Terra Mater Studios

With curiosity and enthusiasm for the topics that move us, Priska is looking for touching stories and big pictures. As Producer at Terra Mater Studios, she focuses on the development and creation of new television formats.

Before joining Terra Mater Studios, Priska worked as producer for several renowned production companies in Austria and created various documentaries and television programs focusing on culture, culinary and nature for ServusTV. In addition she also produced entertainment programs for broadcasters like ORF and ProSieben Austria.

She holds a university degree in Theatre-, Film- and Media Studies as well as in Cultural Studies (both University of Vienna). Priska’s TV career began in Germany, where she did editorial work for broadcasters like arte, ZDF, ProSieben and WDR. When Priska is not chasing or shooting a story, she explores the nature or is on culinary discovery tour – because who knows, maybe the next story is waiting around the corner.

Curious about what we do? In need of an appointment with CEO Walter Köhler and COOs Roman Landauer and Günther Pfleger? As Assistant to CEO & COOs, Sirna should be your first choice when it comes to getting in touch with Terra Mater Studios’ Management.

Sirna coordinates meetings with national and international partners and takes care of all aspects of office management. Beside that, she is responsible for the company’s festival submissions, making her the bearer of good festival news at TMS.

Before joining Terra Mater Studios in October 2018, Sirna had a long and very diverse way of education. Her technical profession is cabinetmaker, she studied Landscape Architecture at the BOKU Vienna and worked independently as a fashion agent in the past. In the media- and culture-sector Sirna gained experience at the Wiener Festwochen, Viennale and other cultural festivals in Vienna. So be aware: by getting in touch with Sirna, you’re dealing with a highly creative and immensely adaptable person!

Getting jaw-dropping films from Austria onto the world stage – that’s what Berend has been most interested in since he entered the TV distribution business many years ago. In his role as Director Co-Productions and Sales, he works with an ever-growing number of international partners for co-productions and pre-sales and manages the sales of Terra Mater Studios’ portfolio in order to generate the funds necessary to keep the quantity and especially quality of  Terra Mater Studios’ impressive production output.

Before joining Terra Mater Studios in late 2019, Berend already took care of the sales of their programs within the Red Bull Media House distribution team for 8 years and has even more background in natural history distribution working for ORF and ORF-Enterprise in content distribution before that. He has a background in law and is always trying to find creative solutions to balance the interests of all partners in an ever-evolving media landscape.

In his spare time, you will most likely find Berend on a mountain or on a lake whilst trying to take pictures with his camera. He loves the cold, snow and winter and is thus always trying to persuade Terra Mater Studios’ management to open up a subsidiary in Iceland or Scandinavia – unfortunately to no avail so far. But as he is always up for a challenge, this discussion is probably far from over!

Martina joined Terra Mater Studios in January 2014 after gaining several years of experience at two Vienna-based law firms, focusing predominantly on corporate and copyright law.

As a member of TMS’ legal team she handles a broad range of legal issues that arise during the production process – from the drafting and negotiating of production contracts, giving legal advice during the production phase, to managing legal aspects of the distribution of TMS content.

Martina is very straightforward and solution-oriented, always focusing on the optimal combination of both, the legal and business point of view.

Ivo is Terra Mater Studios’ space cowboy: He is hooked on stars, galaxies and black holes and, to him, the sky is no limit. So, it may come as no surprise that Ivo is a true Science Fiction fan, too.

Not least because of his special interest for topics that are out of this world, Ivo was the Executive Producer for one of Terra Mater Studios’ most successful and prestigious productions to date: the multi-award-winning science TV documentary ‘David Attenborough’s Light on Earth’, which presents the seemingly otherworldly realm of bioluminescent creatures.

However, Ivo has also quite a “down to earth” approach – especially, when it comes to meteorites that are hitting our planet, or to the amazing spectacle of the Aurora, the polar lights: Ivo was the writer and director of the two respective TMS productions, ‘Aurora – Fire in the Sky’ and ‘Meteor Menace’.

Aside from producing, Ivo is overseeing a lot of blue-chip natural history shows and series. Being a loving “dad” of two Maine Coon cat sisters, he has a very personal connection to big cats; therefore, it’s a real privilege and pleasure for him to be the EP for an amazing and ambitious production: the three-part series ‘Okavango – River of Dreams’ – a special gem in natural history filmmaking, and yet another highlight in TMS’ extensive catalogue.

