Steffen Cornelius Tralles

Born on April 14th 1978 in Hamburg, Germany he made his first creative experiences with his mother's Polaroid camera. He spend hours making collages and little picture stories. Some years later he found his passion in his first own video camera. After more experimenting and creating snowboard-videos of him and his friends he shortly after started to make improvised movies, scenes and sketches. Drama class in high-school awakened more and more the wish of making serious movies. He soon started to play with words, writing poems and essays. For a long time, due to big respect, he thought he could not write a screenplay. He was drawn out in the world, thinking it would be to easy that filmmaking could actually be his passion and only way in life. He spend time working in Spain in tourism and being a snowboard instructor in Austria. Back in his hometown Hamburg he did a social year working with disabled people and collecting more life experiences in other jobs in the weirdest environments. In 2002 he started working as a freelancer in the film industry. After one year as a Production Assistant he was promoted to Setmanager. In 2004 he met the independent director Slide Kabaday who gave him a chance to be First Assistant Director. His new mentor became a friend and a long lasting collaboration began, where he had the chance to learn more about the craft of directing. Slide Kabaday was also the one encouraging him to write his first screenplay "Der Handlanger" ("The Gofer"). Directing another short and more AD experiences now also for other directors mostly from the commercial film industry followed. With all this experience he felt ready to apply for the European Film College (DEN), where he got accepted right away. He got the chance to learn from Filmmakers like Susanne Bier, Nicolai Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg and the great Jan Harlan, Producer for Stanley Kubrick. At the European Film College he wrote various short screenplays and directed several commercials, documentaries and shorts. His final project "The Bright Helmet", starring Enno Hesse Germany's up and coming actor and winner of the Günther Strack award was invited to Leeds International Film Festival. In 2008 he started studying his Master at the Hamburg Media School, where he directed 3 shorts, which were screened at more than 100 film festival worldwide. With his final project "Listenhunde" ("mutts") he won several prices, e.a the Studio Hamburg Nachwuchspreis ( Studio Hamburg up and coming award) and was nominated for the prestigious Max Ophüls Price and the First Steps Award. In 2010 he also started directing commercials. Skalar Film produces his screenplay "Wenn die Sonne untergeht" ("When the sun goes down") that he wrote with his colleague Aurel Bantzer. A German/French co-production. He started collaborating with his friend and colleague from the European Film College Nuno Sá Pessoa, based in Lisbon, Portugal helping each other out on various projects as script-doctors. His new screenplay is also going to be an international co-production between Portugal and Germany. At the moment he is spending time in Lisbon, Berlin, Spain and is hometown Hamburg, doing research and writing his screenplay and directing commercials.