"Tolle Idee!", i.e. Great Idea! was created as a network of writers, conceptioners and filmmakers who are presenting themselves under this label and with this webpage. Individually or together, depending on scope and nature of the projects, we develop crossmedia concepts and ideas for films, film programs, exhibitions, books and various internet offers for TV channels, productions companies, publishing houses, websites and cultural institutions. Some of these projects are them curated by us or we help to implement them for ous customers.
Dr. Alexander Schwarz studied film and literature (German and Russian), was executive producer at Kabel 1 TV (Germany) and helped to establish Discovery Channel in the German speaking market. 2003 and 2004 he headed MarComms and Promotions as Creative at Discovery Networks Europe in London. By the end of 2004 he founded "Tolle Idee!“ together with Gunda Borgeest and Doerthe Binkert (who later went on to work mainly as a journalist and successful writer of novels.) He works as a curator and author of film programs, lectures and exhibitions, often on Russian and Ukrainian topics. His other main area of expertise lies in the development of crossmedia concepts and in the creation of archive based documentaries.
Thomas Schwarz, an experienced filmmaker based in Munich, has become a member of the network already in 2005. He has helped to create various projects researching, developing and writing proposals for several customers. With his filmmaking background he is often asked to take on the implementation of audiovisual projects, from image films, webvideos or documentaries.
Katja Schwarz has extended the network's offer and expertise since 2013 in the new field of "Green Filmmaking", i.e. consulting, teaching and writing for broadcasters, production companies, institutions, festivals and filmmakers to promote the concept of sustainability in media production. Previously she worked several years at Odeon Film AG as sustainability advisor, to insure corporate social and environmental responsibility in film and TV production. Katja is member of the „Filmmakers for Future" and chair woman of the Bundesverband der Green Film & TV Consultants
Among the clients of our network members are the German public and commercial broadcasters ar ARTE/ZDF, ARD (nationwide), SWR (Baden-Wuerttemberg) and RBB (Berlin-Brandenburg), Das Vierte (nationwide), the publishing companies S. Fischer (Frankfurt), Nikolai (Berlin), Scherz (Frankfurt) and major film production companies such as Ilona Grundmann-Filmproduction, Bavaria, Maran, Tangram, Filmquadrat, AVE and Odeon Film AG, Der Filmschmied and others. We also work for institutions like the cultural department of the municipality of Munich, the Goethe-Institut, the Christophorus Hospiz Verein and Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft.
The film programs researched and curated by Alexander Schwarz are mainly for the Munich Filmmuseum, Deutsche Kinemathek and the Goethe Institute, as well as film archives in Moscow.
PARTNERS
A network naturally includes trusted and specialised partners who can take part in projects by request and help to implement them:
For several years now we cooperate with Dr. Hermann Barth of Cinepur. An avid film journalist, longterm successful director of the International Munich Documentary Film Festival and well informed consultant of TV and film projects and film festivals, he allows us to draw on his expertise and helps to research and consult crossmedia projects.
We also cooperate with Paul & Peter Fritz AG in Zurich, a leading literary agency in the German speaking marketplace.
HISTORY
The network Tolle Idee! (Great Idea!) was founded by Dörthe Binkert, Gunda Borgeest and Alexander Schwarz in 2004:
Dr. Dörthe Binkert studied German language and literature, art history and politics in Frankfurt. After completing her doctorate, she worked for thirty years for major German publishers. She has been a freelance author since 2007 and now lives in Switzerland. "Weit übers Meer" was her first big novel.
Gunda Borgeest studied German literature and sinology, then founded and editorially lead a film journal. She helped creating and organising the deparment of dramaturgy at the Munich TV and Film Academy with Doris Doerrie for many years and ran her own research agency. For several years now, she has been designing and organizing events for socially committed associations and foundations. Since 2014, she has been offering the service "Schönste Ordnung" (http://www.schoenste-ordnung.com/).
