Terra Mater Studios

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!

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.

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.

Strategic thinking, flexibility and commercial efficiency are some of Roman’s major skills. As Head of Production at Terra Mater Studios, he is 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.

Satesh works as a Production Controller in the Features & Special Projects Department. He is officially a veteran with 25 years hands on film and television production, financing and distribution knowledge and practical experience.

Having worked on well over 100 film productions, such as “Wild at Heart”, “Reservoir Dogs”, “The Piano”, “What Women Want”, “The Edge of Love”, “Easy Virtue” and also working with industry stalwarts such as Pedro Almodovar, Mike Leigh, Bernardo Bertolucci, Wim Wenders, Emir Kusturica and Mel Gibson. His wealth of experience learnt from the likes of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, CiBy Sales, MGM/United Artists and Icon Entertainment International will certainly complement those already at Terra Mater.

As the British Guy in the team of TMFS, he still needs to be taught that drinking coffee is the Viennese way – as opposed to drinking too many cups of tea.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.