Winterclass - Serial Writing and Producing

Katharina Domnick is a partner at the law firm Brehm & v. Moers in Berlin and specialises in copyright, media, and entertainment law. She advises national and international companies in the film and media industry, particularly on film and streaming projects, with a focus on rights clearance, financing, production, and exploitation, as well as in complex copyright disputes.

As an experienced lecturer and speaker, Katharina Domnick is the Head of Studies for the Master's programmes "European Film Business and Law" and "Digital Media Law and Management" at the Erich Pommer Institute, as well as the international EPI programme "International Rights Clearance". Additionally, she has been working for many years as a legal expert in film and entertainment law at the Berlinale.

Tobias Gerginov is a producer at BetaBerlin Productions and Intaglio Films (a joint venture between Beta Film and ZDF Studios). At Intaglio Films, Tobias served as a producer on The Swarm and Concordia. Within BetaBerlin Productions, he is developing and producing various German-language series and feature films. Tobias studied film production at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Ryerson University and UCLA and was a scholarship holder of the Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten and the Baden-Württemberg foundation.

Andreas Gutzeit is co-founder of Story House Pictures and an award-winning writer, producer and director. He serves as head writer and showrunner of the critically acclaimed drama series "Dignity" and as executive producer of "Sprite Sisters" for Walt Disney Studios. He also served as showrunner of the historical drama series "Sisi" (RTL/Beta Film), as well as Head Writer and Executive Producer of "Mozart/Mozart" (ARD/ORF/Bavaria Media) and "Serial Cleaner", an adaptation of the U.S. hit series The Cleaning Lady, for ZDF. In his role as Chief Creative Officer, Andreas oversees all scripted content at Story House.

After studying at the HFF KONRAD WOLF (Screenwriting/Dramaturgy), Timo Gößler was part of the development team for the crime series UNSCHULDIG (Pro7/Teamworx) and co-wrote several episodes in Germany's first Writers' Room, consistently modelled after the US. As a dramaturg, he worked on feature films and documentaries as well as numerous serial formats such as ALARM FÜR COBRA 11 (RTL/action concept), LÖWENZAHN (ZDF/Studio.TV.Film), BEUTOLOMÄUS UND DER WAHRE WEIHNACHTSMANN (KiKA/Wunderwerk) or TRANSITNIKI (Rohfilm Factory). Since April 2022, he has been a permanent dramaturg and Development Producer at UFA Fiction, involved in the development of numerous series such as DISKO 76 (RTL+) or CHARITÉ (MDR/Arte/Degeto). Timo Gößler is a visiting professor at the Film University and teaches screenwriting, practical dramaturgy, serial storytelling, and Writers’ Room methodology; he is also the Dean of the BA Screenwriting/Dramaturgy programme. For years, Timo has led panels, workshops, and training for the international and national industry (e.g. German Film Academy, Bavarian Film Centre, Netflix, Studiocanal, ZDF, SRF, Focal, EAVE, Midpoint, WEMW, Rwanda Media Project, Goethe-Institut Nairobi). Together with Katrin Merkel, he wrote the industry handbook "Der German Room - the US Writers' Room in German series development", which was published in September 2021. Along with his colleagues from EPI, Timo Gößler developed the training "Winterclass Serial Writing and Producing", which he led until 2024, collaborating with numerous national and international series professionals such as Alex Gansa (HOMELAND), Kelly Souders (911 LONE STAR), Annette Hess (DEUTSCHES HAUS), or Jantje Friese (1899).

Since 2013, editor at ARD Degeto Film GmbH. Currently responsible for the development of series and film projects for the ARD Mediathek, including "Babylon Berlin", "Die Zweiflers 2", "Friesenjunkies", "All heroes are Bastards", "Ritus", "Breitscheidplatz 19/12".

