Toby Chlosta
Screenwriter & DirectorIn 1984, Toby Chlosta is born in Munich as Anne Chlosta. He gets to live outside the box quite early on, when his parents decide to move the family from the Bavarian mountains to the Dutch coast. There, Toby grows up bilingual and in-between-cultures, which leads to the open mind he has preserved until this day.
Toby spends most of his teenage years roaming the stage. He writes and directs his own plays and performs in them as well, loving to entertain others with his stories. After a brief detour into cultural sciences and the big, wild world, Toby throws himself into studying screenwriting at the Dutch Film Academy in Amsterdam. The medium of film becomes his home, as does the queer community. Toby gets to direct his graduation film about a gay BDSDM-coming-of-age-journey himself. This shows him once and for all how strongly he feels about telling unusual stories about how to find your place in this world.
Toby’s own journey then leads him to study directing at Hamburg Media School. After successfully completing his studies with an action-noir-ballad, Toby stays in Hamburg. The Dutch coastal dweller now lives at the river Elbe, and continues to work both in Germany and The Netherlands on various film and series projects. Toby is an out and proud trans man who plays an active role in voluntary media network Queer Media Society. His main goal remains: Entertaining an audience through original perspectives and unconventional stories filled to the brim with feelings, love and laughter – completely outside of any box.
© photo: Anna Clarks
Filmographie
TOUGH COOKIES (Die Wutigen)
feature film
screenwriter| director
development funded by NEST Förderung by MOIN
(in development)
SWEETIE
series | Tellux Film
creator | screenwriter
(in development)
VERBINSKY
series | Tellux Film GmbH
screenwriter | co-writer: Kai S. Pieck
based on an idea by Kai S. Pieck
(in development)
WE ARE FAMILY (WT)
series | Katapult Filmproduktion | ZDFneo
director | co-director: Kai S. Pieck, Gabriel B. Arrahnio
writer | writers’ room
Creator: Kai S. Pieck
(in postproduction)
DIE SCHWULE AGENDA (WT)
series | Perennial Lens
screenwriter | writers’ room
creator: Niklas Bauer
(in development)
WE ARE FAMILY (WT)
series | Katapult Filmproduktion for ZDFneo
director | co-director Kai S. Pieck, Gabriel B. Arrahnio
creator: Kai S. Pieck
(shooting)
series | Katapult Filmproduktion for ZDFneo
screenwriter / writers’ room
(development)
DIE RÜCKKEHR DER MÄNNER – NOBODY NEEDS YOU (WT)
series
screenwriter | writers‘ room
screenplay: Mia Spengler, Ruth Toma, Emmanuel Tessema, Toby Chlosta
(in development)
LOVE ME IF YOU CAN (WT)
series | ITV Studios Germany GmbH (Jonas Baur)
screenwriter | concept
(in development)
ROBIN VLOED (WT)
Children’s series (NL) | Umami Media (Niek Teunissen)
screenwriter
(in development)
GLITZER & METT (WT)
feature film
screenwriter, director
development of treatment and script funded by MOIN
(in development)
TITCOM
series | concept subsidized by Kulturamt Münster and Filmservice Münster.Land
creator, screenwriter + director with Corinne Le Hong
(in development)
LIESELOTTE
childrens’ animated series | WunderWerk with Fabrique d’Images + ZDF
based on the book series “Lieselotte“ by Alexander Steffensmeier
episode 34: ‘Lieselotte trifft ins Tor’ | broadcasted: 03.07.2020 on KiKA
episode 45: ‘Lieselotte mopst das Obst’ | broadcasted: 14.07.2020 on KiKA
director: Dieter Riepenhausen, Cherifa Bakhti
(screenwriter / writers‘ room)
QUEER AMSTERDAM
web series (NL) | Rozing Producties & BNNVARA
creator with Bart Peters & Dorien Rozing
(screenwriter + co-director with Bart Peters)
QUEER AMSTERDAM EXTRA
web documentary series (NL) | Rozing Producties & BNNVARA
creator with Bart Peters & Dorien Rozing
TISCH & BETT (BE MY GUEST)
short | ABMAWI Filmproduktion
(director)
TOOTHPAINTER
music video | for A Boy Named River | production with Darja Pilz + Michael Lewandowski (director)
RED DOGZ
graduation short | production: Monique Marmodée | Hamburg Media School
(director + co-screenwriter, with Florian Wentsch)
DÜNNES EIS (FINAL STROKE)
short | Monique Marmodée | Hamburg Media School
(director)
12 LIKES
short | Nadine Lewerenz | Hamburg Media School
(director)
Education
2024
Winterclass Serial Writing And Producing |
Erich Pommer Institut und Filmuniversität Babelsberg
Queer Schreiben im Film Masterclass |
Queer Media Society und Filmuniversität Babelsberg
2019
FIRST STEPS Masterclass
2018
WEB:FIRST LAB – Bayerisches Filmzentrum
2015
Robert McKee Amsterdam STORY Seminar
2012-2014
Hamburg Media School | Master’s Degree in Film Directing
2007-2011
Dutch Film Academy (Amsterdam) | Bachelor’s Degree in Screenwriting for Film and Television
Awards
2020
LIESELOTTE – Nominated for Goldener Spatz
2019
LASSO MORTALE – Best Pitch Award. FIRST STEPS Masterclass
QUEER AMSTERDAM – Special Jury Award & WWW Series Critics Award
2018
QUEER AMSTERDAM – Best Series Award. Wendie Webfest Hamburg
QUEER AMSTERDAM – What’s Next Director Award. Webfest Berlin
2016
DÜNNES EIS – Award „Excellence In Women’s Filmmaking“ |
European Independent Film Festival (ÉCU)
2015
RED DOGZ – Cinematic Achievement Award |
Thessaloniki International Short Film Festival (TISFF)