Speakers

Gustavo Santaolalla

Lifetime Achievement Award 2024

Two-Time Oscar Winning multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and composer, Gustavo Santaolalla is recognized as one of the most highly acclaimed and prolific contemporary Argentine musicians in the world.

In the mid-nineties, Santaolalla created his own record label Surco and has produced more than 100 albums by some of Latin-America’s most relevant alternative musicians, including Café Tacvba, Julieta Venegas, Molotov, Los Prisioneros, Juana Molina, Bajofondo, Los Tigres del Norte and Juanes establishing him as one of the fundamental pillars of the history of the movement known as Rock en Español. In 2020, he produced “Break It All” (“Rompan Todo”), Netflix’s mini-series about the history of rock in Latin-America. Santaolalla has won 2 Grammys and 19 Latin Grammys.

In 2000, Santaolalla began composing for television and film. He has written music for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel and Biutiful, Walter Salles’ Motorcycle Diaries and On the Road, and Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, for which he received his first Oscar for Best Original Score and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song, “A Love That Will Never Grow Old” co-written with Bernie Taupin. The following year, Santaolalla received his second Oscar for Best Original Score for Babel.

He went on to work on television series such as “Jane the Virgin”, “Hell on Wheels”, “Narcos: México,” “The House” and the German thriller “Dear Child.” Music from his solo album Ronroco has been used in Michael Mann’s The Insider and HBO’s series Deadwood. In 2014, Santaolalla composed for the successful and award-winning film The Book of Life, not only the score, but also original songs with the iconic Paul Williams. He collaborated again with Williams along with Gary Clark, Jr. in Freak Power: The Ballot of the Bomb, a documentary inspired by Hunter S. Thompson’s run for sheriff of Pitkin County. In 2018, Santaolalla was chosen by Eric Clapton to score his autobiographical documentary Life In 12 Bars. In 2019, Santaolalla was invited by Clapton to perform at the Crossroads Guitar Festival alongside artists such as Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, Peter Frampton, Vince Gil, John Mayer and Clapton himself.

In 2013, for the first time in his career, Santaolalla submerged himself into the gaming world and created the music for a video game. The Last of Us, developed by Naughty Dog and created and directed by Neil Druckmann for Sony PlayStation, won more than 200 awards, including BAFTA's Game of the Year, becoming one of the most successful video games in history. Following the release of the much-anticipated sequel The Last of Us II in June 2020, Santaolalla was invited by Druckmann to score the MAX series based on the beloved videogame. With Druckmann and Craig Mazin at the helm of the series, “The Last of Us” was released in January 2023 and has received outstanding reviews from television critics and gamers alike.

As of April 2024, Santaolalla has wrapped up the score for esteemed cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto’s feature directorial debut Pedro Paramo and reunited with Druckmann and Mazin to work on the music for season two of “The Last of Us.”

2024 began with the re-release of Santaolalla’s acclaimed Ronroco album in a 25^th anniversary vinyl edition and will conclude with the album’s European tour this fall.

Nilgün Akıncı

Filmmaker

Petri Alanko

Composer, Musician, Producer

Petri Alanko (aka Lowland) is a three-time BAFTA-nominated Finnish composer, musician and producer who creates deeply emotional soundscapes for visual media, including games, television and movies. His dynamic repertoire ranges from the haunting orchestral/electronic scores for Remedy Entertainment’s psycho-thriller, ALAN WAKE, to the thematic hybrid works of action blockbuster QUANTUM BREAK and the complex musical landscape of CONTROL featuring a twisted and ominous electronic sci-fi score for Remedy’s cinematic triumph. Returning to ‘The Dark Place’, Alanko’s latest musical adventure was composing the intense duality and character-driven score for Remedy’s supernatural horror sequel, ALAN WAKE II, released to universal critical acclaim in 2023.

For ALAN WAKE II, Alanko curated the game’s unique surreal soundscape with a custom-built Apprehension Engine (multi instrumental device), Mega Marvin (metallic percussion instrument), and other manipulated percussion sounds sourced from a 'plate reverb'. As the narrative unfolds, the melodies and harmonies are to tied to each character but their different soundscapes and unique instrumentation evolve and intertwine as the worlds collide between protagonist Saga in her world and Alan Wake in ‘The Dark Place’.

As an artist and performer, Alanko has toured extensively with popular Finnish bands including keyboards for Neon 2, recorded the critically acclaimed albums, Classical Trancelations 1 and 2 (under his Lowland moniker) and performed Classical Trancelations In Concert at the Helsinki Festival. Previously Alanko collaborated with the symphonic metal band Nightwish composing the elegant and sophisticated classical arrangements for Imaginaerum The Movie, based on their hit album. Since 2018, Alanko has also held the role of Audio Director at Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE’s radio department. Other upcoming projects include scoring assignments for Space X and Paris Fashion Week as well as Classical Trancelations 3, currently in pre-production.

Whether scoring for games, television or movies, Alanko’s crafted soundtracks feature a unique composing style, rich with vibrant harmonies and highly unusual hybrid instrumentation, thanks to his roots in both electronic and classical music. Encompassing hard-edged all-electronic to sublime and emotional orchestral scores, his arranging style varies depending on the needs of the production, combining contemporary instruments with cutting-edge technology and custom-built tools for sculpting the sound – creating a memorable, timeless sonic experience, which is instantly recognizable.

Lejla Aliev

Producer, Director

Lejla Aliev initially studied art sciences at the University of Münster, followed by a study of fine arts at the Kunstakademie Münster, since 2016 in the class of Suchan Kinoshita. Parallel to her art studies with exhibitions in Europe, she joined Jan Enste as a managing partner at jae kunst und medien. After another three successful years, they decided to give the business partnership a common name, so in 2021 the rebranding to Juli Film took place, for which she works primarily as executive producer and director. Her scenic directing debut took place in 2022 for the docutainment web series ‘Preußen & Westfalen’.

