Production Paradise

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Showcase Germany, brought to you by Production Paradise. This issue offers the finest selection of visual media companies working on some of the most exciting creative projects from across Germany. As usual, more information can be found on our city Directory pages.

Should you find yourself nearby, be sure to check out this month's featured events:

• N.R.W Forum Düsseldorf presents the F.C. Gundlach Collection
  'Mode: Bilder', until 24th March, 2008.
• Flo Peters Gallery Hamburg presents 'Seen & Unseen', an exhibition showing iconic images as well as previously unpublished work from the famous Magnum photographer Elliot Erwitt. From 28th November, 2007 to 28th January, 2008.

Our cover photo was shot by Cathrin Jo Ann Wind.

ham photography/photo agents: MARION ECKHARDT

Marion Eckhardt Photographers proudly presents new arrival Valèry Kloubert:

Valèry started his career as personal photographer to the German Defence Secretary. Since 1996 he has been working freelance, with a focus on portrait, people and celebrity photography. He is based between Cologne and Hamburg and has worked for Unilever, Schwarzkopf & Henkel, Adidas and Audi, amongst others.

Marion Eckhardt's other photographers are also busily engaged:

• Olaf Tiedje shot European lifestyle pictures for Agendia with agency UP Advertising in Hamburg.
• Christopha Gramann shot Ravensburger Spiele for Serviceplan Advertising Agency.
• Sven Görlich recently returned from Sweden where he shot a Coke Zero ad for M.E.C.H Berlin. He is already on his way to South Africa to shoot Bauer Yoghurt for the agency Brandlounge.

muc photography/photo agents: AGENTUR NEUBAUER & SPRINGER

Latest news from the Agentur Neubauer & Springer photographers:

• Markus Pritzi shot for Tush Magazine.
• Andi Frank worked on a production for Say Yes.
• Myrzik & Jarisch shot for Greenpeace Magazine.
• Rasmus Kaessmann shot for Peek&Cloppenburg with AD Nina Lang.
• Barbara Bonisolli photographed the 2008 shopping guide Haben & Sein.
• Bernd Opitz shot for Infineon with Agency Publicis Munich, and for Rolf Benz.
• Donja Pitsch shot an 80s rock band for trendy fashion magazine Rosebuzz.
• Matthias Ziegler was busy for Vogue in India on the track of Maharadschas, and shot in Nairobi for Strellson Magazine.
• Robert Brembeck shot an image campaign for the Chamber of State for Public Service, photographing authentic people in their workplaces.
• Wolf Dieter Böttcher shot for the current Cosmopolitan Beauty special. For the magazine Stern he shot the second edition of Watch It with the Italian sculptor and body painter Guido Daniele.
• Sandra Seckinger completed a 2008 calendar 'Create More Children', shot a campaign for beQueen and worked on a shoot for McDonald's with Swiss national football player Barnetta and 11 kids, produced for the EM 2008.

ham photography/photo agents: UPFRONT

Latest news from the Upfront agency:

Christian Sauter won 1st prize at the Aplanat Galerie photo competition in Hamburg. He also completed work for Visa and Vodafone.

For Sven Sindt Christmas came early when he was allowed to shoot portraits of his personal hero Dave Gahan in New York. His photographs will be used as international PR shots for the Depeche Mode singer.

Sebastian Schmidt produced new images for TUI Cars. He also shot for T-Systems, and the bicycle-manufacture Peter Green.

fra photography/photo agents: ZEEZOO

A selection of recent jobs from the Zeezoo photographers:

• Thomas Balzer shot a campaign for Publicis Munich and client Stihl.
• Uwe Krejci worked with Club Aldiana, Brita Water Filters and Bayer Schering.
• Benno Kraehahn shot a campaign for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and produced a selection of images for Vanity Fair.
• Julia Blank shot a series for watch catalogue My Time, produced ad images for Reiz and a catalogue for the fashion designer Sonja Marohn.
• Norbert Kniat shot the Christmas campaign for Karstadt and agency Grey. He produced images for shoe company Stiefelkönig, and completed a shoot with BBH London for Lynx (deodorant).
• Günther Philipp shot a campaign on location in Mali for Welthungerhilfe with Scholz & Friends, Berlin. He also completed a campaign for Staedtler (Stationery). He is currently working on a campaign for Evonik.

muc photography/photo agents: REPRESENTED BY - ELKE FROSCHAUER

Elke Froschauer and her photographers have had an excellent 2007.

