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About me

about the author Esther Kaufmann

(copyright: Laura Afolter)

I am a Hamburg-based writer and am mainly writing in the scenical field for theatre and TV/Film as well as games. I am also working as a consultant and am helping others with ideas or final polishing. For my project partners, I am creating stories with a strong backbone and I am a never ceasing source of ideas and impulses. Additionally I am teaching by doing creative workshops and am actively engaged with cultural politics all around literature. My main target group are kids. Also I have a passion for series and adaptations as well as historical projects.

How I am shaping our collaboration:

  • Based in Hamburg, I like to work also for the international market.

  • I can initiate an exchange of knowledge and sharing of expertise.

  • I am readily available for working with schools and create events, especially during daytime.

  • I prefer working face-to-face because of my interactive approach, but I can also offer online formats.

  • I am always interested in working on political, current and important topics.

Esther-Kaufmann-Drahtmuhle-Team-der-Theaterbox-Laura-Afolter
THEATERBOX-Team with Azizah Hocke, Anna Meyer, Patricia Royo, Johannes Nehlsen and Julius Jensen (Copyright: Laura Afolter)

(copyright: Laura Afolter)

I have been writing ever since I could hold a pen. Later I went to study media studies and German language and literature. In over 25 years of creative freelance work I have build a diverse portfolio for myself including my experience with different topics and media.


Through a diverse education I have gained a lot of knowledge – at the Academy for Childrens media I have studied animation writing as a masterclass and I have been to many writing classes f.e. The writing lab / Schreiblabor at the Literaturhaus Hamburg.
When I am working closely with customers or other creatives form my wide network, I always have an eye on the whole picture because I a frequently responsible for project management also.


With my very own stories and my profound story input I want to playfully encourage people to come out of their shell, let their creativity run wild and start thinking deeply about all the small and bis questions of gender and childhood, capitalism, outer space and peace.


Esther-Kaufmann-mit-Julius-Jensen-THEATERBOX-WIlhelmsburger-Wintermarchen-Xeno-Honigfabrik-Drahtmuhle
„Xeno“ mit Christopher Ammann

(copyright: Azizah Hocke / THEATERBOX)

My work

I have been working on various exciting projects in the last 14 years. These are some of my most important works.

In the areas of theatre, film, literature, transmedia and workshops, I have been lucky enough to make many ideas come alive and work with interesting partners!

Literature:

  • Since 2008 I am regularly doing public readings and have already recorded two web readings for the local cultural office.

  • I was happy to consult on Ruth Frobeens novels “Midgets on the wall / Mücken an der Wand”, “Dorothy und der Parfümeur / Dorothy and the perfumer”, “Lil Bob” and “Irmelin Fuchs“. Ruth is writing amazing books with a very special language and magical protagonists.

  • Being one of the publishers of “Fluchtpunkt Hamburg – Texte im Exil“, “Hummeln im Mors” in the publishing house Telegonos, “Wir haben Wölfe gehört”, “Von Menschen und Masken“ als well as “Freiheit des Wortes” also in the Kulturmaschinen Verlag I am also organizing the concept and proof reading as well as the public readings.

Esther-Kaufmann-Lesung-Antikriegstag-Anthologie-Verband-Deutscher-SchriftstellerInnen-Fluchtpunkt-Hamburg-Texte-im-Exil
Reading for Anti-War Day with from left to right Frank Scheerer, Vera Rosenbusch, Christina Oskui, Angelika Oppenheimer und Reimer Eilers

(copyright: VS Hamburg)

Esther-Kaufmann-Albert-Ballin-der-Reeder-des-Kaisers-BallinStadtMuseum
Mit Anna Matz, Johannes Nehlsen und Stephan Möller-Titel

(copyright: Esther Kaufmann / photo: Bo Lahola)

Theatre:

  • Since 2009 I am developing plays for the Wilhelmsburger Wintermärchen. With our artist collective THEATERBOX we are coming up with a new play each year targeting children 6-10 years old and writing about a hot topic from their daily life in the Honigfabrik (until 2019 directed by Julius Jensen, from 2019 directed by Johannes Nehlsen). Some of the plays are published at the Razzopenuto publishing house.