The short film "Porzellan", directed by Lejla Aliev and Hanieh Bozorgnia, premiered at See The Sound Filmfestival 2020.

Michael P. Aust

Festivaldirector SoundTrack_Cologne and Producer TelevisorTroika GmbH

Business graduate (Dipl.-Kfm.) Michael P. Aust is a German curator, organiser of cultural events and film producer born in 1965. His focal point of interest lies in the intersectionality of art forms, especially in the relationship of music and moving pictures. He heads the filmmusic festival and conference SoundTrack_Cologne that he founded in 2004 – with 850 accreditations Europe’s leading filmmusic industry event – as well as SoundTrack_Zurich since 2020. Parallel from 2014-2019 he was festivaldirector of Braunschweig International Filmfestival that grew to 28.000 admissions under his direction.

Aust has worked in the film industry for more than 25 years with producer credits for 21 feature films and feature-length documentaries, including “101 Reykjavik”, “Stumbling Block”, “Low Lights”, “Parallax Sounds Chicago”, “Eva Hesse” and “The Sound of Cologne”, focusing on music and art. His directorial debut “Can and Me”, co-produced by WDR, hit the cinemas and film festivals in spring 2023. 

Michael curates exhibitions and festivals e.g. DuKunst Media Art Festival 1992, Klangvisionen sound art exhibition 1994, StadtKlangNetz conference on cultural education 2007-2014, European Film Music Day at Cannes Film Festival 2009-2016, the highly successful The Art of Pop Video exhibition (MAKK Cologne 2011, Odessa Art Center 2012, Liverpool FACT 2013), Next Level Conference on video games 2012, PLAY!CGN exhibition and conference on video games in art 2013, Digital Distribution conference 2014, BIFF Film Criticism LAB: on the Future of Film Criticism 2015, Hostile Sisters - Interdependencies of Theatre and Film conference 2016, FxM Film meets Music Festival 2018+19. His latest project is the 30-month Re-Educating Digitisation funded by Erasmus+.

He is a voting member of the German Film Academy, Filmbüro NW and of the World Soundtrack Academy and Board Member of KulturNetzKöln and MusicFilmFestivalNetwork. He is Managing Director, Owner and Producer at TelevisorTroika GmbH, a Cologne-based company established in 1993 for film production, art events and public relations in arts.

Ed Bailie

Music Supervisor

Managing Director of music supervision and composer representation agency LELAND, Ed has supervised film and television productions including Top Boy (Netflix), Steve McQueen’s five film anthology Small Axe (Amazon), 2023 BAFTA Best Original Music winner Mood (BBC), The Gold (BBC/Paramount+) and Formula 1: Drive To Survive (Netflix).

In advertising, Ed has supervised multi-award winning brand campaigns such as Greenpeace ‘Don’t Stop’ (2024 Clio Music Grand), PG Tips ‘Rock Solid’ (dir. Steve McQueen), Channel 4 Paralympics ‘We’re The Superhumans’ (Cannes Lions Grand Prix), and John Lewis & Partners widely awarded Christmas campaigns, which garnered several UK No.1 hit singles.

Ed previously headed up the UK sync departments at Blue Mountain Music and Bug Music. He now sits on the senior board of the UK & European Guild of Music Supervisors, as the head of the unions committee.

Tali Barde

Director, Writer

Three Headed Monkey Films is an innovative film production company and an up-and-coming game studio in one. As a three-headed monkey, we develop and produce high-quality genre films, comedy series and narrative video games from Cologne. Three Heads. Three Arts. One Vision.

Our team consists of two directors/writers and a producer/production manager. Our portfolio includes our own projects as well as collaborations with unique, external talents with whom we build long-term and sustainable partnerships on an equal footing, protecting and strengthening their creative visions. Our goal is to improve working conditions for film and media professionals across all departments, ensuring better art and sustaining young talent. Through our years of varied experience in the industry, we have learned one thing above all: there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Stephen Barton

Composer

GRAMMY-winning and BAFTA-nominated composer Stephen Barton has left an indelible mark on the realms of film, television, and video games, boasting a prolific career that spans these diverse mediums. His remarkable contributions include composing for renowned projects such as Star Trek: Picard, all sixteen seasons of Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Multiversus, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, 12 Monkeys, and Unlocked, among numerous others.

Barton's influence extends to the world of live service gaming, with titles like Apex and Multiversus captivating over 300 million regular players worldwide through his musical talent.

Born in 1982, Barton's musical journey commenced at an astonishingly young age. At just eight years old, he earned a prestigious scholarship, enabling him to sing in Winchester Cathedral Choir and perform on renowned stages worldwide, including the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, and the Royal Albert Hall. His angelic voice graced more than a dozen albums.

Embarking on his composing career at 19, Barton served as an assistant to the acclaimed Harry Gregson-Williams, relocating from the UK to Los Angeles in 2001. Beyond composing, he actively explores spatial and immersive music for virtual, augmented, and extended reality, contributing his expertise to formats like Dolby Atmos and Auro-3D. He is a member of Abbey Road's Spatial Audio research group, the GRAMMY immersive audio committee, and consults major companies on immersive and binaural audio techniques for music.

In addition to his digital endeavors, Barton maintains an active presence as a conductor and pianist. Collaborating with luminaries like Sir Anthony Hopkins and performing with prestigious orchestras such as the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Colorado Symphony Orchestra, he continues to shape the world of music with his multifaceted talents.

Dr. Kerstin Bäcker

Attorney, Lecturer

Dr. Kerstin Bäcker ist seit 2001 Rechtsanwältin bei Lausen Rechtsanwälte, seit 2004 verantwortet sie als Partnerin den Standort Köln.

Zukunftsthemen und innovative Produkte sind die Spielwiese von Dr. Kerstin Bäcker. Seit Jahren beschäftigt sie sich mit der Adaptation des urheberrechtlichen Rahmens an neue technische Entwicklungen im Rahmen der individuellen und kollektiven Lizenzierung und damit im Zusammenhang stehender Business Cases: Angefangen von der Verantwortlichkeit von Plattformen und Social Media für Nutzerinhalte (YouTube, Cyberlocker, etc.) bis hin zur Künstlichen Intelligenz, dem Metaverse und NFTs.