Before joining Terra Mater Studios, Ivo worked as an editor, writer and director for the science department of the ORF, Austria’s public service broadcaster, for almost two decades. He produced many stories for several science TV magazines and was involved in the development of new programs. He joined the ORF Natural History Unit as an Executive Producer, before leaving to share the TMS team’s vision.

From manufacturing screws, nuts, bolts and bicycle parts in rural German Sauerland to working in a cabaret and variety theater, Michael finally found a path to his real vocation in the glorious world of film.
During his Berlin-years, he was co-founder, shareholder and General Manager of three German production companies. Michael benefits from 23 years of experience, filming in more than 18 countries around the world, producing and line producing numerous German & international feature films/TV productions.

In 2012, he entered the world of Terra Mater Studios and inhabited that world for 4 years, where he helped in producing the feature films ‘Brothers of the Wind’, ‘MindGamers’ and ‘The Ivory Game’.
For whatever reason, he thought it was better to return to Berlin. Whilst there, he serviced the feature film ‘Suspiria’ and worked on other projects. In the early dawn of 2018, he realized that his heart only beats for TMS and Michael was allowed back, despite being known for a very dubious sense of German humor.

In 2016, Michael was selected to participate in the well renowned, international industry program, Inside Pictures, where he is now a very happy alumni. Michael is also member of the European Film Academy and the Austrian Film Academy.

In October 2021 Michael became Managing Director at the newly founded subsidiary Terra Mater Studios Germany.

Lore is the Wise Lady of Terra Mater Studios, the most experienced Production Coordinator ever. She joined TMS in June 2011 and, as Production Coordinator, works closely with TMS’ Legal and the legal department of Red Bull Media House. Lore coordinates full commission and co-production agreements with German-language producers.
Lore has 15 years experience working as Unit Manager for the Natural History Unit of ORF, Austria’s public service broadcaster.

Michael is the tech-genius at TMS. There is no mis-functioning machine that can resist his technical skills for long. As Head of Technical Operations he is responsible for the electronic data processing, the day to day technical workflow and all technical requirements of Terra Mater Studios. He is also in charge of the post-production at TMS.
Michael has 21 years experience of working at the technical department of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) and belongs to the very rare breed of creative techies. As video engineer he worked on giant live productions as well as having been ORF’s chief editor for more than ten years.

A busy bee with an elephant’s memory and an eagle eye for detail, Karin is a perfect match for the Terra Mater Studios team. She loves her job as production manager and especially enjoys troubleshooting and working out plans of action. She has a knack for numbers and oversees production processes from start to finish while maintaining a sense of humor. Karin is a production all-rounder. She completed a degree in sports science but soon found her way into the television industry.

Since 2007, she has worked for a wide variety of production companies on a wide range of productions, ranging from national and international documentaries to reports, shows and image films.

Traude will take on any challenge – under any conditions and in any country, but preferably in sunny ones! As Production Manager, she is responsible for the financial and logistical aspects of our projects from the first draft to the final delivery. Traude oversees and organizes national and international productions.

While studying Journalism & Mass Communication, Traude was already working on various television projects until she discovered her love for wildlife television. In 2008, she went to South Africa to join the Wildlife Film Academy. After that, she started as a production manager for Aquavision TV Productions and worked on films such as Safari Live, Predator Battleground, Leopard Queen, Catching Giants and Animal Mega Moves for National Geographic, Inside Nature’s Giants for Windfall Films and on a 3D wildlife film series for 3net/Discovery Channel. In November 2011, Traude left South Africa to join the production team of Terra Mater Studios in Vienna.

There are few situations which could make Andrea lose her calm. As Executive Producer, Andrea focuses on the development and production of premium natural history, science and history programs for the national and international market. She is also responsible for the acquisition of natural history and science programs for the Terra Mater TV strand on ServusTV, the German-language free TV channel from the Red Bull Media House.

Andrea is a graduate of the Vienna University Faculty of Earth Sciences and supervised as a scientific researcher projects in the field of sediment petrology and archaeometry. Before joining Terra Mater Studios, she worked as producer and Executive Producer for the science department of ORF, the Austrian public service broadcaster, for almost two decades and has been a member of the editorial staff of ORF UNIVERSUM.