Hanno Hackfort, born in 1970 in Paderborn, has been working as a freelance writer for various film and television productions since 1999. In 2002, he made his debut as a screenwriter and director with the feature film "JUNIMOND". From 2004, he wrote various television plays and series as a screenwriter. Since 2012, he has been working as a team with Richard Kropf and Bob Konrad. Together, they developed and wrote, among others, the series SOKO Potsdam (ZDF), KOSKOWSKI UND HAFERKAMP (ARD), 4 BLOCKS 3 seasons (TNT), YOU ARE WANTED (Amazon Prime Video), PARA – WE ARE KING (TNT), FUNERAL OF A DOG (Sky), and KLEO (Netflix). They are also responsible as showrunners and executive producers. The second season of KLEO has been available on Netflix since July 2024. Hanno Hackfort lives and works in Berlin.

Award,” “Best Music” and “Best Series.”

Annette Hess was born in 1967 in Hanover. After studying painting and interior design, she turned to dramatic writing at the University of the Arts Berlin. She then worked as a freelance journalist, programme and directing assistant at ARD television, and as a script editor for production companies and broadcasters. Since 1998, she has been working as a screenwriter and has received numerous awards for her works - including the series "Weissensee" (ARD) and the miniseries "Kudamm 56/59/63" (ZDF) - such as the German Television Award, the Grimme Prize, and the Authors' Foundation Frankfurt Prize. Annette Hess developed the Amazon Prime series "Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo" as head writer with a writers' room. Hess is one of the founding members of the screenwriters' initiative Contract 18, which allows authors more creative control and input in the film production process. She is also involved in the board of the German Screenwriters' Association. In September 2018, Hess's first novel 'Deutsches Haus' was published, which she adapted as a series and realised as showrunner for Disney+. In January 2026, the fourth season of the Ku'damm series 'Kudamm 77' premiered on ZDF, which Hess is responsible for as showrunner and co-director. She is currently working on her second novel.

Nico Hofmann is one of the most renowned film and television producers in Germany. Since 2024, he has been working independently with his own production company, Nico Hofmann Film, after having led the UFA Group as CEO for many years. His most well-known productions includeOur Mothers, Our Fathers, Deutschland83, Charité, The PhysicianandThe Boy Must Go Outside. In addition to his work as a producer, he is a professor at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy and has been committed to promoting emerging filmmakers for many years. He has received numerous national and international awards for his work.

to Ku’damm: Ku’damm 77. He is represented by the Felix-Bloch-Erben agency.

Henning Kamm is a Peabody Award-winning producer who has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy and BAFTA, who co-founded DETAiLFILM in 2007 and Zentropa Hamburg in collaboration with the Danish powerhouse Zentropa in 2014.

In December 2016, Henning became Managing Director at REAL FILM Berlin, where he produced, among others, Netflix's Anna Winger's "Unorthodox" and "Sleeping Dogs", the ARD event feature "Dreieinhalb Stunden" directed by Ed Herzog, and most recently Luzie Looses/John Karstens' "Everyone is f*cking crazy" for ARD, "Viktor brings it" for Prime Video, "Hameln" for ZDFneo, and "KRANK Berlin" for ZDFneo/Apple TV+.

Since January 2020, Henning has also served as Managing Director of the REAL FILM subsidiary Friday Film, whose first production "Call my Agent Berlin" will be available on Disney+ from 12 September.

Henning was Germany's "Producer on the Move" in 2014 and in 2017 one of Variety's "10 Producers to Watch". He is a graduate of EAVE and Inside Pictures and was on the board of the European Film Academy from 2016 to 2020.

Brigitte Kohnert completed her training as a publishing manager in Düsseldorf after finishing her A-levels. She then studied journalism at KUE, spent a year in Los Angeles, and worked there as an editorial assistant in the office of GONG Verlag. After her studies, she started at RTL in Cologne initially as an editor in the area of communication and programme information. She then established the department for "International Series/Foreign Programmes" and later moved to the newly created area of "German Fiction/Prime Time". Here, she developed and supervised fictional in-house productions such as NICHTTOTZUKRIEGEN, WINNETOU, and DUELL DER BRÜDER – ADIDAS GEGEN PUMA. Since 2020, she has been responsible as Executive Producer for the Schirach projects GLAUBEN and STRAFE as well as the event series FAKING HITLER, GUTE FREUNDE, and DAS HAUS DER TRÄUME. In addition to her work at RTL, Brigitte Kohnert has been a long-time guest lecturer at the Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf in the screenwriting/dramaturgy programme, served on the selection committee for the Goldener Spatz, and is active as a broadcaster representative on the allocation committee of FFF Bayern.

