Born in Vienna, he spent 17 years as a casting director shaping the international success of Austrian cinema through his close collaborations with Jessica Hausner, Ulrich Seidl and Michael Haneke. In ‘The White Ribbon’ (2009), Haneke’s film which won the Palme d’Or and received two Oscar nominations, he was responsible not only for casting the child actors but also for directing their performances on set. His two debut feature films, ‘Michael’ (2011) and ‘Angelo’ (2018), premiered and won awards in the main competitions at the Cannes, Toronto, London, Mumbai, and Japan film festivals, among others. He also works as an actor and teaches directing, currently at the Film Academy in Ludwigsburg. ‘Rose’ (2026), his third feature film, had its world premiere in Berlin, where its lead actress, Sandra Hüller, won the award for best performance.