As Executive Producer at TMS, she supervised award-winning series like ‘White Lions – Born Wild’, ‘Nile – The Ultimate River’ and ‘Amur – Asia’s Amazon’. Furthermore, Andrea followed the paths of very wild cats in ‘Leopard Rocks’, ‘Leap of the Lynx’, ‘Power of the Velvet Paw’ and takes a closer look at what happens when a ‘Panda goes wild’. She saw (and supervised) the rise of the ‘Hippo King’ and worked intensely on the majestic two-parter ‘The Alps’.

As Producer in the Digital & Communications Department, Kati develops and produces content for Terra Mater Studios’ YouTube channel and the weekly science programme TM Wissen, focusing on biodiversity, science and conservation topics.

Kati loves being creative and has a passion for scientific journalism. Already during school, she started writing short-stories about animals and conservation. Kati holds a university degree in journalism and public relations (FH Joanneum Graz), and is currently busy finishing an intensive course on Sustainability Communication and Climate Journalism (FH Joanneum Graz). Before joining TMS, she worked for the Print and Online departments of German educational monthly magazine GEO in Hamburg.

In her leisure time, Katrin enjoys spending time with her family, dog, and friends. On weekends, you will definitely find her in the mountains – either skiing, climbing, or enjoying hot tea in front of a small hut, taking in the scenery.

In 2017 Nina started as Office Assistant at Terra Mater Studios, only half a year later she joined the Features & Special Projects Department to take on some more challenges. There, she is providing support to the production team from Feature Doc to Giant Screen and Special Projects – Nina completes every task very diligently and with a lot of angelic patience for her colleagues. She keeps track of little details and loves to be organized.

Furthermore, she recently took on the responsibility as Sustainability Manager, to start the process of making TMS a sustainable and green production company.

Before joining TMS, Nina finished her M.A. Degree in Theatre-, Film- and Media Studies in Vienna, Helsinki and Amsterdam and also attended “Die Graphische“, the Austrian Federal Education and Research Institute for Graphics, so she can easily combine theory with creativity. In her spare time, she loves to get out into nature with her dog and spend time with family.

When the going gets tough, Sabine is in her element. As Head of Specialist Factual at Terra Mater Studios she oversees the television documentary output of the company. Sabine works with co-production partners all over the world, focussing on the production of premium nature, science and history programs for the national and international market. In addition to her international activities, she acts regularly as an Executive Producer for Terra Mater productions and also runs the Terra Mater TV strand on ServusTV, the German-language free TV channel of the Red Bull Media House which broadcasts world’s very best nature, science and history programs. She is also responsible for pre-buys and acquisitions for this TV slot.

Before joining Terra Mater Studios, Sabine worked for two decades for the science department of ORF, Austria’s public service broadcaster. Together with Walter Köhler she led the development of UNIVERSUM from being a domestic TV success to a global brand. At ORF UNIVERSUM she was responsible for acquisitions and scheduling of natural history and science programs, as a producer she directed her own films, as Executive Producer she supervised a great number of the ORF Natural History Unit’s documentary output.

Not a single frame of Terra Mater Studios’ productions exists that Sigi is unfamiliar with. He is the Master of Ingest and handles hours and hours of raw material on a daily basis. In 2002, Sigi graduated from a multimedia art school, having focussed on animation, layout and web design. While studying philosophy at Salzburg University he designed and created Flash animations, set up his own website and worked for Sony DADC in the field of DVD authoring and quality control, as well as video encoding, capture, playout and post production workflows.

In August 2010, he took the chance to join the Red Bull Media House team in Salzburg as an ingest and playout technician. Following his interest in documentaries, video editing and 3D workflows, he subsequently began working at Terra Mater Studios as a technical assistant.

Wolfgang joined Terra Mater Studios in 2013 and since then he played an important part in producing several award-winning natural history documentaries. Among others he produced the Oscar-shortlisted feature documentary “The Ivory Game” and the Sundance Audience Award-winner “Sea of Shadows”.
Before joining TMS, he was a key member on many projects for international broadcasters like the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery, WNET, ORF-UNIVERSUM, France5, ZDF, NDR etc.