Zu ihren Mandanten zählen auch klassische Bildungsunternehmen, Verlage, Kulturinstitutionen sowie Musik-, Audio- und Filmproduktionsunternehmen.

Erfahrungen im Ausland sammelte sie bei international tätigen Kanzleien in Paris, Kapstadt, Melbourne und Barcelona.

Dr. Kerstin Bäcker studierte an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München und als Teilnehmerin des integrierten, deutsch-französischen Studiengangs an der Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II, Frankreich) mit Schwerpunkt Europa- und internationales Recht. Sie erwarb dort die Licence en Droit. Ihre Promotion an der Technischen Universität Dresden erfolgte über die Stellung der Leistungsschutzberechtigten im digitalen Zeitalter unter Einbeziehung der Rechtssituation in Frankreich, den USA und dem Vereinten Königreich. Dr. Kerstin Bäcker ist Fachanwältin für Urheber- und Medienrecht.

Neben ihrer Tätigkeit als Rechtsanwältin ist Dr. Kerstin Bäcker Referentin bei der Akademie der Deutschen Medien sowie Gastreferentin bei verschiedenen Institutionen, unter anderem der Hochschule Ansbach und dem Steinbeis Institut. Zudem engagiert sie sich als Moderatorin, etwa bei der Initiative „Die Zukunft des Verlegens“. Sie ist unter anderem Autorin beim Handbuch für Musikwirtschaft und dem Handbuch Kulturmanagement und veröffentlicht in nationalen und internationalen Fachzeitschriften.

Christoph Becker

Managing Director Constantin Music, Author

Christoph Becker, born 1967 in Münster, worked for "Tempo", "Die Woche", "Die Zeit" and WDR late night show "Schmidteinander". Together with Tim Renner, former CEO of Universal Music Germany, he has written the book "Kinder, der Tod ist gar nicht so schlimm / Death Is Not So Bad – On The Future Of The Music And Media Industry". He advised Universal Music, Deutsche Grammophon, NDR radio network, many artist managements and is the co-owner and founder of the music production company BASS in Hamburg, which he is representing as board member of Hamburg Music Business e.V.

Since 2005 he is Managing Director of Constantin Music, Constantin Music Publishing and Königskinder Music, heading all music activities of German film and television producer / distributor Constantin Film.

Since 2016 he is a member of the ZDF supervisory board, now in the position of Deputy Chairman, and since 2021 also of the ARTE G.E.I.E. advisory board.

Volker Bertelmann

Pianist, Composer and Experimental Musician

Volker Bertelmann is an internationally-acclaimed pianist, composer and experimental musician. In 2023 he was honored with an Academy Award and a BAFTA in the Best Score category for his work on All Quiet on the Western Front (directed by Edward Berger). His film One Life premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

His score to 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, Best Score at the Critics’ Choice Awards, and for Best Film Music at the BAFTAs.

Bertelmann has provided music for several leading films and television series. He composed the score for Patrick Melrose, The Old Guard, Stowaway, the episode “Beyond The Sea” from Black Mirror, 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’s latest projects include Conclave for which he collaborated with director Edward Berger again, in addition to scoring The Crow (Lionsgate) and Dune: Prophecy (HBO Max). 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.  Bertelmann is an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

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.

Dagmar Blume-Niehage

Film Producer

Tjeerd Bomhof

Songwriter, Producer

Tjeerd Bomhof is a songwriter/producer from Amsterdam who spends his time working on projects as an artist, collaborating with other artists, and doing commissioned work for film and television.
He is also fascinated with the challenges of being a creator in a big, and at times imperfect, music industry. These concerns led to him co-found the Dutch songwriting society BAM! (now BAM! Popauteurs) and to launch the tech start-up called FXR (‘fixer’). FXR helps creators and rights holders get an overview of, and find inconsistencies in, their music royalty payments by harmonizing royalty statements and presenting them in one portal.

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.

Laila Bounouar

TV Producer and Screenwriter

Laila Bounouar is an experienced television producer and screenwriter with a demonstrated history of working in the entertainment industry. She is skilled in negotiation, music management, event management, film production, and market research. In addition to her consulting work, she is also a talented songwriter. With a background as a social scientist, she brings a unique and comprehensive perspective to various areas of the media and entertainment sector. She is also a diversity expert, providing valuable advice to film productions and TV networks.

Prof. Lüdger Brümmer

Composer, Head of Institut für Musik und Akustik / Hertz-Lab am ZKM Karlsruhe

Prof Ludger Brümmer works in the field of algorithmic experimental composition, is Professor of Composition with Digital Media in Trossingen and has been Director of the Institute for Music and Acoustics / Hertz-Lab at the ZKM Karlsruhe since 2003. 

Claudia Budana

Project Lead for funding program "KOMPASS"

Claudia Budana’s professional mission is to supply consultancy to self-employed persons who would like to receive funding for further training. Claudia provides information about the funding program, guides you through the administrative process and helps you find the right training courses.  As a member of the cultural and creative industries team at the municipal economic development agency KölnBusiness her focus is on the relevant industries in the Cologne area. But generally she advises entrepreneurs from all sectors and throughout Germany.

Hayat Chaoui

Singer, Author

Hayat Chaoui is a singer, singing teacher, author and head of the singing department at the Bergische Musikschule Wuppertal. Her intercultural women's choir "WoW - Women of Wuppertal" has received several awards. Her books "KIWI - 80 Children's and Lullabies from all over the World" and "WoW - Women of Our World" have been published by Helbling and Breitkopf & Härtel and have been awarded the German Music Edition Prize "Best Edition", among others. Chaoui is a member of the presidium of the State Music Council of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Guillaume Clement

Attorney, Music Supervisor

Guillaume CLEMENT is a registered attorney (Paris Bar & Saint Pierre Bar, Coriolan Law) specialized in intellectual property. 

