Christoph Silber is an Emmy-winning German American screenwriter and film producer. Rated among "Europe's hottest new screenwriters" by Screen International, he is considered one of Germany's leading writers and frequently collaborates on film projects in the United States, his adoptive home.

Biography

Raised bilingually in Europe, Silber studied English and French history and literature in Berlin and London. He worked as an actor, translator and journalist prior to his professional writing career. He translated books on film and screenplays for German book publishers, including Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. The book became a bestseller and led to Silber's first assignment as a playwright. In 1995 the acclaimed Vienna Burgtheater asked him to adapt Puccini's Tosca for a stage production. This led to further theater work and contacts to the European film business.

Silber's screenwriting career began in the mid 90's with contributions to German television shows. A genre traveller, Silber worked as a head writer of sitcoms as well as crime series. His breakthrough came in 2001 when director Wolfgang Becker picked him as his co-writer for the final development phase of Good Bye, Lenin!. The film went on to win multiple awards worldwide, breaking box office records in its territory. Since then Silber has collaborated on numerous films, including the award-winning North Face and Arranged. In recent years, he established himself on the family market with his feature film scripts for the highly successful Enid Blyton-based Hanni & Nanni franchise.

In 2007, Silber founded the production company Silver Shepherd with writing and producing partner Stefan Schaefer in New York. For their 2011 film My Last Day Without You starring Nicole Beharie and Ken Duken, the two also wrote the song lyrics collaborating with composer and producer Scott Jacoby. Based in Los Angeles since 2012, Silber continues to collaborate with Schaefer.

From the early days of his career, Silber has been good friends with Academy Award winning filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff. He has collaborated with Academy Award nominee Peter Straughan and Italian American screen legend Terence Hill.

Teamed with Berlin associate Thorsten Wettcke, Silber has written critically acclaimed episodes for Germany's legendary feature-length crime series Tatort. In 2008 the duo's new concept for the Hamburg Tatort was called "a triumph for German quality television" by Der Spiegel. In 2009 they received the Grimme Award, the highest honor in German TV, and in 2012 Austria's top film and TV laurel, the Romy Award. Silber and Wettcke continue to collaborate on German-language feature films and TV series.

In 2011 the Vilcek Foundation honored Silber as "an immigrant filmmaker...whose creative spirit enlivens and inspires American cinema."

In 2012 Silber joined the newly established film program of La Sierra University in California as an Adjunct Professor of Film and Television Arts.

Best films