, Presenter, Digital Marketing Specialist

After completing a Drama degree and a joint Bachelor's degree in Romance Languages, Literature, and Linguistics and Asian Literature and Societies, Sarah completed a master's degree in Creative Writing in Edinburgh in 2018.

Sarah then worked as a junior curator for SoundTrack_Cologne before joining, among others, the UK branch of Hachette Publishing as a Digital Marketing Specialist.

She writes novels and screenplays, of which her scripts for the documentaries 'The Sound of Cologne' and 'Can and Me' were released in 2023. In addition, Sarah is also a presenter for events and advises SoundTrack_Cologne as a consultant for film, TV series, video games, and Asian pop culture.

Helene Seidl

Foley and Sound Editor, Lecturer

Helene Seidl studied image and sound engineering at the Robert Schumann University in Düsseldorf. Already during her studies she specialized in film sound post-production and worked at the Ruhrsound Studios in Dortmund. After graduating, she became self-employed in Berlin and has since been part of the StudioWarns studio community in Huttenstrasse. As a foley and sound editor, she works for German and international productions such as "Pina", "In the Heart of the Sea", "Dark" or "1899". In 2015 she was nominated at the prestigious MPSE (Motion Picture Sound Editors) Awards for Foley Editing on Citizenfour. She was part of the sound post-production team for "Nordwand", which won the German Film Prize for "Best Sound Design" in 2009.

Helene has been living and working near Munich since 2021. She has two children. 

Since 2016 she has been teaching sound editing at the Ludwigsburg Film Academy.

________________________________________________________________________________

- 2004-2013 Study audio and video technology, RSH/FH Düsseldorf

- 2007 work for Guido Zettier, Ruhrsound Studios

- 2008 part of the sound team for "Nordwand", film award for "Best Sound Design" 2009

- 2010 self-employment as a "sound editor" in Berlin: "Pina", "In the heart of the sea", "Dark", "1899"

- since 2016 lecturer for sound editing at the Ludwigsburg Film Academy

- 2021 move to Mühldorf am Inn, two children

Mirjam Skal

Composer and orchestrator

Mirjam Skal is a composer and orchestrator based in Zurich, Switzerland. She holds a Master's diploma in composition for film, theatre and media at the Zurich University of the Arts and has been working as a freelance composer over the past years. Her work includes music for the national Swiss television, such as Bettina Oberlis newest limited series EMMA LÜGT, several documentaries, advertisements and animated shorts.

As a synesthete, Mirjam‘s approach to composing is very intuitive. She is fascinated by combining live instruments with electronic soundscapes to create evocative textures. In 2021 Mirjam was a participant in Berlinale Talents. In addition, Mirjam has been chosen to be part of the AWFC Mentorship program 2021 under the guidance of renowned composer Mychael Danna ("Life of Pi"). Following the mentorship, Mirjam has had the opportunity to compose additional music alongside Mychael Danna for the 2022 feature film "Where The Crawdads Sing".

Mirjam is an active member of the Swiss film music industry; as vice-president of Forum Filmmusik and as a member of the advisory board of SoundTrack Zurich.

Jacob Snavely

Jacob Snavely is the director of OONA, an internationally oriented management agency, record label, and publisher based in Stockholm. With a background as a small label owner, manager, and musician, Jacob embarked on the journey of founding OONA in 2019. OONA is a collaborative endeavour, born out of Jacob's desire, along with a small group of artists and score composers in his network, to create a platform that would foster mutual support, empower artistic agency, and diversify the composer space. OONA's core ideals emphasize long-term artistic development and recognize the intrinsic value and impact of music in audiovisual contexts. Additionally, Jacob and the OONA team are passionate about safeguarding artists' intellectual property rights, acknowledging the importance of protecting one's life's work.

In his current role, Jacob represents and manages a small group of score composers, many of whom are also pursuing their own artistic careers. He navigates the landscape of artist manager, agent and score producer, depending upon the needs of his clients.