After 14 years of professional experience as composer agent and music supervisor, he co-founded TIME ART MUSIC with Raphaël VINZANT and Thierry DUREPAIRE. 

TIME ART MUSIC is a European film music agency based in Paris, offering a wide array of services for both composers (representation, contract negotiation, PRO collection audit) and film producers (music clearance, executive music production, co-financing). 

With more than 40 international talents crafting scores from philharmonic orchestras to electronic landscapes, TIME ART MUSIC blends itself in harmony with her sister agency TIME ART representing more than 500 directors and 500 actresses / actors.

Lorenz Dangel

Composer

Lorenz Dangel studied double bass, film composition and classical composition in Berlin, Munich and London.
Triggered by the need to experience music in its various functional and expressive possibilities, Dangel has consciously chosen a broad creative field.
Both in his concertante works and in his theatre projects, his affinity for narrative becomes clear.
At the same time, his roots in classical music and curiosity about the experimental influence his work in the field of film music.
His music is characterised by the ability to move between these genres.

Filmography (selection)

“Tides” (German Film Prize 2021)

"Ich und Kaminski" by Wolfgang Becker

"Lykke Per" by Bille August

"Deutschstunde" by Christian Schwochow

"Sterben" (German Film Prize 2024)

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”.

Vanessa Donelly

Composer, Songwriter

Vanessa Donelly is a German film composer & songwriter known for the film THE ANGEL IN THE WALL. Vanessa studied piano and conducting at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media and learned from film composer Randall Meyers (SOPHIES WORLD) for several years. After attending many international master classes with renowned composers like Alexandre Desplat (GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL), James Newton Howard (THE DARK KNIGHT) and Danny Elfman (ALICE IN WONDERLAND), Vanessa started composing her first films for DOP Peter Zeitlinger (QUEEN OF THE DESERT) and director Silvia Zeitlinger.
In 2017 Vanessa started her own recording studio "Donelly Records" and became a member of "Books, Music and Lyrics" London in 2020, where she started writing music at London's West End. Beginning in 2023 she started composing music for the ARD Series “Am Pass” and the ZDF Serie “Soko Leipzig”.

Alongside film music and musical composition Vanessa is passionate about her satiric cabaret group "passivattraktiv", consisting of lyricist Rune Baruschke and singers Lisa Hintzke and Rafael Albert. The group has performed many shows including at the Schmidtchen (Hamburg) and the Schlot in Berlin. After being voted Act of the Month at the Wabe Berlin in April 2023 passivattraktiv continued to the finale in December 2023 where they won the title Act of the Year and will perform their program "Something with Culture" (orig. Irgendwas mit Kultur) in October 2024 in the Wabe Berlin. Recently Vanessa Donelly won the Vespertilio Award at Ore d'Orrore in the category "Best Filmmusic" in Rome (Italy), the Heimspielpreis at the Braunschweig International Filmfestival, was interviewed by Bita Schafi-Neya for NDR2 and NDR Kultur and Cornelia Bittmann for the culture magazine "Mosaik" for WDR and spoke in the German federal parliament (Bundestag) about "Compatibility of family and career in the art and culture sector". Vanessa is represented by her agent Alexander Hemmpel and lives and works near Hanover and Berlin, Germany.

Stefan Döring

Composer

In May 2022, he and Verena Guido founded a co-working film music studio, the "K7A Musik & Projekthaus" in Cologne, which also houses „o-ton.koeln", a chamber music and recording hall for acoustic recordings and performance projects (www.o-ton.koeln). 

Stefan Döring's most current works are the music for the movie-documentary „13 Steps“ (Producer is Leopold Hoesch & Executive Producer is Oscar winner Morgan Freeman),  „Das letzte Tabu“ and “Die Unbeugsamen" (the most successful german arthouse film in 2021 with over 150,000 tickets sold) as well as music for the TV series "Mord mit Aussicht“ (fifth season) for the german TV-Channel „ARD" (co-composing with Andreas Schilling). Currently his film music is nominated for the „naturvision FilmMusic Award 2024“

Some of Stefan Döring's film & TV works (Excerpt of his filmography):

- „Im Lauf der Zeit – Angela Merkel“ (Kino) Director: Torsten Körner // Prod.: BROADVIEW TV // Majestic Filmverleih
- „Die Unbeugsamen“ (Kino) Director: Torsten Körner // Prod.: BROADVIEW TV // Majestic Filmverleih
- „Der Junge muß an die frische Luft“ (Kino) Director: Caroline Link // Musicproducer for Niki Reiser // Warner Bos.// UFA Fiction
- „Harter Brocken 2: Die Kronzeugin (TV Event-Movie) Director: Florian Baxmeyer // H&V Entertainment // DVD, TV // ARD/Degeto
- „Ein Mord mit Aussicht – der Kino-Film“ Regie: Jan Schomburg // Als Co-Composer für Andreas Schilling // PRO TV Produktion GmbH // Kino, DVD
- „Geschlossene Gesellschaft“ Regie Luzia Schmid & Regina Schilling // Kino (DVD) // zeroone Filmproduktion Berlin
- „Die Abenteuer des Huck Finn“ (KINO) Director: Hermine Huntgeburth // Musicproduction for composer Niki Reiser // Majestic Filmproduktion // Neue Schönhauser Filmproduktion
- „Tatort Mauerblümchen“ zusammen mit A.Schäfer // Regie: J. Fabrick // Mit Martin Wuttke, Simone Thomalla // SaxoniaMedia – ARD

And many more…

Gary Downing

Composer Agent

Composer agent and music industry veteran, Gary is the managing director of MRKR, a hybrid composer agency which he founded in 2023 in partnership with the legendary AIR Studios in London.  MRKR is a leading global agency for diverse and unique talent, shaping and guiding the careers of composers and artists through first-class representation in the film, TV, games and media industries, and holistic management of the various aspects of their work and output.