His experience in film making not only covers documentaries: he also produced video clips for Queen, Falco etc. and worked on TV-Series like “Inspector Rex” and feature films like “Funny Games” by Michael Haneke.
Wolfgang brings his flair and creativity to his work. He is able to advise and recommend on every aspect of production: be it complex post production routes, or moving a film crew through some of the remotest and toughest places on Earth.

Christopher works as Assistant Producer in the Digital Department at Terra Mater Studios. He is a vital part of the busy YouTube unit, keeping things running smoothly and the editorial calendar up to date. Research, script development, editing, footage search, project management and much more make up his daily business. Furthermore, he also works on the weekly science programme TM Wissen.

When Christopher joined TMS in 2019, he started in the Specialist Factual Department, where he worked on documentaries like “Magic Moments – The Spell of Nature”, or “Perfect Parenting – How to raise your Young”, an award-winning film about the complexities of animal parenting. He studied biology at the University of Vienna and before that, he went to Namibia where he completed an internship at the Harnas Wildlife Foundations Voluntary Program. And there it happened, that Christopher was drawn in front of the camera – for the factual entertainment series “Harnas – Wildlife Rescue Camp” (2011-2015).

When not thinking about how to weave an exciting story in the realms of nature, Christopher loves to explore other worlds. Be it through a good book, a new TV series, a story-driven videogame or, quite old-school, at a table rolling some D20s.

Walter is founder and CEO of the internationally acclaimed Terra Mater Studios, based in Vienna/Austria. He looks back on more than 30 successful years in the film business, nonfiction as well as narrative. In the 1990’s, he created the Natural History Unit of the Austrian public broadcaster ORF and made it one of the leading brands in factual television worldwide. He also helped nature to re-conquer the big screen by being involved in the BBC features ‘Deep Blue’ (2003) and ‘Earth’ (2007). Therefore, a BBC colleague once called Köhler an ‘industry legend.’

In 2011, Köhler launched his production company Terra Mater Studios (then: Terra Mater Factual Studios), and since then, he has gained international recognition with more than 250 international film awards, including several Panda Awards at Wildscreen Festival and Grand Teton Awards at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.

One of Köhler’s biggest industry coups was for his film, The Ivory Game, to be recognized on the Academy Award® Best Documentary Feature Shortlist in 2016. The thrilling feature documentary about the illegal ivory trade had its premiere in 2016 as a Netflix Original Film. Not only was it a huge success in the film business, but ‘The Ivory Game’ helped to save the elephant population when the Chinese government banned ivory trade two months after the film’s release on Netflix.

Another docu-thriller with huge impact was “Sea of Shadows” about the Vaquita, the most endangered whale on Earth, and the vicious Mexican drug cartels and Chinese traffickers that play an evil role in the devastation of the region’s marine life. At Sundance Festival 2019, ‘Sea of Shadows’ had its world-premiere and won the prestigious Audience Award, catalyzing action on a broad international political scale.

Köhler continues to strengthen this integral part of Terra Mater Studios’ vision by producing films that show a unique and very fragile part of Mother Earth and help to bring about change.

Giving legal advice in order to enable fair solutions and enriching collaborations is Arlette’s ambition at all legal issues raised at Terra Mater Studios. Therefore, “Yes, we can!“ is her motto at work.

Before joining TMS, Arlette worked at the rights management department of ORF, Austria’s public service broadcaster, as well as at SWR, member of Germany’s public service broadcaster ARD, and its subsidiary SWR Media Services GmbH. For nearly a decade she was busy drafting all kinds of radio and film production contracts as well as SWR’s content sales agreements.
In November 2017, Arlette took the chance to join TMS’ legal department as she loves working on an international level and always aspired to work for a film production company.
Arlette graduated in law in Heidelberg, Germany, and completed her legal internship in Heilbronn, Stuttgart and Baden-Baden.

Strategic thinking, flexibility and commercial efficiency are some of Roman’s major skills. As COO for International Projects, he is responsible for editorial and economical affairs. Before acting as COO for International Projects, Roman headed the Production Department where he was responsible for finance and production of TMS programs, working closely together with the editorial staff and (inter)national partners.

Before joining TMS, Roman worked for more than 20 years for the Austrian Public Broadcaster ORF in different positions. He was also in charge of the international co-production business of ORF Universum and therefore responsible for many award winning productions. In 2017 he started his own production business.

Petra works as Producer at Terra Mater Studios and currently focuses on researching, writing and directing content for the weekly science programme TM Wissen.

