Service
Making movies means team work. Of course, you can produce, film and edit a film on your own, but a good film needs a team. Especially as some jobs emerged recently, which didn't play a big role ten years ago, like sound design or color grading. And so all my movies are a result of team work also. But 20 years of filmmaking made me learn some additional jobs which made me more than a director. For example, I learned filming under water, because in Germany, it's hard to get the funding for wildlife documentaries which need to be filmed over a period of more than one year. I learned how to edit a film because it's useful to check if the shots you filmed really work as a sequence - there's nothing worse then coming home with a beautiful movie which lacks a close-up shot at an important point!
I offer the following services to producers and production companies:
Script writing/Directing
Obviously, my main profession! Since we watched as kids Godzilla stomping Tokyo to the ground, I was dreaming of making my own movies. In the 90s my dreams were fulfilled. The complex reenactments in "Jacques Cousteau's Legacy" still show my passion for cinema, but also my way of storytelling. Production companies looking for an experienced writer/director of documentaries may contact me anytime.
Underwater camera
I learned SCUBA diving in 2005, one year later I filmed my first short documentary, working as my own underwater shooter. My underwater work is focused on filming unusual behavior of marine critters. I was able to film dolphins using medical substances in soft corals, how orca whales steal precious bluefin tuna from fishermen's hooks and the mating of lionfish (they do it very carefully, due to the venomous spines).
I have my own underwater filming equipment with an external monitor, several lenses and ports and light with a brightness of 16.000 lumens.
(By the way, the picture above was made at a place without living corals, and a biologist supervised the filming, so no harm was done.)
Production
I also offer productions services of all kinds, like budgeting, location scouting or extensive post production.
I am very experienced in filming internationally, topside and underwater, and I have a network of freelancers in Europe, Northern and South Africa, Asia and the US.
One of the main goals: Productions always should look more expensive than they really cost.
Translations
In collaboration with native speakers from various countries I produce international versions of all kinds of films. I can deliver any format.
Stock Footage
There's a ton of stock footage available - from beautiful reef fishes and their sometimes strange behaviour to big and biggest sharks. Just ask if I have the right footage for you.
Misc
As a standard, my documentaries are made with
- stabilized cameras
- drones
- sliders
- underwater camera housings
- underwater lights
- underwater wide-angle and macro
- action cameras
- timelapse and slomos
- and more.