MRKR’s current roster includes Nainita Desai, Neil Davidge, Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres and Yair Elazar Glotman, and Gary’s experience as an agent has seen him negotiate the composer deals, and oversee the scores of productions for the likes of Disney, Netflix, BBC, Amazon, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Sky, Warner Bros. and Universal, as well as working across advertising campaigns for the likes of Vodafone and Balenciaga.

In 2016, Gary was instrumental in the foundation of the independent agency Leland Originals, the sister company to music supervisors Leland Music, where he was managing director until the start of 2023. 

His previous twenty years’ experience in publishing companies and record labels spans copyright, business affairs, A&R and synchronisation and saw him lead the licensing teams at Warner/Chappell Music, Chrysalis Music, Music Sales (now Wise Music) and Caroline International (now Virgin Music).

In 2008 he co-founded Exclamation Music, a freelance sync department and media company, specialising in the representation of independent labels and publishers, unsigned artists, and composers for all areas of media, and acting as music consultant for the infamous T-Mobile ‘flash mob’ series of commercials. This led to him joining FRUKT Communications in 2010, as head of licensing, where he oversaw the engagement of music talent and procurement of music rights directly for global brands including Nokia, Diesel, and Coca-Cola, for which he managed the musical elements of their Olympic Torch Relay campaign for London 2012.

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. 

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 Panorama 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. He was Orchestra Mentor-in-residence for the WDR Funkhausorchester Köln from 2021 - 2023, and currently composes, performs and directs the MSCN Film Music Festivals Academy at film music festivals worldwide.

Prof. Michael Edwards

Composer, Improvisor, Software Developer

Michael Edwards is a composer, improvisor, software developer, and since 2017 Professor of Electronic Composition at ICEM, Folkwang University of the Arts, Essen. His compositional interests lie mainly in the development of structures for hybrid electro-instrumental pieces through the integration of algorithmically produced scored materials with similarly generated computer-processed sound. Michael Edwards ist member of the head of Landesmusikrat NRW.

Eðvarð Egilsson

Composer

Eðvarð Egilsson is an award-winning composer hailing from Reykjavik, Iceland. He is known for his original scores for the films SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD and QUAKE as well as the Icelandic television series LÍF DAFNAR. Eðvarð's music is characterized by his unique blend of electronic influences and classical composition techniques, creating complex and emotive narratives through his use of rhythm and sound manipulation.

Eðvarð has a degree in classical composition from the Iceland University of the Arts and has worked in the music and film industry both in Iceland and in Los Angeles, where he also lived for close to a decade. He won the 2024 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award and has also been nominated for the prestigious Edda Award, Iceland Music Awards, Cinema Eye Honors and 2023 Harpa Award which recognizes outstanding achievement in film composition, and Eðvarð's inclusion among the nominees is a testament to his skill and potential as a screen composer.

Najima El Moussaoui

Journalist, Event Host

Najima El Moussaoui is a freelance tv journalist and event host. She has worked as a news journalist for several public and private broadcasters such as ntv, DW and WDR.

As a facilitator she works for non profit organizations and hosts events on political and sociopolitical issues. She studied studied Sociology, Islamic studies, and German Literature in Cologne, Aachen and Madrid. 

Najima advocates for more diversity in the media and is a member and former board member of the NGO “Neue deutsche Medienmacher*innen e.V.,” („English: New German Mediamakers). She also is a member of the selection committee for the Civis Media Prize and part of the jury for the „Deutsche Menschenrechts-Filmpreis“ (Engl: German Human Rights Film Award).

Jan Enste

Producer

Jan Enste studied fine arts at the Kunstakademie Münster in the class of Andreas Köpnick and Daniele Buetti, who selected him as a Meisterschüler in 2011. In 2008, while still a student, he founded his film production company jae kunst und medien in order to produce video art for artist colleges in addition to his work as a visual artist. The company was renamed Juli Film in 2021 after Lejla Aliev joined as managing partner. To date, Jan Enste has produced video art, music videos, feature films and documentaries for artists such as Kirsten Pieroth, Michael Smith, Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca, Suchan Kinoshita, Franz-Erhard Walther and many others, in addition to his own works.

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 the "Cartoon Movie Award"/Postdam 2002-2008, Reeperbahn-Festival 2014-23, c/o pop Cologne 2014-2024 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. Its first project was "The Potential of Noise- Conny Plank" by Stephan Plank and Reto Caduff. Fessmann is executive-producer of "When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit", directed by award-winning director Caroline Link, and is co-producer of “Prince of swans”, as well as a few more.
Her newest documentary project “Just do it- She-punks from 1977 until now” about female punk and the new wave in german speaking territory from 1979-89 is currently in pre-production.

Siegfried Friedrich

Composer

Siegfried Friedrich has been working as a freelance composer in the field of film music (TV and cinema), as well as production music for various international publishers for 25 years.

Furthermore, he is active as a composer in the fields of concert music, theatre, sound installations and VR.

He received his education in the 90's at the MDW in Vienna (composition, computer music).

From 2004 onwards, he completed his doctoral studies in musicology and received a PhD in 2011.

Friedrich's music is characterized by a diverse stylistic range, which is defined by traditional sound languages, electronic and avant-garde soundscapes and innovative formal constructions.

His film music for "Dreams Rewired" was awarded the German Documentary Film Music Award in 2016.

Friedrich is a member of the board of the ACOM (Austrian Composers Association) and a delegate of the ECSA (European Composer and Songwriter Alliance).

Marielène Froidevaux

Music Supervisor

Marielène Froidevaux co-founded the international publishing house Black Stellar Music based in Zurich, representing a wide catalogue of music in the genres electronica, alternative, indie and urban.