Su-Jin Song

Writer, Director and Producer

Su-Jin Song is a writer, director and producer. She studied film at the ifs internationale filmschule köln with a focus on creative producing and received her master's degree in Game Development and Research at the Cologne Game Lab. Su-Jin Song first worked as a producer for international productions in Germany and South Korea, then founded autumn song production, a studio and collective of filmmakers and researchers with a special focus on spotlighting and original stories about post-migrant identities, co-productions between Europe and Asia. Autumn song production develops and produces award winning shorts, feature films and series and actively promotes diversity in film, in front of and behind the camera. In addition, Su-Jin Song is also working as an associate researcher and lecturer at the Cologne Game Lab/TH Köln. The main topics of her academic work in the field of media and game studies are migration, gender, identity and mental health.

Janne Spijkervet

Music Producer, Artificial Intelligence Researcher

Janne Spijkervet is a music producer and artificial intelligence researcher who studies the notion of music creativity with AI. Starting to compose at the age of 11, and her first orchestral piece performed at age 13, she was enrolled in the Young Talent Academy of the Conservatory of Amsterdam where she studied classical composition with Wim Henderickx.

At age 19, she was commissioned to write a piece for the Grammy Award-winning Metropole Orchestra, and soon after joined Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions in Los Angeles.

She graduated her studies by developing a system that could write music like Bach, and continued to work with artists to create songs using artificial intelligence, from crazy hip hop tracks to tearjerkers, and the first summer hit song on Dutch national Radio 538 in the following years.

Now, she works at TikTok's Speech, Audio and Music Intelligence R&D team, where she develops cutting-edge music technology at scale.

Andreas Suttner

Cellist, music manager and promoter

Andreas Suttner has studied violoncello and music tuition and has been awarded as a cellist at several well-known contests. As a musician, he works as a soloist and in different ensembles.

After completing his MA in Arts Management at the City University of London, he focused on music management and promotion.

Since 2004 he has been working as a music consultant for the film department of Bavarian Television, and from 2008 as a trainer for the ARD-ZDF media academy.

In 2007 Andreas Suttner founded the production music label KLANGIDEE and since then has been focusing on his work as a composer and producer for film music on TV, radio and the web.

Florian Tessloff

Composer, Producer

Florian Tessloff is a German composer and producer based in Hamburg. His multi-genre compositions include soundtracks for renowned films such as Uli Edel’s terrorist drama The Baader Meinhof Complex (Academy Award nomination Best Foreign Language Film 2009), Max Zähle’s debut drama Raju (Academy Award nomination Best Live Action Short Film 2012, Winner Student Academy Awards 2011), Kerstin Ahlrich’s `80s black comedy Night Ride and Daphne Charizani’s war drama Sisters Apart (World Premiere @ Berlin International Film Festival 2020, section Perspectives on German Cinema, Grimme Price Fiction Winner 2023).

Tessloff also composed extensively for TV including Matti Geschonneck’s German Television Award-winning courtroom drama The End of a Night (Grimme Price Fiction Winner 2013), period drama Ottilie von Faber-Castell by Claudia Garde (ZDF) as well as Züli Aladag’s acclaimed two-part terror drama Brüder (ARD). Most recently, he composed the scores for the miniseries Unbroken (ZDFneo), and co-scored Oliver Rihs’s high end drama series Blackout for Joyn/Sat1. He worked on on the 1950’s post WWII spy thriller Bonn for German broadcaster WDR/ARD, directed by Claudia Garde.

Regularly working out of Los Angeles, Tessloff has been working with Oscar-nominated film composers Mark Isham and David Newman on award-winning productions.

Tessloff’s compositional voice has been shaped by his education in jazz, classical and electronic music at the Hamburg Conservatory and Berklee College of Music, Boston. He was awarded the German Music Authors’ Prize in the category ‘Composition Audiovisual Media’ in 2016.

Thomas Theune

Director of Broadcasting and Online, GEMA

After studying international business administration, Thomas Theune started his professional career at GEMA in January 2006. His first position at GEMA was in the Radio and New Media department, now Broadcast and Online (S/O). After he lead the department for licensing mechanicals for a while Thomas Theune took over the position of Director of Broadcast and Online in July 2014. He is responsible for the licensing of public and commercial television and radio stations, cable retransmission as well as in the online area for national online licensing, for international online licensing and accounting via ICE and for the business via the Option 3 companies SOLAR and ARESA. 

