Janna Maria Nandzik (born 1980 in Oldenburg) is a German screenwriter, director and producer. At the age of 28, she founded two film production companies[1] together with entertainer and actor Christian Ulmen[2] and created and produced her first TV series. The walk-and-talk sitcom The Snobs[3] (ZDFneo, 18 episodes) followed three bon vivants in despair during their 18-hole course of golf.

Janna Maria Nandzik
Born1980 (age 43–44)
Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Occupation(s)Director, screenwriter, producer

Nandzik’s directing debut came in 2012 with the German-French transmedia series About:Kate[4] (Arte, 14 episodes), which explored the identity crises of a 30-year-old woman losing herself in the depths of digitalism. The interactive show won awards in Germany and Switzerland.[5][6] After a stint as Creative Director[7] for Tele5, a Munich-based television network, Nandzik returned to creating and writing in Berlin.

She has written for multiple series, including the dark comedy Jerks[8] (ProSieben) and teen drama Druck[9] (ZDFneo/funk), as well as the historical drama The Empress[10] which won the International Emmy for Best Drama Series in 2023.[11]

She directed the TV movie Die Innenministerkonferenz[12] (ZDF), a satirical murder mystery written by journalist and television host Jan Böhmermann and writer Carla Kaspari.

By October 2023, Nandzik started working on a six-part Berlin-set series[13] with Stefan Titze (How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)) based on the novel Oval[14] by Elvia Wilk. The drama revolves around the unexpected side effects of an empathy pill on the city.

In 2017, Janna Maria Nandzik founded the salon and club "The School of Death",[15] a non-profit organization in Berlin that offers various workshops and lectures[16][17] on the subject of death and dying. The project aims to integrate discussions about the end of life into everyday life.

Awards

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Nominations

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  • 2011 Grimme-Preis nomination in the category "Entertainment" for The Snobs
  • 2014: Grimme-Preis, nomination for Janna Nandzik for concept and realization of the interactive, multimedia project About:Kate in the category Fiction/Special.
  • 2019 Grimme-Preis nomination in the category "Children & Youth" for Druck

Selected filmography

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Writer
Year Title Starring Notes
2012 About:Kate Natalia Belitski, Therese Affolter, Patrick von Blume, Anna Böttcher, Greta Bohacek, Wilfried Hochholdinger Mini Series
2017 Jerks Christian Ulmen, Fahri Yardim, Emily Cox, Pheline Roggan, Collien Ulmen-Fernandes, Jasna Fritzi Bauer Season 3
2018 Druck Lilly Dreesen, Milena Tscharntke, Michelangelo Fortuzzi, Tua El-Fawwal Season 2
2019 Druck Tua El-Fawwal, Hassan Kello, Lilly Dreesen, Leanora Zoë Voss, Nobel Mokonzi, Milena Tscharntke Season 4
2023 The Empress (TV series) Devrim Lingnau, Melika Foroutan, Almila Bagriacik, Elisa Schlott, Jördis Triebel, Svenja Jung Season 1
Director
Year Title Starring Notes
2012 About:Kate Natalia Belitski, Therese Affolter, Patrick von Blume, Anna Böttcher, Greta Bohacek, Wilfried Hochholdinger Mini Series
2022 Die Innenministerkonferenz Jan Böhmermann, Lena Dörrie, Henny Reents, Christoph Zrenner, Ole Fischer, Rainer Reiners, Armin Dillenberger, Luzia Oppermann ZDF Magazin Royale
2023 Tits of Terror Dennenesch Zoudé, Christina Schlag, Dirk Martens, Gábor Biedermann, Schlecky Silberstein, Michael Specht Browser Ballett

References

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  1. ^ "Janna Maria Nandzik". SHOWRUNNER.
  2. ^ Pilarczyk, Hannah (April 27, 2013). "Arte zeigt About: Kate: multimediale Serie über digitale Identitäten" – via spiegel.de.
  3. ^ "Neue Serie mit Christian Ulmen: "Die Snobs" sind grenzenlos eitel und borniert - WELT". DIE WELT. October 3, 2015.
  4. ^ ""About : Kate"". May 14, 2013 – via Le Monde.
  5. ^ https://www.dwdl.de/nachrichten/44764/prosieben_und_arte_mit_crossmediapreis_geehrt
  6. ^ https://2023.giff.ch/2019/en/the-festival/archives/indexdfdb.html
  7. ^ https://www.wuv.de/Archiv/Warum-moderne-Serien-schon-ein-Jahr-vor-TV-Start-beginnen
  8. ^ "jerks.: Folgen mit Janna Maria Nandzik". TV Wunschliste.
  9. ^ "DRUCK | funk Presse". December 14, 2020.
  10. ^ https://about.netflix.com/de/news/the-empress-a-unique-woman-and-an-extraordinary-life-teaser-trailer-for
  11. ^ "2023 INTERNATIONAL EMMY® WINNERS ANNOUNCED – International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences".
  12. ^ "Pressemitteilung". ZDF Presseportal.
  13. ^ https://deadline.com/2023/10/fireglory-pictures-co-heads-talk-eight-project-slate-early-challenges-1235582727/
  14. ^ https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/in-elvia-wilks-oval-earth-capitalism-and-the-human-species-sink-toward-doom
  15. ^ Weber, Silke (May 7, 2018). "Sterblichkeit: Das Memento mori der Hipster" – via Die Zeit.
  16. ^ https://www.faz.net/aktuell/stil/quarterly/wer-besondere-wuensche-im-todesfall-erfuellt-fuenf-portraets-17304882.html
  17. ^ https://www.sepulkralmuseum.de/veranstaltungen/archiv/lets-talk-about-death
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