Back in 2019 she started supervising on film productions and has been involved in numerous projects since. The 39-year-old is furthermore highly engaged in music policy issues, fair payments for artists as well as AI development in music on legal, political, social and creative aspects. She recently joined the tech start up Ontiko and the Brand Partnership Agency LOY.

Adi Frutiger

Composer

After graduating as a decoration designer, Adrian Frutiger worked as a production designer for the film Night of the Jugglers (1996), directed by Michael Steiner. There, he also ventured into film music, creating the score for the same project. This first work in media won him the European Prize at the Film Music Biennale in Bonn in 1996.

Frutiger's musical prowess has been showcased in a diverse range of films, including Michael Steiner's My name is Eugen, Grounding: the last days of Swissair, Sennentuntschi, Wolkenbruch's Strange Journey into the Arms of a Chic Woman, and Early Birds (co-composed with Martin Villiger); Der Büezer's Hans Kaufmann; Mirjam von Arx's Virgin Tales, and many more. 

His latest works for TV include Davos 1917 and Wilder.

Florian Gardin

Data Scientist, Software Engineer

I am a data scientist and software engineer with over a decade of experience. I am also a musician and an independent video game composer. As the CTO of MusicLang, I lead the development of generative music AI tools that act as true assistants for artists, focusing on the score rather than the audio. We are dedicated to integrating our technology into our customer's products designed for musicians.

On a personal note, I have always been fascinated by the use of algorithms in art. I believe that, when used wisely and fairly, AI can provide a valuable co-pilot & teacher experience in music composition. My goal is to help artists spend more time revolutionizing their creative expression instead of getting caught up in too many technical details.

Lilly Gibson

Art Director & Co-Founder Papercoda Games

Lilly Gibson is the co-founder and art director at Papercoda Games. She is a Fine Arts graduate from South Africa who majored in printmaking and video art. She worked in the film industry for over 3 years, where she designed sets and props and animated title sequences for films such as The Tokoloshe. Her work is part of the distinguished Constitutional Court Art Collection in South Africa.

Papercoda Games is an indie game studio based in Cologne. With the tagline "Decoding our world through play", their mission is to cater to the rapidly growing but under-served market of strategy & simulation games that explore real-world complexities in a fun and insightful way. Their plan is to lower the high threshold of entry into this sector and attract more gender-diverse and relaxed gamers through non-violent themes, cozy aesthetics and gameplay that is easy to learn but hard to master.

Melissa Graj

Executive 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.

Dennis Grimm

Music Executive Amazon MGM Studios

Dennis is the Music Executive at Amazon MGM Studios responsible for the territories Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. In his role, he is in charge of music for all original productions (scripted & unscripted series, films) commissioned out of these territories, working closely with the other Studios’ departments and the respective production companies. His remit covers the selection of Composers and Music Supervisors and the budgeting of the music department as well as overseeing licensed music, original songs and soundtrack releases. At Amazon MGM Studios he has worked on original productions such as Maxton Hall - The World Between Us, Luden, The Grpyhon, Viktor Bringt's, One Night Off, Sachertorte, LOL: Last One Laughing, Joko Winterscheidt Presents The World's Most Dangerous Show and the documentary film about the music artist Apache 207.

Before joining Amazon MGM Studios in 2021, Dennis has worked in various roles for companies in the music and film industry (e.g., Edel Music, Splendid Medien, Entertainment One). Important milestones were the expansion of the franchise The Walking Dead in the German-speaking home entertainment market, the release and gold-awarding of Lemmy Kilmister's biopic, music supervision for several film productions and the long-standing A&R responsibility for the music artist Michael Schulte including his success at Eurovision in 2018.

Marian Grönwoldt

Director

Three Headed Monkey Films is an innovative film production company and an up-and-coming game studio in one. As a three-headed monkey, we develop and produce high-quality genre films, comedy series and narrative video games from Cologne. Three Heads. Three Arts. One Vision.

Our team consists of two directors/writers and a producer/production manager. Our portfolio includes our own projects as well as collaborations with unique, external talents with whom we build long-term and sustainable partnerships on an equal footing, protecting and strengthening their creative visions. Our goal is to improve working conditions for film and media professionals across all departments, ensuring better art and sustaining young talent. Through our years of varied experience in the industry, we have learned one thing above all: there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Gordy Haab

Composer

Gordy Haab is a Grammy-winning and BAFTA-nominated film, video game, and television composer. His most recent project is the Chinese blockbuster Fengshen - Creation of the Gods: Kingdom of Storms (Well Go USA), which garnered $400M in box office in its home territory prior to the film’s 2023 North American Release. Haab is also well known for his music for AAA and AAAA video game titles including Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Star Wars: Squadrons, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Microsoft’s Halo Wars 2, and Star Wars: Battlefront I and II, among others. In 2022, Haab was nominated for an International Film Music Critics award for his work on the feature film My Country, My Parents, and was bestowed the inaugural “Music City Maestro” Award by the Society of Composers and Lyricists for his ongoing support of the Nashville music and recording community. In October 2022, his music from Star Wars: Battlefront I and II was featured as part of DICE’s 30th-anniversary concert series and performed by the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm.

In 2020, for the second time in three years, Haab won ASCAP’s Composers Choice award for Video Game Composer of the Year. He also took home the inaugural Society of Composers and Lyricists Award for Best Interactive Score, and Music of the Year at the 18th annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which he co-wrote with composer Stephen Barton. In 2018, Billboard proposed that he could be the “Heir Apparent to John Williams.”

For his work on Star Wars: Battlefront, Haab won Music of the Year, Best Interactive Score, and Best Instrumental Score at the 14th annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards and his work was nominated for a BAFTA for Excellence in Audio Achievement. Haab also scored Activision/AMC's The Walking Dead, based on the #1 hit TV series, and Microsoft's Kinect: Star Wars, which won Best Music at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards. He continues to compose the music for EA and Bioware’s Star Wars: The Old Republic, for which he was awarded Best Original Soundtrack and Best Instrumental Music at the 10th Annual Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) Awards.

