Cologne Video Production

I'm an award-winning cinematographer producing executive interviews, testimonials and corporate films in Cologne for international communications teams, working in German and English on set. Clients include The New York Times, Pfizer, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Google, AWS and Huawei.

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Video production services
in Cologne

I produce corporate, brand and documentary video in Cologne with a compact setup.

Typical engagements:

Executive interviews and leadership messages, single or two-camera
Documentary and branded content, on location
Corporate films and case studies for global teams
Conference and event coverage, multi-camera with stage audio feed
Testimonials filmed in offices, studios or at venues
Post-production: edit, grade, captions, deliverables for web and social

Who you're hiring in Cologne

I'm Theo Solnik, founder of Haikai Media and the cinematographer on every Cologne shoot I deliver. I trained at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin under Fred Kelemen, Béla Tarr's cinematographer on The Turin Horse, and have been shooting corporate, documentary and cinema work for 30 years.

My first feature, Anna Pavlova Lives in Berlin, won the inaugural Preis der Nationalgalerie für junge Filmkunst (Prize of the National Gallery for Young Film Art), presented by Bruno Ganz and Iris Berben, and was exhibited daily over four months at the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin. My work has since screened at festivals and museums in more than 25 countries. On the corporate side I've worked for Google, Pfizer, AWS, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Huawei, Barclays, Boston Consulting Group and Brain Corp, among others.

I work in German and English on set, along with Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, French and Norwegian. For a Cologne shoot that means I brief participants and direct contributors in German, and keep English as the working language for the international team commissioning the job.

I hold Italian and Brazilian nationality and was granted a U.S. O-1B visa as an Artist with Extraordinary Ability.

When you book a Cologne shoot, you're hiring the director of photography who personally lights, frames and delivers the work — not a booking agent passing the job on.

Full biography and credentials here.

Executive interviews and testimonials in Cologne

Executive interviews and testimonials are the most common corporate requests I get, filmed in offices, boardrooms, factories or rented spaces that hold clean sound and a consistent look across several speakers on the same day.

My standard setup is two cameras, a wider primary and a tighter secondary, on a RED Komodo 6K with Zeiss Standard Speed primes at 16, 24, 32, 50 and 85mm. Audio runs to a Sennheiser MKH-416 shotgun or a Sanken COS-11 lavalier, with an independent 32-bit float recorder as backup.

When a speaker is more at ease in German, I run the interview in German and deliver English-subtitled versions alongside the original. For a communications team coordinating from another country, I share a question framework beforehand and send review links after filming, so people in other time zones can sign off without waiting on a shipped drive.

Corporate and brand video in Cologne

Corporate work in Cologne usually pairs interviews with contextual filming of the people, workplaces and processes behind an organisation, planned around real operating schedules so filming doesn't disrupt the working day. B-roll covers offices, production areas, meetings and exterior establishing shots, giving the edit structure and continuity.

Where a shoot needs more than one operator, I bring in vetted local crew and direct them myself, so the standard holds whether it's a single interview or a larger corporate production.

German-language work: Soldamatik testimonial, Attendorn

In 2024 I filmed the Seaberry Soldamatik customer testimonial in Attendorn, North Rhine-Westphalia. A testimonial like this rests on the same craft as an executive interview: putting a customer at ease so they speak in their own words, with lighting and sound that hold in a working environment rather than a studio. See my testimonial work.

Filming logistics and production workflow in Cologne

Permits: most corporate shoots, in offices, studios, factories and private venues, need no municipal authorisation, since they take place on private property with the owner's permission.

For public space, the City of Cologne uses a single online application for a filming permit (Antrag auf Drehgenehmigung), introduced in June 2024 and handled by its Film und Medien team, with the Ordnungsamt involved for public space. At the time of writing, applications should go in at least 10 working days before filming. I handle that process when a public location is part of the plan.

Equipment is mine: RED Komodo 6K, Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, Sigma fp, Zeiss Standard Speed PL primes, DJI RS 3 Pro with LiDAR and Focus Pro, Zoom 32-bit float recorders, Sennheiser and Sanken microphones and an owned lighting package. No rental surprises, no last-minute substitutions.

Deliverables and turnaround

Deliverables are prepared for the client's intended use: master files for internal distribution, compressed versions for web, shorter edits for social platforms, or documentary cutdowns where the project calls for it.

Interview-based productions deliver a first cut within 24 to 48 hours of wrap. Two revision rounds are included, and each revised cut arrives within 24 hours of your feedback. Documentary and multi-day productions follow a schedule agreed in the quote. Final exports include ProRes masters, H.264 web versions, 9:16 social cutdowns and burned-in or sidecar subtitles in German and English on request.

Colour grading, sound mix and original music composition are handled in-house.

Pricing

Every Cologne project is quoted individually based on crew size, shoot days, deliverables and post-production scope. No hidden surcharges: insurance and contingency are itemised separately so you see what you're paying for. Payment terms are 50% on signing, 50% within five business days of final delivery.

FAQ

Do you work in German on set?

Yes. I work in German and English on set, and also in Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, French and Norwegian. I can run interviews in German and deliver English-subtitled versions.

Have you filmed German-language testimonials?

Yes. In 2024 I filmed a customer testimonial for Soldamatik in Attendorn, North Rhine-Westphalia. Testimonials and executive interviews are the core of my corporate work.

Do you need a permit to film in Cologne?

Not for interiors on private premises. For public space, the City of Cologne takes one online filming-permit application, due at least 10 working days before the shoot. I handle the application.

What's included in the day rate?

The day rate covers me as DP, the RED Komodo package, Zeiss primes, standard lighting and audio kit. Additional crew, specialised lighting and permits are quoted separately.

How fast can you deliver?

First cut within 24 to 48 hours of wrap for standard interview projects. Two revision rounds are included, each revised cut within 24 hours of your feedback. Documentary and multi-day work is delivered on an agreed schedule.