The production, casting, and location departments successfully managed huge jobs for Vodafone and Raiffeisenbank.
New arrivals in the photography section include Marden Smith, specialised in people, children and documentary, and Silvio Gioia who is an expert in still life and cars.

Recent projects have included:

• Jens Erbeck completed cgi/composing for the Audi Magazine and Hawesko, Brand Relation, etc.
• Ansgar Pudenz travelled to Prague for Rich and met the new Rolls Royce. He shot a portrait of the current Physics Nobel-Laureate Prof. Dr. Grünberg. He worked for Wellfit, Madame and Welt am Sonntag .
• Adrian Greiter produced a special for Freundin Magazine. He worked for Amica and Connect.
• Enno Kapitza produced portraits on the subject of 'Speech' for GEO. He also shot for magazines Stern and GEO Saison.
• Jérome Bischler shot for Annabelle, Raiffeisenbank Swiss and Essen & Trinken.

muc photography/photo agents: PER EDER CREATIVES

Latest news from Per Eder Creatives:

The company announces the arrival of new photographer Daniel Infanger. Daniel's first job was a campaign for Clerical Medical, shooting images for their new 'Noble' product.

Dirk Bader worked on a series for the December issue of Indie Magazine with Barbara Maier (winner of Germany's Top Model).

EMELY Photographers shot new images for clients Dr. Hauschka Cosmetic and Heidelberger Lebens Versicherung.

In November Matthias Gravelmann shot new images for Rosner Fashion.

Adrian Bela Raba completed the current campaign catalogue for MAC Jeans.

muc photography/photographers: AMON PHOTODESIGN

Photographer Markus Amon is currently shooting a calendar for Würth in Munich.

He is planning a two-week shoot in Havana, Cuba, for February 2008.

In April and May of next year he will be starting a workshop in his studio in Spain. See his studio's website for more information.

dus photography/photographers: AXEL KRANZ

Axel Kranz is based in Duesseldorf and specialises in beauty, fashion and advertising photography.

Included in this Showcase are a selection of images from his recent work Style.

Visit his website for more information and to take a closer look at his portfolio images.

ham photography/photographers: MANU AGAH

Manu Agah is a car and people photographer. Some of his latest projects include:

• A BMW campaign.
• A campaign for VW.
• A Mercedes Benz catalogue.
• Campaign shots for Mitsubishi.
• A people shoot for an insurance company in Paris.

Manu also has a new agent in the US.

bcn photography/photographers: FRIEDEL SCHOLTEN - WORKSTATION

In this Showcase photographer Friedel Scholeten p resents his latest advertising campaigns:

• Aigner Man Perfumes International Campaign: Client: Puig. Creative Director: Luis Blanc from Blanc-co. Make Up: Lewis. Model: Enrico de Maria, America's Cup 2007 title defender.
• La Caixa Agency: Odisea Barcelona. Creative Director: Xavier Parcerisas.
• Maax Catalog Client: Sans Apparell. Creative Director: Francesc Vilet. Make up: Dani Rull. Styling: Oscar Visitación.
• Nestlé Chocolate Noir: Client: Nestlé. Agency: FMRG Barcelona. Creative Director: Xavier Fontcuberta.

muc photography/photographers: SABINE DUERICHEN

Recent projects from Sabine Duerichen include:

• The current advertising campaign for Milchland Bayern.
  
• JOY Fashion December 2007.
  