Haab’s music has received the highest praise from numerous industry publications and many of the world’s leading media outlets, including the Huffington Post, who said, “Star Wars: Battlefront is sounding better and better every day…this new Star Wars music will light your saber”. Hardcore Gamer said, ‘‘Star Wars: Battlefront features the best game score John Williams never wrote”. And the Los Angeles Times said, “Haab created ‘the B-side to John Williams’ score’”.

Haab is known for his unsurpassed understanding of the orchestra as well as his unique ability to blend contemporary and traditional sounds into one – oftentimes conceiving and creating brand new musical instruments to feature in his scores. He has recorded and conducted his music with orchestras from all around the world, including The London Symphony Orchestra, The San Francisco Symphony, The Nashville Symphony, and the Hollywood Studio Orchestra.

A few of Haab's other film, television, and video game credits include: Anchor Bay's Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon; MTV's The Truth Below; Dave Barry's Guide to Guys; Lionsgate's War; The Oprah Network’s The Judds; Roadside Attractions' Shrink; TLC's Little People Big World; ABC's Greek; NBC's Kath and Kim; VH-1's Scream Queens; Endeavor's At the Edge of the World’; LucasArts' Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, and many others.

Haab is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he received his master's in Scoring For Motion Pictures, Television, and Other Media. Prior to this, he received a bachelor's degree in Music Composition at Virginia Commonwealth University. While he learned from many composers in university and conservatory settings, Haab says that most of his music education comes simply from, “Playing in hundreds of rock bands and being an avid fan of Hitchcock, Kubrick, Lucas, and Spielberg films . . . "B" Horror Movies of the 70's and 80's . . . and all of their great scores.

Martin Häne

Music Producer

Martin Häne is a publisher of currently 7 different music production 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

Thomas Hanz

Leiter des Netzwerks Musikschule.digital.NRW

Thomas Hanz ist Referent für Digitalisierung beim Landesverband der Musikschulen in NRW und Leiter des Netzwerks Musikschule.digital.NRW

Natalie Hausmann

Musician and composer

Natalie Hausmann is jazz musician and composer for Film/TV theatre and concert, based in Cologne,Germany. She studied saxophone, woodwinds and piano at the „Folkwang University of the Arts“, Essen, was prizewinner of "Jazzwerkruhr" and scholarship holder for the "Banff Centre of the Arts“, Canada.

Her compositional work reflects her background in jazz, urban funk and classical music.

The Jazzpodium wrote about her album "le diffus-transversale":
"Rarely has one experienced such a balanced and yet exciting world of sound as this quintet, which makes use of a rich variety of beautiful melodies, is full of power that builds itself up again and again, and also shines with great soloistic variety.“

She has played in numerous jazz projects and with a wide variety of artists and since 2020 she has composed the score for several TV series, most recently for Amazon Prime Video : „The Perfect Miss“ will premiere at Filmfest Munich on June 30, 2024.

Alexander Hemmpel

Composer Agent, Record Label Co-Owner

Alexander “Aki” Hemmpel has been part of the music business scene for more than 40 years now. He started with an education as a merchant and worked in a record store for the first 5 years. Besides that, he worked as a freelance journalist. In 1986 he started his career at several record companies (Phonogram, now Universal records, east / west records, WEA both now Warner Music) which lasted for nearly 10 years in different functions. He started as a Regional Promotion Manager in the southwest of Germany, then moved to Hamburg and became Marketing Manager and later A&R Manager for all three companies. He worked with artists such as Yello, Doro Pesch / Warlock, Nana Mouskouri, Can, Rausch, Jingo de Lunch, just to name a few.

In 1994 he started his own Management Company managing Beautiful World / Phil Sawyer, Sun, Rausch, Lovekrauts and Even Cowgirls get the Blues with actresses Jasmin Tabatabai and Regula Grauwiller. Through the latter he made first contacts with the film industry, which lead to the founding of MX IN Agency for Film Music (at that time called TOP:TWENTY) in 1997. Up to now, he has represented more than 50 film composers throughout his career as an agent and MX IN has 27 composers on their roster at present.

From summer 2011 until summer 2014, Alexander Hemmpel built the complete sync department for the German dependance of one of the world's largest music publishers, Concord Music Berlin, then called Imagem Music. Beside their pop / rock catalogue, Concord also represents the catalogues of Boosey & Hawkes / Bote & Bock, the biggest contemperary classical publisher, and Rodgers & Hammerstein, the biggest musical-publisher and agency worldwide.

Within this time, he negotiated deals between Daft Punk & Audi A3, Phil Collins & Mercedes, and 3 placements with Germany's most successful director, actor and film producer Til Schweiger for Linkin Park.

Since 2013 he owns the music label and publishing company Score and More Music (short SAMM) with partner Malte Brants, which releases side projects of film composers out of MX IN, film soundtracks and high quality artists from outside the mainstream.

All in all, Alexander has worked on more than 500 movies as a supervisor, record label owner and agent for composers.

Felix Herrmann

Digitalization Expert, IT-Project Manager

Felix Herrmann ist Digital Enthusiast, TYPO3-Spezialist und Vorsitzender der Chorjugend NRW.

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).

Julia Hüttner

Director

Julia Hüttner is a freelance director and camerawoman.

References:

ARD / ZDF / ZDF KULTUR / ZDF NEO / WDR / ARTE / SWR / MDR / RTL / SAT 1 / PRO 7 / VOX / Daimler / Mercedes Benz / Smart / Citroen/ Lancaster / Douglas / Bentley / Wacom / Canon / Electronic Arts / REWE / Welthungerhilfe / and many more

Frank Jablonski

Cultural Policy Spokesman Green Party NRW

Frank Jablonski serves as the cultural policy spokesman for the Green Party in the state parliament
of North Rhine-Westphalia. His constituency is in Cologne-Lindenthal, and he is a member of the
Committee for Home Affairs and Local Government as well as the WDR Broadcasting Council.

