Three Senior Lecturers for the Production Study Programme

Three Senior Lceturers in the Production Study Programme

With the opening of the 2024/25 academic year yesterday, a personnel change in the Production study programme at Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg has taken effect. In addition to Prof. Gloria Burkert, who has been a senior lecturer for many years, Marjorie Bendeck and Jean-Young Kwak will now also help shape the direction of the Production department as senior lecturers. They will be responsible, among other things, for designing the curriculum, selecting teaching staff, and representing the department in admissions and examination rounds.

Filmakademie Managing Director Prof. Thomas Schadt commented:
"I am extremely pleased that with Prof. Gloria Burkert, we at the Filmakademie will continue to benefit from the extensive expertise of one of the most respected figures in the German production landscape. I am equally pleased that she will no longer have to manage this role alone, but will be supported by two experienced producers, Marjorie Bendeck and Jean-Young Kwak, who, with their experience in both national and international markets, will undoubtedly bring fresh ideas. The fact that Jean-Young Kwak completed her production studies here in Ludwigsburg is, for me, further proof of the success of our training concept at the Filmakademie."

Prof. Gloria Burkert began her career producing graduation films, followed by a European co-production with Finnish director Mika Kaurismäki. She went on to produce numerous TV movies and documentaries in collaboration with various production companies.
Together with two colleagues, she founded a production company in Munich. The company produced several episodes of the TV series Tatort (e.g., Frau Bu Lacht and Und Dahinter Liegt New York) as well as Polizeiruf 110 (Der Scharlachrote Engel), and collaborated with directors such as Dominik Graf, Ralf Hüttner, Friedemann Fromm, and Vivian Naefe. Their work garnered multiple awards, including the Grimme Award, Munich Producer Award, and Bavarian Film Award. Their greatest success came with Caroline Link’s film Nowhere in Africa, which won an Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film.
Gloria Burkert has been with the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg for many years, initially contributing to admissions and diploma examinations in the Production programme as well as lecturing. Since 2016, she has led the FABW's production department, initially alongside her colleague Christian Rohde, and from 2022-2024, solely.

Marjorie Bendeck was born in Honduras. She studied communication sciences, advertising, and marketing at the Central American Technical University (UNITEC) and film theory and production at the Mexican Cinematheque and the Cuban International Film School (EICTV), followed by a master’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology at the University of Wuppertal. She has been living in Germany since 2003.
Until 2012, she led the selection team for Berlinale Talents. She is a member of various selection committees, including the Berlinale World Cinema Fund and ACE Producers, as well as multiple European and Latin American film funding organizations. In addition, she works as a trainer for pitching and project development. Since 2018, Marjorie has directed the East-West Co-Production Market Connecting Cottbus and, since 2022, the Locarno Open Doors Co-Production Hub.

Jean-Young Kwak initially studied German language and literature, sociology, and phonetics at the University of Cologne while working in various roles in radio, advertising, feature films, and TV productions. She later transferred to the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg, where she graduated in 2007 with a degree in creative producing and international producing. Jean-Young Kwak is also an ECA-certified personal and business coach. Today, she uses these skills primarily in teaching and student mentoring, enriching her work at the Filmakademie.
Since August 2022, she has served as managing director and producer at Amalia Film GmbH, where her responsibilities include the development and acquisition of new formats, and, together with Felix von Poser, the strategic expansion of the company.
From 2016 to 2022, Jean-Young Kwak worked as an editor in the fiction department at RTL Germany, where she oversaw productions such as The Plumber, Even Closer, and most recently, the event series Herzogpark for RTL+ and VOX. Prior to that, she worked as a producer and executive producer for teamWorx (now UFA Fiction), Magic Flight Film, and Wiedemann & Berg Television. During this time, she was responsible for over twenty projects across various genres, including the event miniseries The Cold Sky, the theater film Woyzeck, and the documentary Vatican: The Hidden World, all of which were nominated for and won several awards.