  • In 2011 I wrote the play “Lovegames – Verkehrsberuhigte Zonen“ (director: Sabine Middel) together with non-professional actors for the Lichthof theatre, which is about couples therapy and crazy love constellations.

  • Mein Feld ist die Welt – Ballin, der Reeder des Kaisers” was a play I wrote which debuted in 2018 in the Ballinstadt museum (director: Julius Jensen). As a site-specific project it is about the historical character of Albert Ballins and the relevance of the Jewish ship owner as well as the time of World War 1 today.

  • Together with Mikub e.V. I wrote the kids play “Space ship future / Raumschiff Zukunft“ in 2022 together with students in the Uckermark dealing with dystopian and Utopian thoughts about the future. It debuted in the primary school Milmersdorf and was shown again at the MKC Templin (director: Annika Lachnitt).

Film:

  • In 2011 I was the co-writer for the short film “Bardo” about death being a ferry man (director: Jan Wilde, production: KHM Köln/Vision X), which was shown at the Cottbusser Filmfestival 2012 and won the Und bitte award.
  • For director and producer Steffen Schmidt in 2014 I wrote the kids short film “With Bobby by my side 2 / Mit Bobby an meiner Seite 2″ and in 2015 I wrote the next part “With Bobby by my side 3 / Mit Bobby an meiner Seite 3″. The films are about a group of kids who become friends through the adventures of cuddly teddy bear Bobby.
  • For the kids animation series “The little star / Der kleine Stern“ based on a Berlin theatre project I developed the series bible and wrote an episode about the adventures within a black hole in 2020 (production: Ohrfilm / Chrizlie Medien).
  • Since 2020 I am working on the animation feature “Alias secret” together with my co-writer Frederik Schuld for his production company Fabian und Fred. We got funding by the MOIN film fund to tell our story about the local colonization history and the real character of the princess of Sansibar combined with a family adventure about the family secret of the bird kids within a fish world.
Esther-Kaufmann-Mit-Bobby-an-meiner-Seite-Kurzfilm-von-Steffen-Schmidt
“Mit Bobby an meiner Seite 3”

(copyright: Steffen Schmidt)

Esther-Kaufmann-Kurzfilm-Lange-Schatten-von-Franz-Indra-nach-EIke-Imping
“Lange Schatten”

(copyright: Franz Indra)

Esther-Kaufmann-app-game-Aquapolis-Candy-Grill

(copyright: Candy Grill)

Transmedia:

  • In 2011 I wrote the script for a talking toy dog by the SBV Group Ltd., who can have conversations and answers with different options of dialogue.
  • For the international app game “Aquapolis” for Candy Grill I did some proof reading and editing in 2015. The mystery farming game was adapted for the German market by me.
  • For the huge universe of Schleich toys I worked on the PC game “Horse Club Adventures” in 2020. I was coming up with the story lines as well as the dialogues for the story about some friends and their secret horse club.

Workshops and panels:

  • Since 2008 I am teaching creative writing and theatre for teens and kids. In 2019 I was able to write a novel together with a school class in 9th grade together with my colleague Franziska Biermann for the Schulhausroman of the Literaturhaus Hamburg. Together, we wrote “Hotel Blue Diamond“, a thriller-romance set on a lonely Mexican island where a secret drug is growing.
  • Since 2016 I am responsible for planing, organizing and moderating events for the German writers guild / Verband Deutscher SchriftstellerInnen and have come up with lots of literature events like the midsummer night stories / Mittsommergeschichten in Planten un Blomen.
  • Since 2018 I have been organizing and moderating panels at the Childrens Media Conference in Sheffield. I was speaker at the First Timers Reception and was responsible for managing panels f.e. about STEM and Girls in Animation as well as about Listening to kids and I had the honour of curating digital content with some of the Young Changemakers.
Esther-Kaufmann-CMC-Childrens-Media-Conference-panel-First-Timers-Lunch-credit-by-Jennifer-Booth
Panel at Childrens Media Conference

(copyright: CMC / Jennifer Booth)