Bob Konrad was born in 1968 in Heidelberg and studied at the UdK Berlin. Since 1993, he has been writing and producing radio plays and radio comedies - such as the 'Show Royale' with the German-Austrian comedy duo Stermann & Grissemann. He found his way to television in 2000 through an animated series, followed by his first feature film 'Besser als Schule'. Since 2012, he has been working in a team with Hanno Hackfort and Richard Kropf, and together they are responsible for the series 4 BLOCKS, YOU ARE WANTED, PARA – WE ARE KING, and KLEO.

©Sammy Hart

2024 ist er nicht mehr bei der UFA.

Richard Kropf was born in West Berlin in 1979. He began his career as an actor and trained at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York before writing the short film BUM BUM in 2005. He then focused on screenwriting and was a co-head writer of the SAT1 series DER LETZTE BULLE (2011). He created the shows THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE (VOX) and LAST X-MAS (RTL+). His feature film debut WOCHENENDREBELLEN was released in September 2023.

Richard also works in a team with the screenwriters Hanno Hackfort and Bob Konrad. Together they are responsible for the shows KOSLOWSKI & HAFERKAMP (ARD), SOKO Potsdam (ZDF), YOU ARE WANTED (Amazon Prime Video), 4 BLOCKS (TNT Series), LABAULE & ERBEN (SWR), PARA – WE ARE KING (TNT Series) and KLEO (Netflix). 4 BLOCKS received six awards from the German Television Academy and three German Television Awards. The series also received the Golden Camera, the Grimme Prize, and the Jupiter Award. KLEO was nominated for the Critic’s Choice Award, and won the Grimme Prize as well as two German Television Awards. Richard Kropf has been a mentor for the DFFB’s Serial Eyes programme for ten years. He lives and works in Berlin.

©Detlev Schneider

Katrin Merkel completed her studies in German Studies with a focus on Theatre and Media at the University of Hamburg. Between 1999 and 2004, she worked freelance as a TV writer, and from 2001 as an editor, among others for the Fiction Department of RTL in Cologne, where she took over the management of the editorial team in 2005. From 2010 to 2022, she worked freelance as a dramaturg and development producer, primarily for German series productions, and as a lecturer in serial writing. In September 2021, she published the specialist book "THE GERMAN ROOM – The US Writers' Room in German Series Development" together with Timo Gößler. Since July 2022, she has been leading the international development and training programme SERIAL EYES at the dffb in Berlin as Head of Studies, teaching at national and international institutions (including Filmuni Babelsberg, focal, Filmuni Lodz, midpoint institute) and working as a Writers' Room Coach.

Swantje Oppermann is a development executive, writer and story editor with over ten years of experience in television broadcasting and production. In 2016, she was selected for UCLA’s Summer Sessions in TV Writing and has since developed numerous TV series projects. She co-authored the German-Chilean drama seriesDignityand has published four novels, with her debut nominated for the SERAPH literary award.

Story House Pictures is part of Bavaria Film Group, one of Europe’s leading film and television studios. Founded in 1999, the Emmy®-nominated company has produced internationally successful series includingSisi, distributed in over 120 territories and awarded multiple prizes. Other acclaimed productions includeDignityand the upcoming ARD/ORF seriesMozart/Mozart, currently in production.

Oliver Ossege studied at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University Bonn. After obtaining his Magister Artium, he worked in various positions at the municipal Cologne Theatre. He transitioned to the TV industry with teamWorx and Grundy UFA and completed a postgraduate course in series production at the Drama Centre of the University of the Arts in London. Since then, Oliver has been working as a producer and (executive) producer for production companies such as Studio Hamburg, UFA, and Wiedemann & Berg TV (including for the first season of the award-winning series DER PASS). In the meantime, he paused his production activities and served as a funding consultant for serial formats in the area of film funding and new media at the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. In 2021, Oliver returned to UFA Fiction. He co-produced the series HELGOLAND 513 for SKY Deutschland and won the Audience Award at the International Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo 2024. As a producer, his focus in recent months has been on the first German-language series from Apple TV+, WHERE'S WANDA, which is currently being successfully broadcast.

