His room as a child looked like a nature cabinet. Little Jan then swore to always live together with animals and later to work with them. At the beginning of the 1990's, he started as an assistant for an animal film and until 1995 often helped Wieland Lippoldmüller (above water) and Walter Sigl (under water) on filming expeditions sometimes spanning several months. In 1996 he founded nautilusTV GbR, which became the nautilusfilm GmbH in 2001, today one of the most successful companies in the German nature film branch.
Melanie
Haft born in 1977. Production management
Little Melanie devours books about horses in her free time or works
with and rides on the neighbourhood horses. In 2001, the nascent media
and communications scientist joins the team and feels just fine surrounded
by common ravens and wild boars. Melanie is the organisational backbone
of nautilusfilm. She creates filming schedules, calculates, budgets and
negotiates with broadcasters and licensees. She is, so to speak, the manager
of this fine wildlife film company from the Isental, Bavaria.
Kay Ziesenhenne born
in 1978. Camera, sound, technology
Already as a child, Kay discovers his love of electronics
and mechanics. For this reason he takes the detour via an appropriate
teaching profession, before he turns to the medium of film. Here he can
unite his technical skills and his notable abilities as a patient and
gifted designer of images. Kay completed his studies in audiovisual media
in Stuttgart with a diploma and is now employed at nautilusfilm as a lighting
cameraman and technician.
Both his father and his uncle have piqued Stephan’s interest into photography and video filming. The next step was his love for movies and movie theatres, after several internships in the media branch and an apprenticeship to become a media designer he was ready to start as a full term employee for nautilusfilm in August 2009. His knowledge of feature films is a great inspiration when he edits the nautilusfilm productions.
Dr.
Thassilo Franke born in 1972. Research, script
An orchid, which he received when he was 11, determined
Thassilo’s future life. As a teenager, he shared his room with more
than 80 orchids and night and day he dreamt of traveling to the home countries
of his exotic beauties. When studying biology, Thassilo regularly undertook
expeditions to the tropical regions of all continents. 2005 he attended
a Natural History Filmmaking program in New Zealand. His final film won
the prestigious “BBC Newcomer Award” at Wildscreen.
Dr.
Gerwig Lawitzky born in 1958. Research, script
As a young boy, Gerwig always won the struggle
against the parental prohibitions against transporting beehives, wasp
nests and ant colonies to his room. Nothing stood in his career path as
a zoologist. However, his interests and exceptional knowledge extends
much further - through palaeontology, botany, zoology, but also history
and culture. The walking encyclopaedia always has a detailed answer for
any question asked, at the latest at the next weekly meeting.
Andreas
Hartl born in 1947. Photography
Since his earliest childhood, Andreas
has been underway in nature every free minute. Hardly anyone is as familiar
with his home region as he does, and hardly anyone has photographed the
landscapes, animals and plants of not only Upper Bavaria with such versatility
and detail as the animal photographer and higher civil servant from Dorfen.
Our set and press photos originate from him. Since 2006 he has led, together
with Melanie Haft, the subsidiary company nautilus Licences.
Carla is fascinated both by small processes and large landscapes. After finishing an undergraduate honours degree in Biochemistry, she completed the University of Otago Masters in Natural History Filmmaking in Dunedin, New Zealand in 2009. Carla is at home in alpine environments, having grown up climbing and skiing in Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, and later ski instructing in the Swiss Alps. Any spare time is spent on outdoor sports, or visually creative pursuits such as drawing. From April 2011 she is part of the nautilusfilm- team.
Johannes
Berger born in 1981. Assistant camera
All his life Johannes has been fascinated by foreign cultures,
foreign countries and the diversity of nature. After graduating from school
he started to “conquer” the world. During a trip of one year
through Latin America and the experience of the fauna and flora of that
region his wish grew to become a biologist. Now he holds a Master degree
from university and finds the possibility of combining his education and
his interest in wildlife-filmmaking by working for nautilusfilm.
