SAE Community Events
Especially in the media industry, community and networking are essential. It is not only appealing for those starting out in the media field to learn about the development and path of well-known professionals from the media industry. Our community events offer the opportunity to ask your own questions to big names from the media business and to get more background information on the media industry.
Away from monologue, towards dialogue. Content such as production techniques, entry into the industry, tips & tricks are typically addressed in the approx. 90-minute sessions. The direction the event takes will be influenced by your questions. Both in Zoom and on campus, a moderator guides the conversation and spontaneously asked questions.
Below you will get an insight into the professionals who have already participated in a community event.
The SAE Community
The SAE community of interested people, trainees, students, alumni as well as our industry partners and friends from the industry form an enormous network. We also offer media professionals a home after their training or studies.
We are convinced that it is important to offer content that makes our community fit for the future - with our continuing education programme, we support the "Life Long Learning" approach.
Pascal „Kalli“ Reinhardt
Songwriter & Music Producer
- Hits like ‘Bonfire’ (Felix Jaehn and Alma) or ‘Better’ (Lena and Nico Santos)
- Alvaro Soler, GREY, LÉON, Allie X, Kontra K, Glasperlenspiel, Wincent Weiss etc.
- Owns studio in Berlin
Kalli is alumni of the Audio Department @ SAE Frankfurt
Pan Pot
Techno Producers, DJ Duo and Label
- More than 20 years stage experience
- Filling biggest venues worldwide. Playing the globe more than twice per year.
- Running the label ‘Second State.’
- Project ‘DIMA’ – a virtual show concept that uses mixed reality stages.
Tassilo and Thomas attended the Electronic Music Production course at SAE Berlin
Shamila Lengsfeld
Film Director and Screenwriter
- Awarded with ‘Deutscher Nachwuchsfilmpreis’ for the shortfilm ‘Blake’
- International prizes for ‘ECHO’
- Shamila combines sci-fi and all kinds of genres with social themes
Shamila studied Film Production at SAE Cologne
Dennis Schnichels
Music Producer
- Hit first place in the German charts several times
- ‘KING’ for Kool Savas
- Gzuz’s album ‘Grosse Freiheit’
Dennis studied at SAE Hamburg
Eric Horstmann
Dolby Atmos Mixing Engineer
- One of the hottest mixing engineers for ‘Dolby Atmos’ in Germany
- clients: Helene Fischer, Robin Schulz, Adel Tawil, KC Rebel, Summer Cem, Beatrice Egli, Glasperlenspiel and many more
Eric Horstmann studied Audio Engineering at SAE Berlin
Richard Furch
Mixing Engineer
- Berklee College of Music
- 7 Grammies
- Clients: Jay-Z, Prince, Usher, Tyrese and many more
Before Berklee College of Music, Richard studied Audio Engineering at SAE Berlin. Click here for Richard’s website: richardfurch.com
Hunter Grant
Animation Supervisor
- More than 20 years of experience in the games industry from California USA
- Working for ‘Blizzard Entertainment’
- Collaboration on ‘World of Warcraft’, ‘Diablo III’, ‘Overwatch’ and many more
Click here for Hunter’s page: www.huntergrant.com
Holger Schumacher
Stuntman and Coordinator
- 15+ years in the stunt business
- Constant member of the stunt team of ‘Alarm for Cobra 11’ + double of the main actor
- Owner of stunt company ‘Media Crossers GmbH’
- Member of ‘German Stunt Association’
Holger studied Film Production at SAE Cologne. Click here for Holger’s website: holger-schumacher.com
Angelo Felchle and Phil Freybott
Drone Professionals
- Vice world champion of the world’s largest drone racing sports league
- Owner of ‘Cinequads’
- Clients: Porsche, Adidas, Mercedes Benz, Boss, Zalando, O2, Prada, Red Bull
Angelo Felche studied at SAE Stuttgart. Our drone course should also be mentioned at this point. Click here to go to the Cinequads website: cinequads.com
Riccardo Damian
Engineer, Mixer and Producer
- UK-Grammy-Winner
- Works for clients like Miley Cyrus, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Adele, Mark Ronson & many more