Organising and conducting shoots around the globe, covering the most diverse topics of TMS productions, are some of the tasks a Producer can never grow tired of. Petra loves being in the field and over the last few years has worked on the science production ‘Chasing Quakes’, coordinating and taking care that shoots went smoothly in Italy; together with her colleague, director Markus Mooslechner, she has dug deep into the quickly advancing field of AI, organising, and conducting interviews and shoots in Europe, North America and Asia for the extraordinary multi-awarded TMS science production ‘SuperSapiens’; and has taken first steps in producing nature documentaries by following the past, present and future of the famous Trakehner horses in rural Austria and Russia in ‘Back from the Brink – Saving the King’s Horses’.

Furthermore, since joining in 2012, she oversees the TMS website and for about a decade coordinated the production of all marketing materials for the Specialist Factual department.
Volunteer work at film festivals in Austria and Sweden, internships at Austria’s public service broadcaster ORF (Sales Department and Natural History Unit UNIVERSUM), and two finished diploma studies with distinction have led Petra to join TMS in early 2012.

As Production Assistant, Daniela works directly with the Head of Specialist Factual, Sabine Holzer. The main focus of her day-to-day work is the exchange of information with ServusTV, the German-language free TV channel of the Red Bull Media House, and with TMS production partners worldwide. She monitors incoming and outgoing materials, ensuring content is delivered on time.
Before she started with TMS she worked within TV production environment for seven years, having worked at ORF, Austria’s public service broadcaster.

A lovable animal needs soft fur, four paws and two big eyes? Not so for Susanne: She’s the Executive Producer with a soft spot for creepy-crawly creatures – may they have at least six to eight legs and the same number of eyes! Susanne’s passion for wildlife of any size combined with her experience and expertise in natural history productions characterise her work. At Terra Mater Studios, she’s strengthening the Specialist Factual team – and her cycling skills within and around the urban jungle of Vienna.

Susanne graduated her studies of biology in Berlin with a diploma thesis about electron-microscopical research of unicellular organisms. Returning to the world of multicellular animals she added a university degree in science journalism. Based in Munich she wrote for renowned German newspapers and science magazines. Germany’s public broadcaster NDR attracted her to Hamburg, where Susanne worked in the team of Doclights / NDR Naturfilm  on primetime wildlife productions.

Predators, large or small: there’s no escaping Susanne. As Executive Producer in Vienna she supervises productions like the Romy Award winning series ‘The Lions Rule’, discovers the hidden gems in a world of ‘Dragons & Damsels’ and works closely with the director on the in-house production ‘Cute little Killers – The Predators with Pouches’ about Australia’s tiniest marsupials – with a bite.

Martin is the creative magician of the TMS Specialist Factual Department, using his sharp mind to conjure up brilliant writing. As Executive Producer he works on a variety of TMS productions and future projects at any one time, with emphasis on new technologies. As writer/director he produced the TMS 3D-feature “You, Planet – An Exploration in 3D” which broke new ground in stereoscopic imaging and the use of stereo-microscopy.

Prior to joining Terra Mater Studios, Martin had 20 years of production experience in a broad range of non-fiction TV, both as a writer/producer for independent companies and as an Executive Producer at the Natural History Unit of ORF, Austria’s state broadcaster.

Solving problems that are hard to solve and finding the different approach to it is one big hobby of Roland. As Technical Operator at TMS he’s the right hand to the Head of Technical Operations Michael Fröch and keeps the Post Production Systems running.
At the age of 14, he volunteered for the first time for a documentary film in Vienna and started to gain interest in the matter and after a couple of years of trying different other things he came back to what he was drawn to. He graduated from Media Technologies at the University for Applied Sciences in St. Pölten. Right away he started to work in a small Film Production company in Vienna and worked in several different Video and IT related areas. He also achieved experience in highspeed-, aerial- and ENG camera-operator as well as a production coordinator all over the world for almost 10 years.

Markus works as an Executive Producer at Terra Mater Studios where he focuses on the development of new television formats.

Before joining TMS, Markus worked as a chief editor and presenter of the television science program “Newton”, at the Austrian Public Broadcaster ORF. Prior to that, Markus worked as live reporter and editor for several editorial offices such as the daily news program at the ORF among others. Markus started his career as a journalist as a radio editor and news presenter in Salzburg.

