Where do you live and what do you do?
Currently, I'm based in Munich, where I study Film & Television B.A. with a major in production. I also spend some time on the countryside close to Traunstein and lake Chiemsee, where my parents live.
Since when do you do photography?
As soon as I could hold a camera, I took pictures of basically everything - especially on holiday. Most of them were really bad, but it made me develop a sense for framing and the possibilities and limitations of digital photography.
I got my first small digital camera to my 8th birthday, mainly because my parents got really annoyed that they could never take any pictures themselves. Their cam was always in my clutches and it was still the time before smartphones!
Since around 2015/16, I started pursuing photography actively and taught myself basically everything through video tutorials.
What tools and Camera do you use?
As far as software is concerned, I use Adobe's Creative Cloud for most of my needs. Editing pictures happens in Lightroom and Photoshop, illustrating in Fresco. I know my way around Premiere, but I prefer editing video with DaVinci Resolve.
The Sony Alpha camera series is by far my favourite, currently I've got an a6300 with an APS-C Sensor. I want to switch to Full Frame tough as soon as financially possible. I've also worked with Sony cinema cameras like the FX-6, FX-9, FS-7 II and FS-5 II.
why did you choose film as a career?
It was a logical combination of two of my favourite hobbies and strengths: telling stories and taking pictures.
While photography was (and still is) very important to me, filmmaking always fascinated me a lot, too. While you can tell stories with pictures too, making movies is like breathing life into still images. That always intrigued me a lot. As a consequence, I used to make tons of little movies with my friends, either with my camera or (later) with our smartphones. Of course, making these was more about the fun, but not exclusively. I would try and apply my knowledge of photography to improve the quality of those stupid videos a bit.
As my passion and interest only grew with time, I decided to give it a try and just start studying film. As it turns out, it was totally the right choice.
What are your ties to new Zealand?
In 2016, I wanted to go to school abroad somewhere. I actually didn't put too much thought into where to go. Something just pulled me to New Zealand - call it fate, if you want. It wasn't Lord Of the Rings though; I only watched that after getting accepted for the programme. I went to Burnside High School in Christchurch and lived with a lovely homestay family. When I had to leave again for Germany, I promised myself to come back one day.
Therefore, I decided to choose a university in Germany, which offers a semester abroad. I found the perfect match in Munich: My university even has a NZ uni as one of their partners. Hence, in 2019 I went back to that marvellous country to study at the Southern Institute of Technology in Invercargill - and it left an even bigger impression on me. This country will always be special to me.
What fascinates y0u about documentaries?
My first bigger documentary project was "Saving Rakiura?" which i did during my semester abroad. As I already mentioned, this country impresses me a lot. So during my second time there, I wanted to make the most out of it and, additionally to taking hundreds of pictures, capture its beauty with film. As soon as I learned about the threat imposed by predators on this natural gem, I knew I needed to make my movie about that.
Documentaries are also very enjoyable to make:
You get to meet a lot of different, interesting people from all around the world, who then share some of their knowledge or even personal stories with you. You get to dive into a new topic each time and explore completely different worlds. And you get to travel around and explore our beautiful planet.
Any big projects coming up?
Currently, I am working on a long 90-minute documentary which I want to do after I've completed my studies. It will be shot in New Zealand and expand on the topic of "Saving Rakiura?". That's not the only thing I'm working on right now though...
Stay tuned for more!
Where can we see more of your work?
I will always add more content on here. You can also follow me on social media to stay updated and to see more exclusive content!
Got any more questions?