Christoph Silber

Christoph Silber
Born (1971-04-26) April 26, 1971 (age 53)
Berlin, Germany
Occupation(s)Author and filmmaker
SpouseTracey Graves (m. 2022)

Christoph Silber (born 26 April 1971, in Berlin) often credited as Chris Silber, is a German-American author and filmmaker. Rated among "Europe's hottest new screenwriters" by Screen International, Silber works and lives in the United States.

Early life

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Silber spent most of his childhood and youth in Germany. Raised bilingual, he studied in London and Berlin. His mother is a philosopher and award-winning literary translator; his foster father was a well-known Shakespeare scholar and dramaturge. Silber's step-grandmother fought the Nazis in WWII as a Soviet secret agent. His grandfather was a denazification officer for the Allied Forces and confronted former Nazi leaders after the war. Writing runs in Silber's family, with several journalists and published authors in his bloodline.

Career

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Silber worked as an actor, translator and journalist prior to his professional writing career. Taking advantage of his bilingual upbringing, he translated film-related books and screenplays for German book publishers, including Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. The book became a best-seller 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 theatre work and connections in the film industry.[citation needed]

Silber's screenwriting career began in European television in the mid-1990s. A genre traveller, Silber worked as a head writer of sitcoms as well as crime series. Silber has collaborated on numerous films, including the award-winning Good Bye, Lenin!, North Face,[1] Arranged and My Last Day Without You, for which he also co-wrote several songs performed by Nicole Beharie. He also established himself in the family entertainment market with his feature film scripts for the highly successful Enid Blyton-based Hanni & Nanni franchise. Several of his contributions to German television have broken ratings records.[citation needed]

Based in Los Angeles since 2012, Silber has been honoured by the Vilcek Foundation as "an immigrant filmmaker...whose creative spirit enlivens and inspires American cinema."[2]

In 2019, Silber sold a WWII series pilot inspired by his grandfather's story to Hollywood-based Blitz Films. In 2023, Sam: A Saxon [de], a mini-series co-created and head-written by Silber, was released by Disney+ worldwide and by Hulu in the United States.[citation needed]

Personal life

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Silbers former wife Joleita, who inspired his film My Last Day Without You, died from cancer in 2013.[3] He reflected on his family's grief journey in his children's book The Cloud In Our House (Die Wolke Unterm Dach), which was released in Germany in 2022.[4] In 2022 Silber, married American actress and writer Tracey Graves. In 2023 they founded their production company SilberLove Productions, with their first co-writing venture The Gifted Family shooting in Germany the same year. The couple can be heard dishing out dating and marriage advice on their podcast Love Life Hacks.

Filmography

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Theatrical

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  • 2022: Cloud In The Attic (writer, story)
  • 2017: I'm Off Then (writer)
  • 2015: The Trapp Family – A Life Of Music (writer)
  • 2015: Azure (short; director, producer)
  • 2013: Banklady [de] (writer)
  • 2013: Hanni & Nanni 3 [de] (writer)
  • 2012: Hanni & Nanni 2 [de] (writer)
  • 2011: My Last Day Without You (writer, producer)
  • 2010: Devil's Kickers [de] (writer)
  • 2010: The Albanian (writer)
  • 2010: Young Goethe in Love (script consultant)
  • 2008: My Mother's Tears [de] (writer)
  • 2008: North Face (writer)
  • 2007: Arranged (script consultant)
  • 2007: Mrs. Ratcliffe's Revolution (script consultant)
  • 2006: Ice Wind (short; writer, director, actor)
  • 2004: The Ring Thing (writer, producer)
  • 2003: Good Bye, Lenin! (collaborator on screenplay)
  • 2001: Julietta (writer)
  • 2001: Brooklyn Bridge (short; writer)

Television

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  • 2024: Perfect Match (writer)
  • 2023: The Gifted Family (writer)
  • 2023: Sam: A Saxon [de] (miniseries, co-creator & head writer)
  • 2022: 5 Hours - The Miracle of Cape Town (writer)
  • 2019: Walpurgis Night (miniseries, creator & writer)
  • 2017: Balaton Residence (miniseries, co-creator & writer)
  • 2016: Rivals Forever (miniseries, co-creator & writer)
  • 2015: The New Girl (writer)
  • 2014: Dresden Homicide (crime series; creator & head writer)
  • 2012: A Day for a Miracle (writer)
  • 2011: Girl on the Ocean Floor (writer)
  • 2010: Love Is Just a Word (writer)
  • 2006-today: Tatort (crime series; writer & head writer)
  • 2006–2010: Der Kriminalist (crime series; writer & head writer)
  • 2004: My Best Years (series; head writer)
  • 2000: Trivial Pursuit (writer)

Awards and nominations

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Wins

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Nominations

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References

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  1. ^ Holden, Stephen (29 January 2010). "New York Times North Face Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  2. ^ "Fate Or Just Love". 15 October 2011.
  3. ^ "Beyond Black & White My Last Day Without You Creator loses wife". 18 November 2013.
  4. ^ "Chris Silber Die Wolke Unterm Dach".
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