Prof. Dr. Francisco Tigre-Moura

Academic, Researcher

Prof. Dr. Francisco Tigre Moura is a professor of marketing at IU University of Applied Sciences (Bad Honnef, Germany). Originally from Brazil, Prof. Dr. Tigre Moura concluded a PhD in marketing in 2012 at the University of Otago in New Zealand where he was awarded for exceptional thesis. Since 2016 his research has focused on topics such artificial creativity, music, technology experiences and general consumer behavior. Some of his recent studies has focused on listeners’ perceptions of artificially composed music.

Antonia Uhl

Director, Producer, Writer

ANTONIA UHL was born in Bonn 1996 and brought up in Dusseldorf. After graduating from high school, she did a social voluntary year. For one year, she studied art history, but she quit for studying film directing at ifs international filmschool in 2017 which she completed in 2021. During her studies, she has completed many short films out of which some were written and produced by her as well.

Since her graduation she is working as a freelance director, producer and writer. She is currently developing several tv series as well as her debut feature.

Filmography

As director

2023 SAILBOAT, drama, 12‘ [in post production]

­2022 KANNST DU WOANDERS TRAURIG SEIN – CONNY, [real life action director], 4‘, music video

2022 KLINGELSCHILD – CONNY, 7‘, music video/short film

2021 AUSTER, 47‘, Drama / World premiere at 50. Sehsüchte international student film festival, 2021 / Competition of 3rd Female Filmmakers Festival Berlin, 2021 (Winner "best screenplay" - Nina Meyer, Antonia Uhl; "best performance" - Nicole Marischka) / Short film competition des Boston Women’s film festival, 2021 / Noble International Film Festival And Awards, Bengaluru, Indien, 2021 / White Unicorn International Film Festival,  Kolkata, Indien, 2021 (Winner "best film") / Boden International Film Festival, Boden, Schweden, 2021 / 5th edition of the best social/family/kids film festival on moviescreenpro, Los Angeles, USA, 2022 / Golden short film festival, Italy, („golden actress category winner“ for the 2021/2022 Fourth Quarter Competition)

2021 UNTIL I BELONG TO YOU – Ariane, 4‘, music video/short film

2021 ERSTES MAL LETZTES MAL – CONNY x Toksi, 5‘, music video/short film / 3rd Munich Music Video Awards – best female director

2019 IL BUSTO DELLA CORTE, grotesque, 7 ‘/ pre film at Filmschauplätze NRW, 2021 / Filmkunstfest Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 2021

2018 BLINDDATE, thriller, 4‘ / nomination at Sky Blaue Blume Award, 2018

As creative producer

2022/2023 MEIN DEUTSCHLAND. DAS TEILE ICH NICHT, director: Mimi Zak, documentary film, 30‘

2021 AVEC LES SANS PAPIERS, director: Mimi Zak, documentary film, 24‘

2018/2022 SEGELBOOT, also director, drama, 12‘

2018 BLINDDATE, also director, Thriller, 4‘

As writer

2021 AUSTER, with Nina Meyer, also director, 47‘, drama

2019 IL BUSTO DELLA CORTE, also director, grotesque, 7‘

2018 BLINDDATE, also director, thriller, 4‘

Awards

2022 best social/family/kids film festival on moviescreenpro, Los Angeles, USA – best feature: AUSTER

2021 White Unicorn International Film Festival, Kolkata, India – best film: AUSTER

2021 3rd Female Filmmakers Festival Berlin – best screenplay: AUSTER (mit Nina Meyer)

2021 3rd Munich Music Video Awards – best female director music video: ERSTES MAL LETZTES MAL – CONNY x Toksi

2018 Sky Blaue Blume Award, 2018, nominated for: BLINDDATE

Katharina Uppenbrink

Managing Director

Katharina Uppenbrink has been the managing director of Initiative Urheberrecht (Authors’ Rights Initiative) since May 2014 (https://urheber.info/about-us).

After training and studying in Berlin and London, Katharina worked for various publishers in Berlin, then heading several departments at a medium-sized publishing house in Frankfurt/Main.

In 2002 she became managing director of the Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren (VDD), the special interest group for screenwriters in Germany, focusing on marketing and organization. From 2004 she was also responsible for the national and international political activities of the professional association. Her focus in this capacity was on copyright and film funding. She was appointed to various German Federal Film board (FFA) committees. She helped to set up the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE) in Brussels and played a leading role in the development and implementation of several World Conferences of Screenwriters.