• The forthcoming PJE und PJE Reload Spring/Summer 2008.

col photography/photographers: ERIK CHMIL

In this Showcase photographer Erik Chmil presents a selection of images from his latest shoot in Brazil for a new book project for client ThyssenKrupp.

He also exhibits a selection of free work produced at his studio.

Erik Chmil is a new member of the Association of Photographers.

muc photography/photographers: STEFAN SCHUETZ

Munich-based photographer Stefan Schuetz combines his passion for sport, travel and adventure with photography around the world. He specialises in sports, people, landscape and reportage.

Celebrities such as Dirk Nowitzki and Ian Thorpe have enjoyed shooting with Stefan. He has worked with companies like Toshiba, ING Diba, Hansaplast/Beiersdorf, BMW, Adidas, Chiemsee, Jack Wolfskin and Goretex.

Originally Stefan was an all-rounder in outdoor sports and he uses this experience to closely identify with his subjects, a fact that makes his pictures far more comfortable and authentic than most.

No mountain is too high, no canyon too steep, no culture too foreign for the photographer to go off and explore - he is always in search of those undiscovered, off the beaten track locations.

ham photography/photographers: [ZERONE] /CGI

[zerone] cgi recently worked on a range of projects with photographer Jan Steinhilber.

For agency Scholz & Friends (Hamburg), the company constructed thousands of cgi hornets for a Honda Motorcycles advertisement. The results were published in Stern magazine.

[zerone] cgi worked with Jan on the worldwide Camel cigarettes campaign for Saatchi&Saatchi (Milan). Pack shots and backgrounds were all rendered by the company, whilst the photographer did the traditional shooting of the leaves and supported the virtual lighting.

The pairing also completed a variety of cgi-automotive jobs, including one with GM Europe.

ham production/commercial production: CONTRA SERVICE PRODUCTIONS

Recent productions and location service highlights from Contra Service International:

• Deutsche Bahn Logistik - more shots for the DB campaign with photographer Tom Nagy, c/o Marion Enste-Jaspers, on location in Fischen, Allgäu, Flieden, Fulda, and Frankfurt. Agency: DDB Berlin.
• Microsoft - photo shoot with photographer Tom Nagy on location in Hamburg. Agency: McCann San Francisco. Art Buying: Lynn Sutliff.
• Mercedes SLK - brochure for the new SLK with photographer Manu Agah on location in Switzerland. Agency: JvM Hamburg.
• Schott Solar - photo shoot with photographer Robert Wilson, c/o Gisela Stiel, in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi.
• Renault Laguna - photo shoot in and around Barcelona with photographer Thomas von Salomon, c/o Brigitta Horvat.
• BHF Bank - advertising campaign shots in Venice featuring Mario Adorf, with photographer Rainer Stratmann. Agency: Muth SEA.
• MarcCain - fashion shoot in Cappadokia/Turkey with photographer Seregel, c/o Objectiv. Art Director: Karin Skowronek. Styling: Christina Leitner.
• Mc Neal & Jakes - fashion catalogues with photographer Bersa, c/o Schierke. Art Director: Mimi Hoch. Styling: Margie Otte.
• BMW - photo shoot for 5-series in Hong Kong with photographer Stuart Hall, c/o Stiel abroad. Agency: InterOne Beijing. Art Director: Kathrin Güthoff.
• BMW - production services for BMW commercial. Director: Alexander Paul. Production company: Telemaz. Agency: BBDO Beijing. Creative Director: Georg Warga.

ham production/photo production: MARION WALTER ART BUYING

Hamburg-based Marion Walter believes in providing a personalised service tailored to the differing needs and requirements of clients and agencies throughout Germany.

She offers a range of services as either single elements or full packages, including art buying, talent and photographer searching, budget estimating, production management and castings.

Clients have included Esprit, Otto, Villeroy + Boch, Sinn Leffers, Remington, DM Markt, and Montblanc, amongst others.