He has a university degree (University Graz (A) / Williams College (USA)) and a deep interest and fascination in all things science. Markus considers his live attendance at the 2008 CERN LHC particle collider activation as one of his all time favorite and moving experiences. When Markus is not being moved by particle physics and not working on the development of new television formats, he passes his time with his family, exercises for the Großglockner mountain run, produces digital works of scientific art and ponders on possibilities on how he could sometime squash the Dive Master qualification in between.

Elisa is the Digital Marketing Strategist in the Digital & Communications Department. She’s the brain behind every online presence of Terra Mater Studios. It doesn’t matter which platform we are talking about. She collects every in-house project, new YouTube videos, events, behind-the-scenes, sustainability tips, and unique shots made by our team and then mixes everything to create engaging and inspiring content for our online channels.

Her career started in 2012, and her debut was already with social media and online marketing. Her first job was at Globo, Latin America’s biggest communication company; after that, she navigated through different industries. She worked in a publisher, in an online course, and also within the app industry. Always on or behind the camera, producing video and written content to raise brand awareness and build a loyal community.

Elisa was born and raised in the Cidade Maravilhosa, aka Rio de Janeiro. She moved to London, where she did her Master’s Degree in Film and Screen Cultures, and since then, she has been in Austria. Elisa considers herself a multicultural person, always curious to learn about new cultures and places. She’s also a music lover, which means she needs a soundtrack for every single task she does, just biking to work or preparing her next social media post for Terra Mater Studios.

Josepha, Sustainability Manager and Production Coordinator at Terra Mater Studios, grew up in Vienna and made her first step into the film industry by successfully completing an acting school in Vienna. She then went on to complete a Bachelor-Degree in Film-Media and Theatre Sciences at the University of Vienna. After graduating, Josepha decided to change positions and work behind the camera, where she curated and helped produce and organize several film festivals. She continued her career at two film productions in Berlin & Vienna, working as a Production Assistant and Junior Producer, respectively.

Being responsible for various topics simultaneously, Josepha daily challenges herself by continuously learning, creating and connecting people. Growing up in a multicultural family, as half Chiliean and half Austrian, she has always been keen on speaking different languages and getting to know various cultures.

Working as the film production coordinator at Terra Mater Studios she constantly motivates her to discover more and gain substantial knowledge on an expert level regarding film production. Lately, Josepha started supporting Nina Holler in the „green department“ to start the process of making TMS a sustainable and green production company.

Toni is one of our Production Managers at Terra Mater Studios, working closely with both the Specialist Factual and the Factual Entertainment & Format Development departments. Combining experience and intuition, Toni always makes sure that content, organisational and financial matters during our productions are streamlined.

His love for facing new challenges never stops, even after 25 years in television. Over the course of his career, he has produced more than 12,000 broadcasting minutes shot all around the globe, making him one of the most experienced production managers in the field of premium nature and science documentaries in Austria. A passionate mountain biker, Toni’s used to never giving up – because forward is the only way to go.

Welcome to our office! Irene is the first face you will see, and, trust us – you’re in good hands. Responsible for Terra Mater Studios’ reception desk, she takes care of our national and international guests and keeps our meeting schedule running like clockwork.

Furthermore, Irene supports TMS in her role as Office Manager. Besides all sorts of administrative tasks, her main areas of responsibility centre on travel coordination and assistance in all aspects of office management. Moreover, she manages our address data bank – so if you move, change name or want to receive our newsletter: she’s the one to let know.

Before joining TMS, Irene worked at the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation’s Promotion Department (ORF) and at the Viennale, Austria’s biggest film festival.

Eva is a real all-round talent. She supports the Production Team as Production Coordinator initiating film shootings and handling all aspects of Post Production.
Prior to that, Eva worked on a variety of feature films with responsibilities in festival management, reporting, film premieres and educational screenings. TMS benefits from Eva’s many areas of expertise in film distribution & marketing as well as project & event management. Eva holds an M.A. degree in Theatre, Film and Media and is pleased to combine her interests with this placement at TMS.

Birgit is a bundle of energy and our resident adventurer. Her shoots and private expeditions have taken her around the world, on land, underwater, and in the air. As Executive Producer at TMS, she is responsible for the development and production of high-quality nature documentaries and co-productions. As a presenter, she takes the audience into the fascinating world of nature and reveals its wonders.

