Sebastian Werninger

Sebastian Werninger has worked for UFA for more than 25 years and has been Managing Director of UFA Fiction and UFA Distribution since March 2016. He was executive producer of the lavish literary adaptation DER MEDICUS, which was one of the most successful German cinema films of recent years with more than four million viewers. Sebastian Werninger’s other projects include television events such as UNSERE MÜTTER, UNSERE VÄTER, LACONIA, BORNHOLMER STRASSE, NACKT UNTER WÖLFEN, DEUTSCHLAND83/86/89, DER GLEICHE HIMMEL and the feature film SO VIEL ZEIT. In 2017, the first season of the historical series CHARITÉ achieved the best series launch in its time slot for over 25 years. Sebastian Werninger received the Austrian Romy media award in the Best Producer TV Film category for the production.

After ICH BIN DANN MAL WEG, which reached two million viewers in Germany, the fictional adaptation of Hape Kerkeling’s autobiography DER JUNGE MUSS AN DIE FRISCHE LUFT was the most successful German cinema film of 2018 with over 3.8 million viewers. Caroline Link’s film was awarded three German Film Awards, including the Lola in Bronze for Best Feature Film. ICH WAR NOCH NIEMALS IN NEW YORK (2019), based on the hit musical by Stage Entertainment, is also one of Sebastian Werninger’s cinema productions. With BETONRAUSCH, he produced the first German Netflix original feature-length production for UFA, which has been available on the streaming service since April 2020. For the cinema production LEANDER HAUßMANNS STASIKOMÖDIE (2022), Sebastian Werninger, together with Herman Weigel and Christoph Müller, was awarded the Bavarian Film Prize Producer Award. In the same year, TAUSEND ZEILEN, inspired by Juan Moreno’s book “Tausend Zeilen Lüge. The Relotius System and German Journalism”, directed by Michael Bully Herbig.

His most recent projects include the first German Disney+ Original series SAM – EIN SACHSE (2023) about the extraordinary story of “Sam” Njankouo Meffire, the first black police officer in East Germany. In addition, the films DAS FLIEGENDE KLASSENZIMMER (2023), a remake of the Kästner classic directed by Carolina Hellsgård, and the fast-paced ensemble comedy EIN FEST FÜRS LEBEN (2023) by director and screenwriter Richard Huber about an event planner and his motley crew whose meticulously planned party gets completely out of hand. The RTL+ production GUTE FREUNDE – DER AUFSTIEG DES FC BAYERN, directed by David Dietl, which tells the beginning of the great success story of FC Bayern Munich between 1964 and 1974 through the eyes of some of the greatest German footballers of all time, can also be seen at the moment. WHERE’S WANDA?, the first German-language original series for Apple TV+, directed by Christian Ditter and Tobi Baumann, is currently being filmed.

In February 2016, Sebastian Werninger was elected as a board member of the Producers Alliance in the Television section.

Together with Jörg Winger and Philipp Driessen, Sebastian Werninger also acts as Managing Director of BIG WINDOW Productions.