Mr. Jablonski was raised in Overath, currently calls Cologne-Widdersdorf home, and is a father
to two daughters. He pursued his education in German language and literature, philosophy, and
history in Cologne, Bonn, and Paris. Joining the Green Party in 2010, he specializes in democracy,
culture and cultural participation, and climate protection.

Jungstötter

Musician, Songwriter

Air:

Jungstötter's first single after his solo debut, "Love is", hints at the promise of his upcoming album, "One Star". "Air", the first of several single releases, offers a new level of accessibility to Jungstötter's typically dark and yearning work. The song is suspenseful, catchy, and intricately crafted, particularly in its use of drums. Pushing the boundaries of dynamics while remaining a platform for melancholic beauty. The lyrics reflect this theme of severity melting into ease, but with a lurking threat of falling back into emptiness. The harbinger of a great album thus programmatically shows the impressive development Jungstötter has gone through. It reveals him as a self-assured and multi-layered artist.

Nothing Is Holy:

"Nothing Is Holy" is the second single from Jungstötter's highly anticipated album, "One Star" (PIAS). This follow-up to the accessible "Air" showcases a new level of radicalism in Jungstötter's songwriting. True to its title, the single is dark and opaque, full of metal loops and heavy atmosphere. The multi-layered production also features distorted vocals, casting Jungstötter as a fallen angel. Strings provide a contrast, allowing light to break through the darkness. This intense piece of music manages to be dense without feeling overloaded, blending elements of pop and electronic experimentation to showcase Jungstötter's multifaceted talent and debuting him as one of the most exciting musicians playing today.

Know:

"Know" is the third single and opening track from Jungstötter's impressive second album, "One Star." The song grapples with the tension between past and future, alternating between a sense of boundless possibility and the constraints of the physical world. It embodies the key themes of the album, which explore the vastness of existence while remaining grounded in the present. Jungstötter's vocals are serene but penetrating, and the production is sensitive, drawing inspiration from Arve Henriksen without merely imitating him. The song builds to a crescendo, getting denser and denser before finally exploding in the sky with a burst of energy. A thrilling adventure from start to finish.

Thrasher's Swaths:

"Thrasher’s Swaths" is the fourth single from Jungstötter's critically acclaimed second solo album, “One Star.” The song showcases Jungstötter’s ability to innovate without losing touch with his musical roots. In its dense production and gentle melancholy, one can hear echoes of Jungstötter’s old band, Sizarr. At the same time, the song moves through a fog of instrumentation, revealing the present only gradually. With “Thrasher’s Swaths," Jungstötter's maturity as a musician, narrator, and seeker of new forms of expression is on full display. The work of drummer Manu Chittka, an integral part of the Jungstötter band, is particularly noteworthy. Chittka is among the most accomplished and inventive drummers in the German music landscape today, and his work here is a true marvel.

Jens Kindermann

GEMA

Member of GEMA since 1996.

Head of Products Department.

Specialized in audiovisual productions, monitoring, sound files, and production rights.

Janina Klabes

Live Event Presenter

Janina Klabes has been a presenter of live events with a focus on business, culture and politics for over 10 years. She studied music business (B.A.) at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg, where she also found her band MBWTEYP. During the band's eight-year history, she got to know the small and large stages as well as how show business works. She worked behind the scenes for Universal Music in Berlin and the Popakademie's own artist agency „klinkt" for several years before taking over the management of the music industry cluster in Mannheim in 2010, where she advised and networked founders and musicians on behalf of the city. During this time she discovered her talent and passion for moderation, which she has been doing as a freelancer ever since. Since 2014 she has also worked as a brand manager for an insurance company.

Isabel Kleefeld

Director, Screenwriter

Isabel Kleefeld is a director and screenwriter. She studied journalism and politics at the FU Berlin as well as social and business communication at the UdK Berlin. From 1992 to 2000, she worked as a first assistant director for well-known German cinema and television film productions. Since 2001 she has been directing and writing feature films and has been awarded the Bavarian Television Prize, the Grimme Award, the German Television Award, the Golden Camera, the DAfF Directing Prize, the German Television Thriller Award and the Gold Medal at the New York Film Festival among others. In 2022/2023 she wrote and directed the mini-series LIEBES KIND (engl. DEAR CHILD), currently the most streamed German-language Netflix series of all time, scored by Gustavo Santaolalla and Juan Luqui.

Max Knoth

Composer

Born in Hamburg.

Lives in Berlin.

Studied at the Hochschule für Musik Hamburg and the Film & Television Academy Filmuniversität Babelsberg „Konrad Wolf“ in Potsdam-Babelsberg.

Degree as sound engineer for audio-visual media. Max Knoth works as a composer, arranger, and orchestrator. He composes for movies, concerts, theatre and recording sessions.

Collaborations include Moby, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Lou Reed, Danny Elfman, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Nils Frahm, Rachel Portman, Howard Shore, Alan Silvestri, David Newman, Tom Tykwer, Christoph Schlingensief, Irmin Schmidt (CAN) and Carsten Nicolai|Alva Noto.

His arrangements are played by Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Resonanz, Stargaze Ensemble, WDR Funkhausorchester, Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg, Staatskapelle Berlin, ORF Symphonieorchester, Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, and many others.

He has been an associate lecturer at Media Academy Darmstadt and BIMM Institute for many years.

Hansjörg Kohli

Composer

Hansjörg Kohli is a film composer 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 started out as an orchestrator for a variety of film projects. Later on, he became head of the film music department at the German National Television studio ZDF in Mainz. For several years now his focus has shifted back to composing for film and media.
Among his more recent works are the scores to In Wahrheit - Zwischen Recht und Gerechtigkeit (ARTE/ZDF), Der Spalter (Filmfest München/ZDF), Die Küstenpiloten (ARD/Degeto), Jenseits der Spree (ZDF), Väter- Allein zu Haus (ARD/WDR), Kirgistan - Hochgebirgsland voller Schätzr (ARTE).

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