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TOBI BAUMANN

Born in Koblenz / Germany in 1974, Tobi began his career in the TV business in 1994 as a freelance writer for late night shows RTL – NACHTSHOW and DIE HARALD SCHMIDT SHOW. In 1995 he became part of the weekly comedy show’s DIE WOCHENSHOW team and from then on learnt his craft „on the job“ in various positions and productions.

Tobi has been working as a director since 2000 and quickly established himself as a leading name in the German comedy landscape through his collaboration with many acclaimed comedians. He was one of the co-founders and directors of the successful sketch show LADYKRACHER and has directed series such as OHNE WORTE, KINDER KINDER, PASTEWKA, ADD A FRIEND and ZDF Sketch History.
His work includes such diverse projects as the comedy event FRÖHLICHE WEIHNACHTEN, the adventure movie VISUS – EXPEDITION ARCHE NOAH and the Christmas classic ZWEI WEIHNACHTSMÄNNER

In 2011, he conceived and shot 43 country postcards for the 56th EUROVISION SONG CONTEST in Germany. The show was seen live by over 70 million viewers worldwide.
In 2014, Tobi was responsible for the German Film Award as creative director.

In 2004, his feature film debut DER WIXXER was released in cinemas. The parody of the Edgar Wallace films became one of the most successful German movies of the year.

In 2007, his adaptation of Tommy Jaud’s bestseller VOLLIDIOT was another great success in German cinemas.
His partially animated family entertainment feature film GHOSTHUNTERS ON ICY TRAILS was released in Germany in 2015 under the title GESPENSTERJÄGER AUF EISIGER SPUR and in the original version in cinemas worldwide.
His fourth feature film 791km opened in German cinemas in December 2023. The intimate comedy drama about five strangers who share a taxi from Munich to Hamburg in one night is based on his idea. In addition to directing the film, Tobi is also executive producer.

Between 2017 and 2020, Tobi returned to BRAINPOOL as Managing Director and Producer and was responsible for the relaunch of the series PASTEWKA on Amazon Prime Video and the miniseries ÜberWeihnachten for Netflix, which he also co-wrote and directed as showrunner.

He has been working as a freelance director, writer and showrunner again since 2020 and has since realised several feature films and series, including DIE WESPE and the German Television Award-winning FAKING HITLER.

In addition to his work for television and cinema, Tobi has directed a large number of commercials in Germany and Austria for clients such as Mobilcom Debitel, Media Markt, Hannoversche, MAN, Gelomyrtol, Billa, Zott, Congstar, Milka, Musterring, Fressnapf, Sparkasse etc.

Tobi lives in Cologne with his family.