Before joining TMS in 2020, Birgit was a Senior Commissioning Editor and Deputy Head of Department at ORF UNIVERSUM. She studied law in Prague and journalism and Slavic studies in Hamburg, where she also completed her training in nature documentary and gained experience in various fields. Following this, she wrote and directed nature and wildlife documentaries for ARD, NDR, BBC, ORF, and Vox. Additionally, she has taken the audience on adventurous journeys as a presenter.

Nature and animals have been Birgit’s overriding passion since childhood. She has combined her interests in travel and horse-riding by undertaking extensive expeditions around the world on horseback. She also enjoys a range of other sports like diving, swimming, and beach volleyball.

Birgit has always pursued her goals with a compelling blend of optimism and perseverance, in accordance with her life motto: “I will. I can. End of story.”

Andrea joined the legal team of Terra Mater Studios in March 2020. In her role, she supports the production units in the broad spectrum of legal matters arising throughout the whole production process, from the development stage to distribution. She takes great care of every legal matter with strong commitment and pragmatism, aiming to create the best synergies between legal and business. At Terra Mater Studios, she is known as the go-to person when the issue gets hot.

Before joining Terra Mater Studios, Andrea gained several years of experience at an international law firm in Rome, dealing with different aspects of intellectual property law. She deepened her knowledge of the media industry by working in the legal department of Rai Com, a subsidiary of RAI, the Italian public service broadcaster.

As Editor at TMS, Andi is every producer’s go-to person when programs need attention or new projects are ready for the cut.

Starting his career as DoP for mainly concerts, followed by Live-Directing and Live-Editing, and having – after a while – covered quite every nuance there is to cover from big venues to small, he figured that his main interest was working on a set. But little did he know that his real passion was waiting for him in the editing room. After discovering the fascinating complexity of film montage in his early twenties, a row of short film productions followed.

With his degree in Film Editing he tried to explore even further and to cover the whole spectrum of montage work. Ranging from short fiction to full documentary features, his journey eventually brought him to Terra Mater Studios, where he explores and enriches the wonders of Nature and Human relations even further. Because if you look deep into nature, you will understand everything better. Or, so they say..

Creativity and accuracy: for Maria the two are not mutually exclusive. As Head of Legal at Terra Mater Studios she is dealing with all kind of legal issues raised during development, production and distribution of all formats, TV documentaries and feature films.

Before joining TMS, Maria headed the legal and business affairs division of Content Sales International at ORF-Enterprise, a subsidiary of ORF, the Austrian public service broadcaster. Managing the exploitation ORF content as well as third-party content she handled all kinds of agreements. Prior to that she worked in a copyright law office in Munich, while a variety of projects have taken her from New York to Moscow.

Monika works as a producer in Terra Mater Studios’ Factual Entertainment & Formats Development Department. She focuses on the development and creation of new, innovative formats for television. Earlier as a freelancer, she already produced several documentaries for global Red Bull TV and ServusTV on behalf of TMS.

Even prior to that, Monika worked in various areas: she produced kids programmes for Disney Channel, numerous entertainment shows for German broadcasters like Pro7, ZDF and Sat1 and more TV shows and documentaries for all major Austrian broadcasters such as ATV, ORF, ServusTV and Puls4.

Monika holds a master’s degree in Journalism (University of Vienna). And she is a very sporty one: if you are looking for a passionate kite instructor, fearless mountain-biker or tough ski-mountaineer, call her. If she is not busy filming, you have a good chance to meet her up- and downhill all around the world.

While on maternity leave, please direct your e-mails to accounting@terramater.com

Julia, one of our Commercial Assistants in the Accounting department, is responsible for a variety of financial matters at Terra Mater Studios. Thanks to her, we are able to process at high speed a great number of invoices with all the details in place. And should we miss some information, never worry: Julia won’t let it pass unnoticed and will be in touch with you.

Previous employment at a Viennese architecture firm as well as in the Accounting and Controlling department of a family-held hotel chain have seen Julia putting her skills and know-how into practice. As she rather takes to working with numbers, Julia finds herself in the very lucky position to consider her job in Accounting to be an opportunity to pursue one of her favourite occupations.
While not surrounded by bills and numbers, Julia prefers the outdoors – cycling and Nordic walking cover a great part of her leisure time.