UFA consolidates its activities in the programme genres of fiction and serial drama, as well as show, factual, and documentary under one roof. UFA Fiction represents the production activities in the areas of series, TV movies, events, and feature films, and has a remarkable portfolio that has significantly shaped the German television landscape.

Remmers grew up in Groß-Gerau and Mainz before moving to Berlin to become a screenwriter. There, he produced short films, music videos, and commercials with friends and taught himself the craft of screenwriting. His first realised feature film screenplay was the self-made no-budget film Schneeflöckchen, which won multiple awards at international festivals. Since then, he has written screenplays for feature films and series such as Our Time is Now, Ronny & Klaid, Dream Factory, Dogs of Berlin, Sløborn, Ze Network, and the American feature film Boy Kills World, produced by Sam Raimi and starring Bill Skarsgård. He is the creator and head writer of the thriller series Oderbruch, whose second season was released early 2026.

©Lars Nitsch

Today, he works as a dramaturg, lecturer at international film schools, publicist, and author. He is a founding member of the German Film Academy. His latest book is "The Last Film. How AI is Taking Over Streaming, TV, and Cinema".

Kelly Souders graduated with an MFA in screenwriting from the University of Southern California. Since then, she has worked in the television industry for over fifteen years.

Starting as a staff writer, she worked her way up the ladder with her writing/producing partner to become an Executive Producer on SMALLVILLE. She was the showrunner for SMALLVILLE and the new BEAUTY AND THE BEAST before moving on to another CBS show as a consulting Producer on UNDER THE DOME.

She was Executive Producer on the cable drama SALEM for several seasons and was working on the Emmy-nominated series GENIUS, starring Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson and Antonio Banderas.

Most recently she created, wrote and produced the series THE HOT ZONE, starring Julianna Margulies, Noah Emmerich and Liam Cunningham. Season two is already finished, which stars Tony Goldwyn and Daniel Dae Kim. Kelly Souders is currently an Executive Producer on 911 LONESTAR with Rob Lowe. She is currently working on a pilot for Amazon.

Dr. Jan Wünschmann is a German media executive and producer. He is Managing Director of BetaBerlin Productions and Intaglio Films (a joint venture between Beta Film and ZDF Studios) and EVP Co-Production and Business Affairs at Beta Film. He produced the award-winning seriesThe Swarm(ZDF/RAI/Viaplay/CBS Studios), which premiered at the 2023 Berlinale and won Best Series at the German TV Awards, as well as the AI-driven thrillerConcordia, which launched at MIPCOM Cannes 2023. He began his career as a lawyer at Linklaters after completing a law degree and earning a PhD from Humboldt University of Berlin.

BetaBerlin Productions GmbH, based in Berlin, focuses on the development, financing and production of high-end series, films and formats for national and international markets. Led by Jan Wünschmann in close collaboration with Nico Hofmann, the company is committed to talent development and contemporary, audience-driven storytelling with strong international co-production expertise from Beta Film.

Torsten Zarges is Managing Partner of Zarges creative talent connection, an agency for Content Production, Talent & Literary Management, which he founded in 2004 in Cologne.

Since 2013, he has also been the Chief Reporter for the media magazine DWDL.de.

After starting his career at the 'Westfälische Rundschau' in Dortmund, he studied journalism and political science, completed an internship at Westdeutscher Rundfunk, and then worked for various television and radio editorial teams at WDR.

From 1998 to 2013, he reported as a correspondent for the media trade service Kress from Cologne.

Since 2004, he has regularly participated in the juries and nomination committees of the Grimme Award. From 2012 to 2018, he was the chair of the jury for the German Radio Award and took on this role again in 2023.