About us
"Tolle Idee!", i.e. Great Idea! was created as a network of writers, conceptioners and filmmakers who are presenting themselves under this label and with this webpage. Individually or together, depending on scope and nature of the projects, we develop crossmedia concepts and ideas for films, film programs, exhibitions, books and various internet offers for TV channels, productions companies, publishing houses, websites and cultural institutions. Some of these projects are them curated by us or we help to implement them for ous customers.
Dr. Alexander Schwarz studied film and literature (German and Russian), was executive producer at Kabel 1 TV (Germany) and helped to establish Discovery Channel in the German speaking market. 2003 and 2004 he headed MarComms and Promotions as Creative at Discovery Networks Europe in London. By the end of 2004 he founded "Tolle Idee!“ together with Gunda Borgeest and Doerthe Binkert (who later went on to work mainly as a journalist and successful writer of novels.) He works as a curator and author of film programs, lectures and exhibitions, often on Russian and Ukrainian topics. His other main area of expertise lies in the development of crossmedia concepts and in the creation of archive based documentaries.
Thomas Schwarz, an experienced filmmaker based in Munich, has become a member of the network already in 2005. He has helped to create various projects researching, developing and writing proposals for several customers. With his filmmaking background he is often asked to take on the implementation of audiovisual projects, from image films, webvideos or documentaries.
Katja Schwarz has extended the network's offer and expertise since 2013 in the new field of "Green Filmmaking", i.e. consulting, teaching and writing for broadcasters, production companies, institutions, festivals and filmmakers to promote the concept of sustainability in media production. Previously she worked several years at Odeon Film AG as sustainability advisor, to insure corporate social and environmental responsibility in film and TV production. Katja is member of the „Filmmakers for Future" and chair woman of the Bundesverband der Green Film & TV Consultants
Among the clients of our network members are the German public and commercial broadcasters ar ARTE/ZDF, ARD (nationwide), SWR (Baden-Wuerttemberg) and RBB (Berlin-Brandenburg), Das Vierte (nationwide), the publishing companies S. Fischer (Frankfurt), Nikolai (Berlin), Scherz (Frankfurt) and major film production companies such as Ilona Grundmann-Filmproduction, Bavaria, Maran, Tangram, Filmquadrat, AVE and Odeon Film AG, Der Filmschmied and others. We also work for institutions like the cultural department of the municipality of Munich, the Goethe-Institut, the Christophorus Hospiz Verein and Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft.
The film programs researched and curated by Alexander Schwarz are mainly for the Munich Filmmuseum, Deutsche Kinemathek and the Goethe Institute, as well as film archives in Moscow.
PARTNERS
A network naturally includes trusted and specialised partners who can take part in projects by request and help to implement them:
For several years now we cooperate with Dr. Hermann Barth of Cinepur. An avid film journalist, longterm successful director of the International Munich Documentary Film Festival and well informed consultant of TV and film projects and film festivals, he allows us to draw on his expertise and helps to research and consult crossmedia projects.
We also cooperate with Paul & Peter Fritz AG in Zurich, a leading literary agency in the German speaking marketplace.
HISTORY
The network Tolle Idee! (Great Idea!) was founded by Dörthe Binkert, Gunda Borgeest and Alexander Schwarz in 2004:
Dr. Dörthe Binkert studied German language and literature, art history and politics in Frankfurt. After completing her doctorate, she worked for thirty years for major German publishers. She has been a freelance author since 2007 and now lives in Switzerland. "Weit übers Meer" was her first big novel.
Gunda Borgeest studied German literature and sinology, then founded and editorially lead a film journal. She helped creating and organising the deparment of dramaturgy at the Munich TV and Film Academy with Doris Doerrie for many years and ran her own research agency. For several years now, she has been designing and organizing events for socially committed associations and foundations. Since 2014, she has been offering the service "Schönste Ordnung" (http://www.schoenste-ordnung.com/).