Camille van Lunen

Composer

Camillle van Lunen was a young student (viola) and studied singing in the Netherlands. She ventured back to the source, composition, which inspired her from childhood.

International prizes and commissions followed. Her work, characterized by wit and richness of color, often focuses on social issues of our time.

She has received commissions e.g. from the Kölner Philharmonie, Acht Brücken Festival, Basel Sinfonietta and Mädchen Kantorei, Festival de Musique Vocale Contemporaine, Amwaj Choir, Talitha Kumi School and Stadt Leverkusen.

She has written songs, chamber music and operas especially for young talented musicians, with whom she often works in composition workshops.

A formative experience was her time as Composer in Residence at the Gulbenkian Institute for Science, Lisbon. Stringency, tireless creativity, and solidarity are qualities she values in scientists:in.

Her works are published by Furore Verlag, Kassel. She is vice-chairman of the German Composers' Association/NRW.

Detailed biography at www.camillevanlunen.de

Andreas Vierziger

Music Curator, Strategist, Music Supervisor

Internationally acclaimed music curator and strategist Andreas Vierziger collaborates with project partners in the music industry and beyond, including the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Paris Opera Competition, Camerata Salzburg, Budapest Spring Festival, David Lynch's Silencio Club in Paris and others. 

Music supervisor and consultant for movies and series such as e.g. “Chess Story“, “The Space Between the Lines“, “All Quiet in the Western Front“, “The Empress“, for theatre (e.g. Vienna Burgtheater) and major fashion shows (e.g. Vivienne Westwood).

Lecturer at many music universities including Tokyo, Zurich, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Vienna. Jury member at numerous international classical music competitions and recently appointed to join the pop music jury of the German Record Critics' Award.

Rosalie Vos

Composer Manager

In 2021, after gaining 7 years of experience in composer management, Rosalie Vos started her own artist management company in Berlin, where she moved ten years earlier, fresh from earning a degree in Fine Arts.

Having worked in the arts industry for her early years in the city, Vos pivoted towards music and film when she was hired as production manager for Jóhann Jóhannsson’s Last and First Men in 2014. Initially a multimedia performance with a live score performed by the BBC Philharmonic at Manchester International Festival, Last and First Men later premiered as a feature length film narrated by Tilda Swinton at the 2020 Berlinale.

Vos joined Jóhannsson’s general management team at Redbird Music, where she also represented composers like Dustin O’Halloran, A Winged Victory For The Sullen and Volker Bertelmann (aka Hauschka). There, she immersed herself in the vast world of scoring, from artistic theatre to high budget Hollywood productions, and also became a valued member of the Berlin Kreuzberg studio community, home to, among others, Jóhannsson, O’Halloran, Rutger Hoedemaekers and Hildur Gudnadottir. She also developed a broader interest in combination careers, paying close attention to how different disciplines can enhance one another, and continued to cultivate a passion for a colourful and eclectic spectrum of music and art.

Isobel Waller-Bridge

Composer

Isobel Waller-Bridge is an award-winning composer known for her scores for film, television and theatre, alongside her work in electronic and contemporary classical music. She works in a wide range of genres, extending across large-scale orchestral music, electronic sound design, experimental music and song writing.

Isobel has scored a multitude of feature films, including ‘Munich: The Edge of War’ (Netflix, dir. Christian Schwochow), ‘The Phantom of the Open’ (BBC Films, dir. Craig Roberts), ‘Emma.’ (Focus Features / Working Title, dir. Autumn de Wilde and more recently ‘I Came By’ (Netflix, dir. Babak Anvari), and BAFTA & Oscar-winning short ‘The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse’ (Bad Robot/NoneMore Productions, dir. Charlie Mackesy and Peter Baynton), alongside the upcoming film ‘The Lesson’ (dir. Alice Troughton). For television, her work includes music for ‘Fleabag’ (BBC/Amazon), ‘Black Mirror’ (Netflix), the limited anthology series ‘Roar’ (Apple), and critically acclaimed docu-series ‘The Way Down’ (HBO).