As Head of Content Strategy, Digital, and Communications, Eva leads the development and execution of comprehensive content strategies that align with organizational goals. This includes overseeing the creation and management of content for both digital platforms, such as our Terra Mater YouTube channel and social media, and linear broadcasters. Her job is also to steer Terra Mater Studios’ marketing efforts (digital as well as traditional) and manage internal and external communications to maintain a positive brand image. Eva’s passionate about guiding her amazing team of content creators, editors, digital marketing & communication professionals, diving into performance data, making smart tweaks, and working closely with other departments so everything keeps in sync. With strong strategic skills, leadership, and a deep understanding of content development and production, Eva effectively engages audiences and supports Terra Mater Studios’ mission.

As Junior Producer, Bastian is driven by his creativity, his curiosity, and his ambition. He always brings his positive attitude, his “can do” mindset and his determination to the table.

After joining the Terra Mater Family in 2019 as part of the Features & Special Project Department, he went back to Germany where he gained further experience in documentary production as well as in German children’s television. In 2022, he made his way back to Terra Mater, being the first employee of the newly founded Terra Mater Studios Germany.

If not at work you will find him in a cinema, theatre, at a concert or making bad jokes.

As far as money or numbers are concerned – you are well to ask Wolfgang about it. As Production Account Manager, Wolfgang takes care about all kind of financial matters as accounting, payment transactions, bills, currencies and any other way to handle or transfer money between TMS and their partners.

Before joining the TMS production team, Wolfgang worked in the banking sector as financial advisor. Besides interpretation of stock developments, credit approvements and money transfers he gained experience in billing and cost accounting – for which he is now responsible for at TMS. In his leisure time Wolfgang likes gardening or supports students to improve their maths or accounting skills. During his holidays you can find Wolfgang visiting cities all around the world.

As Head of Factual Entertainment & Format Development, Nina is responsible for the selection and creation of new, innovative programme ideas for the national and international market. She has a wide range of knowledge and experience in television production, from inception through completion.
For more than twenty years, she has been responsible for various programmes, ranging from infotainment and documentary series to factual entertainment and entertainment shows – most of the time simultaneously. Nina has a keen sense of what the audience wants and what is technically and financially feasible.

Before joining Terra Mater Studios, she successfully created, developed, produced and executive produced programmes for Austria’s public service broadcaster as well as for private television broadcasters.

Nina is highly focused and a strong and dedicated team player with a solid work ethic and the ability to multi-task and prioritise accordingly.

As Project Manager, Claudia is able to combine the best of her prowess: planning, arranging, coordinating and making to-do lists about anything. Claudia supports CEO Walter Köhler by keeping his management-projects running. She works hand in hand with the Head of Digital & Communications, managing publisher partnerships, festival collaborations, press releases, etc. And beside that, Claudia is an essential part of the Office Management team.

Claudia joined the TMS team in 2015 as Office Intern. Quickly she gained insight into the company, became a trustworthy assistant for all departments and one year later got promoted to Assistant to CEO. Since the beginning of 2019, she spreads her organisational skills as Project Manager.

Claudia studied in Vienna and Stockholm and holds a B.A. degree in Scandinavian Studies and an M.A. degree in Theatre, Film and Media Studies. Combine both studies and you’ll get the thing she likes the most: Swedish movies!

Sven loves the international side of business. Working closely with the Head of Specialist Factual he manages the co-productions between TMS and the growing number of co-producing partners. In his role, Sven often is the binding link between all parties and departments, striving for the completion of a programme. His persistence and diplomatic sense, combined with his wit and charm, have many times helped to solve challenging situations.

Before joining TMS in July 2013, Sven worked at Red Bull Media House’ Commercial Distribution Team as Sales Manager. Prior to this, he held positions as Sales Manager and Sales Executive at Autentic and BBC Worldwide. At ZDF Enterprises Sven managed intl. co-productions.
During his 2 years in London, he gained valuable knowledge working for e.g. Discovery Networks and a film funding company.
Having completed his Master at filmschool, a scholarship enabled Sven to work for Universal International Television and Universal Pictures in L.A.

In October 2021, Sven became Managing Director at the newly founded subsidiary Terra Mater Studios Germany. He intensifies the relationships with local media partners while continuously driving international collaborations.