Marion recently completed art buying, casting and production management for Esprit's spring/summer, autumn/winter 2007, and spring/summer 2008 campaigns.

muc talent/artists & stylists: PETRA WIEBE

Petra Wiebe is a Munich-based stylist with experience in design, production and editorial work. With a creative family background she began her career as a window designer, eventually becoming a stylist with responsibility for developing fashion and editorial concepts, catalogue production, backstage fashion show management and art direction. Recent highlights include:

• 2nd 'Fashion Night Munich', with sister Susanne Wiebe.
• Swimsuit-shoot in the Maldives for Madeleine Privacy with photographer Manfred Keupen.
• Styling for Basler in Monaco, Cote d' Azur with Holger Eckstein.
• Story for Italian Diva e Donna with photographer Sarah Wilson.
• Campaign shoot for Triumpf Valisere Asia with photographer Norbert Bäres in Venice.
• Beachwear and swimsuit catalogue on location in Bahia, Brazil.
• Location scouting in Buenos Aires.
• New Spring/Summer Campaign and catalogue for Kaufhof in Miami, with photographer Sarah Wilson.

In December she will be styling the Ford Super Model Contest in Zurich with Peek & Cloppenburg, and will be travelling again to Miami for the new Spring Kaufhof campaign.

ber talent/model agencies: SPORT-MODEL

Sport-Model agency arranges professional castings, and has been booking sportsmen and women and athletic people for national and international companies for over ten years.

Many international clients were again attracted to the agency's large range and variety of talents in 2007.

These included manufacturers Adidas, Nike, ODLO, Jack Wolfskin, Sport2000, Sportarena, Kappa, SIGMA, at.one, and US40, and also more conventional advertising companies such as OPEL AG, Sony/Ericsson, BASF, Mini, Sony, Siemens, Sparkassenverband, and General Electronics.

ham photography/equipment rent: CALIFORNIA SUNBOUNCE

California Sunbounce reveal the expert lighting techniques of a true master in an 8-minutes long free video.

The video master-class demonstrates how to achieve the perfect mix of strobe and available lighting, designed for an advanced-level photographer but also interesting for assistants and students alike.

New York and LA-based celebrity and fashion photographer Michael Grecco shot Ramona Soriano in downtown LA. Talking through his secrets for achieving deep blue skies and glossy colours with a seemingly easy technique, he overrules the power of the sun at high noon when sunlight is normally in the worst position to get results.

The video shows how easy Michael Grecco manipulates light to achieve outstanding photographs.

ham photography/equipment rent: 711 RENT

The 711 rent outlet in Hamburg has moved to a new location!

Eimsbütteler Chaussee 66, 20259 Hamburg, encorporates more space for 711's constantly growing stock of equipment, including a large 'show and test' area for leading lighting systems and better access for equipment
pick-up and drop-off.

711 hopes to establish a platform for photographers and assistants to meet, discuss and learn more about the newest in lighting and camera equipment. 711's plan is to launch training sessions for digital camera backs, software and special lighting tools to maximise the new available space.

Check the website for new contact details, and look out for announcements of the official 711 opening party due to be held in the new year.

ham photography/photo galleries: GALERIE HILANEH VON KORIES / KULTURREICH

A selection of upcoming shows and events at Hamburg's Hilaneh von Kories Gallery and the Kulturreich exhibition space:

• In its current exhibition the Galerie Hilaneh von Kories presents new work by photo artist Corinna Holthusen (21st November, 2007 to 31th January, 2008).
  
  The show, entitled '[M] Reflections', exhibits a new selection of large-format portraits and body images that are a continuation of the artist's sceptical contemplation of the reality of the human image in photography.
  
  
• Kathrin Günter exhibits her series 'Star Shots 2' with the inauguration of the new gallery spaces at Kulturreich (6th December 2007 to 2nd February, 2008).
  
  Günter reveals the pseudo scandal beneath the alleged perfect appearance of celebrities within paparazzi photography, emphasising the absurdity on which the female 'star cult' is based and the damaging consequences that a daily 'in-scene-ing' can signal.