About me
Based in the south of Germany, John is Co-Managing Partner of the Bavarian production company Penned Pictures GmbH, and a partner of the Frankfurt-based animation company, White Spot Films GmbH. A writer and producer of features, series, and documentaries, he began his involvement in the film industry by producing a number of shorts, including the award-winning drama, “Fragile Storm”, starring Lance Henriksen, before venturing into the production of features and creating Penned Pictures.
Founded in 2018, Penned Pictures develops, packages and produces European and International projects for global theatrical, television, and digital-delivery markets. Recent projects include the feature film, "Leberhaken" that had its World Premiere at the 28th Oldenburg International Film Festival in September 2021, where it had the exceptional honour of being selected as the opening night film, and which is now being developed as an English language remake as an International US/German co-production. Other current projects include "In a Heartbeat", the authorised biopic of Chris Norman, lead singer of the 80s band "Smokie", the TV series "Villa Aurora" with Malcolm McDowell and Deborah Kara Unger, and the sci-fi feature “Requiem for a Robot”.
The company also develops, produces and distributes documentary films via its "Docs Best Friend" label, including titles such as “There's a Hole in My Bucket”, narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, involving Oscar winning director, Peter Jackson, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, and Oscar winning SFX/VFX studio Weta Workshop, "Woolf Women" that was part of the official selection of the 2020 Raindance Film Festival in London, and the award-winning documentary "My Way" that received the highest film rating of 'Prädikat besonders wertvoll' (Outstandingly valuable) from the German Film and Media Rating organisation 'Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung' in 2021.
In 2021, along with Jan Bonath, Vice-Chairman of the German Film & TV Producers' Alliance, and Chairman of the Animation Section, Penned Pictures created a new company, “White Spot Films”, dedicated to the production of animation films.
As a screenwriter, John won the Louis Mitchell Award for his thriller ‘Chilling Truths’ at the 2015 Action on Film Film Festival in Los Angeles. In 2016, his Tokyo based drama feature ‘Mujo’ was one of six international projects chosen for the Capalbio Future Storyteller Lab in Italy, with mentorship from Colin Trevorrow, director/writer of Jurassic World, before being subsequently selected to represent the Lab at the MIA International Audiovisual Market of the 2016 Rome Film Festival. More recently, John’s historical Chinese drama ‘Torn Silk’ was one of eight European projects selected for the 4th Sino-European Project Lab, an immersive international workshop and think-tank for projects suitable for Sino-European co-production, held in both Beijing and during the 2019 Berlinale film festival. In 2020, John wrote the screenplay for the latest feature in the Yolki franchise for Timur Bekmambetov's production company, Bazelevs, and is now working on a number of international projects as both writer and script-doctor.
Another of John’s interests, the exploration of innovative story formats and cross-media technologies, resulted in the development of the German/US transmedia mystery series ‘Lostfriesland’. Destined for the mobile generation, it explores interactive storytelling through the use of multiple media platforms, and VR technologies, immersing the audience in the story. The unique concept aroused such interest in Germany that the German TV channel NDR filmed the ‘making of’ the proof of concept teaser.