Ricky Damian studied Audio Engineering at SAE London. Click here for Damian’s page: riccardodamian.com
Sturla Brandth Grøvlen
Cinematographer
- German film award ‘Lola’ for ‘Best Cinematography’
- ‘Silberne Bär’ for an outstanding artistic achievement
- Worked for Sebastian Schipper’s movie ‘Victoria’ in 2015
Click here for Sturla’s page: www.sturla.dk
Klaudia Gawlas
Techno Producer and Top-DJ
- Techno top ranks with ‘Papillon’ in 2013
- More than 20 years of experience as a famous techno artist
- Bookings für Mayday, Time Warp, Nature One, Awakenings, Tomorrowland
- Runs the cult label ‘MOD’ together with Eric Sneo
Click here for Klaudia’s page: klaudiagawlas.de
Kshiraj Telang
Game Artist, Visual Development and Character Design
- More than 20 years of experience as art director at e.g. ‘King’ in Barcelona, ‘Rovio’ in Helsinki, ‘Moon Active’
- Worked on the browser game ‘Candy Crush Friends’
- Cartoonist experience
Click here for Kshiraj’s page: kshiraj.com
Jan Theysen
Founder and Creative Director at KING Art
- Game Director of around 50 games in the last 22 years
- ‘Iron Harvest’ won multiple developer awards, including ‘Best Game 2020’
- His company was awarded the German Developer Award (DEP) as ‘Best Studio’ in 2017 and 2020
Click here for the KING Art website: kingart-games.com
FJAAK - Felix Wagner and Aaron Röbig
DJ Duo and Techno Producer
- 15+ Singles, 10+ EPs, 2 LPs und lots of compilations
- Production of own tracks in own studio
- House, Techno, Breakbeat, Ambient, Electronical…
- Life performances in all well-known clubs and festivals
Felix Wagner and Aaron Röbig studied at SAE Berlin. Music can be found in the Soundcloud by FJAAK
Timo Joh Mayer
Producer, Director, Cameraman
- Over 20 years in the film industry
- One of the most successful documentaries producers in Germany
- ‘Der Weiße-Massai Krieger’, ‘Wundervolle Welt 3D’, ‘Amazing Oceans’
- Documentary ‘Becoming the G.O.A.T. – The Tom Brady Story’
Click here for the Wikipedia article on Timo Joh Mayer
Detlef Overmann
Photographer
- Runs photo studio in Hamburg for more than 30 years
- Has had many celebrities in front of his lens, such as the Dalai Lama, Angela Merkel or Willy Brandt
- Photographed many commercials, animals in wildlife or plays in theater
Click here for Detlef’s page: www.detlefovermann.com
Miles Tost
Senior Level Designer
- Started for ‘CD PROJEKT RED’ in Warsaw Poland
- Level design for great games
- The Witcher 3: ‘Wild Hunt’, ‘Hearts of Stone’ and ‘Blood and Wine’ and most recently ‘Cyberpunk 2077’
Miles Tost is Games graduate of SAE Berlin
Florian Brauch
Medienprofi - Specialist for communication and conflict culture
- Entrepreneur, Consultant, Mediator and Coach
- More than 20 years in the music industry accompanied the careers of acts such as DONOTS, Heisskalt and Jupiter Jones
- Member of the association ‘Interessenverband Musikmanager & Consultants e.V.’ (IMUC) and of the jury of ‘Initiative Musik gemeinnützige Projektgesellschaft mbH’
Click here for Florian’s page: www.florian-brauch.de
André Becker – Drone Expert
Head of International Solutions Engineering
- Worked for RED Digital Cinema, DJI Europe and now Skydio U.S.
- Speaker for TEDx, WebSummit, MeConvention and many more
- Owner of ‘Digital Curtain’ production company with clients such as BMW, OSRAM and Axel Springer Verlag
André Becker studied Film Production at SAE Berlin and then founded a production company specialising in advertising and VFX.
Sebastian Leitner
Filmmaker, Editor & DCP-Creator
- Owner of SLfilm Media
- Award winning documentary ‘Female Voice of Iran’
- Dynamic Websites
Click here for Sebastian’s website: www.sebastianleitner.com
Jillian Mood
Head of People & Culture
- HR Director at numerous Canadian studios
- President Canadian Gaming Expo
- Head of Partner and Member Relations at the ‘International Game Developers Association’ (IGDA) Headquarters
Christoph Nicolaisen
Director of Photography
- Has been working as a cameraman for more than 30 years
- Shot more than 300 music videos, 1000 commercials and also several feature films and documentaries
- Among numerous awards, he won the Oscar for ‘Best Live Action Short Film’ in 2009 with ‘Toyland’