Alongside her commission ‘Temperatures’ for the Philharmonia Orchestra which premiered at the Royal Festival Hall in November 2021, she has also collaborated with fashion houses Alexander McQueen and Simone Rocha, and principal ballerina at the Royal Opera House, Francesca Hayward, for her dance film ‘Siren’. For theatre, Isobel has worked with Florian Zeller in ‘The Son’ (West End) as well as his play ‘The Forest’ (Hampstead Theatre). Other theatre credits include ‘Woyzeck’, adapted by Jack Thorne (Old Vic), ‘Blood Wedding’ (Young Vic), and ‘Knives In Hens’ (Donmar Warehouse).

Isobel's releases include her 2015 album ‘Music for Strings’, her single ‘Illuminations’ on Mercury KX / Decca, and the original soundtrack album for ‘Munich: The Edge of War’, out on Milan Records / Sony Music. Isobel’s latest release ‘VIII’ was released in November 2022 on Mercury KX / Decca.

Isobel has received a number of awards including Best Composer at Underwire Film Festival and winner of Best Sound Designer at the Off West End Theatre Awards. More recently, she was nominated for the Discovery of the Year Award at the World Soundtrack Awards. In February 2022, Isobel featured as Composer Magazine's digital cover story.

Hanse Warns

Foleymixer, Foley Supervisor

Hanse Warns: foleymixer and foley supervisor

1986-1990 Freelancer , Audio Engineer Diploma

1991  Music Engineer (Spliff Studio Berlin)

1994  First Protools DAW

1996  Digital Mastering Suite

1998  from Avid & Protools to Postproduction

2003  first foley stage, Collaboration with foley artist Carsten Richter and sound designer Frank Kruse

2007  German Film Academy Award- Best Sound  for "Perfume: The story of a murderer"

He has over 200 Credits for foley recordings on german and international feature films, such as "Cloud Atlas", "The International", "RUSH", "Babylon Berlin", "Matrix Resurrections" and "All Quiet on the Western Front".

He is board member of the German Film Academy.

www.studiowarns.de

Klaus Waßen-Floren

Sound Supervisor, Sound Designer

Klaus Waßen-Floren is a German sound supervisor and sound designer. He is credited with countless TV and series projects, including more than 50 productions of the famous ARD crime series "Tatort".

After graduating from SAE Frankfurt as an audio engineer in 1995, he initially worked in the music industry as a live and recorded audio engineer. In addition, he increasingly supervised cinema and TV productions as a freelancer.

In 2019 he joined the film sound postproduction TORUS based in Cologne. His latest projects include the feature film "Eingeschlossene Gesellschaft" by director Sönke Wortmann and the Warner TV series "Two Sides of the Abbys".

Klaus Waßen-Floren is a member of the BVFT.

Mareike Wegener

Film Producer, Writer

Mareike Wegener is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, and producer who studied directing at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne and the New School in New. Her directorial debut, the feature-length documentary „Mark Lombardi – Death-defying Acts of Art and Conspiracy“ (2012) premiered theatrically in Germany and at the MoMA in New York. She also co-wrote Hannes Lang’s non-fiction films „PEAK“ (2011),  „I WANT TO SEE THE MANAGER“ (2014), and „RIAFN“ (2019). Her company PETROLIO is a filmmakers’ cooperative she runs alongside fellow filmmakers Hannes Lang and Carmen Losmann. Production credits include Losmann's „OECONOMIA“ (2020) which was invited to the 70th Berlinale. In 2021 Wegener’s short “X” premiered in Oberhausen and won the German Short Film Award in silver. Her first fictional feature "ECHO" was invited to the 72nd Berlinale in 2022. 

Fabian Zeidler

Composer

Fabian Zeidler is a composer, orchestrator and arranger, living and working in Berlin, Germany. He studied composition and percussion at the University of Arts Berlin as well as at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in Riga and since 2019 his second master degree in Film Scoring at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf. Fabian works in the fields of film music and concert music - his music was played by a variety of artists, ensembles and orchestras in Europe, USA and Japan. He wrote music for films e.g. THE ORDINARIES (Sophie Linnenbaum, 2022) and MUSARION (Julian Rabus, 2019). His work as an orchestrator in collaboration with Tilo Heinrich / HEIKOMUSIC, includes projects such as Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13 (2020), Deutschstunde (2019), School of Magical Animals 2 (2022) an Kreuzfahrt ins Glück.