Kurt Mrkwicka

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Kurt Mrkwicka (2007)

Kurt Mrkwicka (born July 16, 1937 in Vienna ) is an Austrian film producer , director , cameraman and diver . He founded his first production company in 1967.

Life

There was an installation contractor in the wider family of Kurt Mrkwicka. For reasons of succession, he completed an apprenticeship as a heating fitter. He attended business school in evening classes. However, he made his first professional experience as a representative at Singer sewing machines. He became regional head of 8 Singer branches. At the same time he was active as an art and high diver for the Vienna Swimming Union .

In 1958 he bought his first camera, an 8mm Bolex , and had the lifeguards film his training jumps to optimize his technique.

Kurt Mrkwicka (1962)
Kurt Mrkwicka (1964)

In 1962 in Leipzig in what was then the GDR in a dramatic competition between "East and West" he won the European championship in jumping (European champions 1962-1966) . Kurt Mrwicka was one of the first water divers in the west, who, in addition to a full-time job, completed the unbelievable number of 120-140 training jumps every day. According to the training book from 1961/62, Mrkwicka's climbing performance on the diving tower was ten times the height of Mount Everest.

The 14-time Austrian national champion took part in the Olympic Games twice: in Rome in 1960 and in Tokyo in 1964 , where he belonged to the closest circle of favorites, but failed a relatively simple compulsory jump and did not make it to the final.

Sporting ambition led him to other sports. With his first wife, Mrkwicka was also active as a tournament dancer. He won the Viennese state championship in show jumping eight times.

Kurt Mrkwicka had been a member of the KDKÖ (Amateur Film Club) since the late 1950s. In 1965 he won gold with "The Yellow Brother" at the State Championships for Film Amateurs and gold with "The Tokyo Games" in another category. From this time comes a close friendship with the chemist and also film-making Alfred Vendl , who later directed many MR documentaries. With the multi-part TV series “Bionik-Nature Tech”, MR Film was the first Austrian production to win an Emmy Award (USA) .

film producer

In the 1960s, film production was a licensed trade. Kurt Mrkwicka's first production company was limited to "sports and culture films". He produced documentaries, commercials and successful ski films - and later, as a cameraman, also underwater films. In connection with the Austrian ski pope Stefan Kruckenhauser and the legendary Kitzbühel ski school boss Karl Koller , ski films were made in Colorado / USA, on the Arlberg, on the Kitzsteinhorn and in Kitzbühel: "Ski-In", "Jet Austria", "Ski- Children's cards “u. a. These films were internationally oriented and were among other things. a. distributed in 16mm copies by US educational materials agencies.

Kurt Mrkwicka (1971)

In 1971 Kurt Mrkwicka produced his first documentary film for ORF , "Horses - a documentary sketch", followed by documentary films about Wolfgang Hausner , who traveled around the world twice , "Taboo I" in Papua New Guinea and "Taboo III" in the Philippines.

In the mid-1970s he shot the first privately financed TV sports film series in Austria, “Schneller-Höher-Starkker”. This form of financing, which was unusual at the time, made the Munich media tycoon Leo Kirch aware of him. Mrkwicka founded MR Film as sole owner in 1980 and subsequently the MR Film Group and produced a large number of fictional large-scale TV projects and TV series. The Kirch group was at that time many partners.

In 2012 Kurt Mrwicka began to transfer shares in his company to his sons Kurt-Georg and Tim from their first marriage and to loyal companions (Andreas Kamm and Oliver Auspitz ). At the age of 80, he resigned as managing director, but remained on the advisory board and retained shares in the MR Film group. In 2003 his long-time friend Jan Mojto took over most of the Kirch empire including the library and in 2017 took a majority stake in the MR Film Group - which includes MR Film, Talk TV and Teamwork.

1998–2000 he produced The Strauss Dynasty , at that time the largest and most expensive European series production (ATS 500 million, approx. 38 million €) and the first European large format IMAX film "The Majestic White Horses".

Kurt Mrkwicka (1992)

Kurt Mrkwicka has been a producer for 50 years, has always worked internationally and has produced over 800 titles, some movies, but mostly TV films and TV series. The most successful productions include the multi-part Die Strauss-Dynastie , the multi-part Via Mala , the serial productions Medicopter 117 , Kaisermühlen Blues , Schnell Determined , Dolce Vita & Co , MA 2412 , Vorstadtweiber , the multi-part " Maximilian I. ", Das Sacher , “ Maria Theresia ” as well as the movies Falco - Damn, we're still alive! and “ La Bohème ”.

In 1990 the traditional Rosenhügel film studios in Vienna were to give way to a shopping center. The dilapidated studios were owned by the ORF. In 1994 Mrkwicka leased the entire Rosenhügel area including the six studio halls for 20 years. With the support of the federal government and the city of Vienna, he restored the Rosenhügel area and founded the new "Film City Vienna". He developed and organized an industry-related business park in which over 30 companies settled in a very short time.

When the lease with ORF expired after 20 years in 2014 and the Rosenhügel studios were to be sold, Kurt Mrkwicka fought to keep the “film city of Vienna”. In 2014 he took part in the bidding process to acquire the “Filmstadt Wien” with partners. At the last minute his offer was outbid by a construction company, which subsequently built a residential park. Of the former 3.6 hectare “Film City Vienna”, only the two listed studio halls 1 + 6 have been preserved.

Kurt Mrkwicka, together with Klaus Balkenhol, is a founding member and supervisory board of "Xenophon e. V. - Society for the Preservation and Promotion of Classic Riding Culture ”and President of the Gutenhof Equestrian Center.

Quotes

"Life is a stepping stone and not a sofa"

"If you know everything and nothing is right, you are important in television"

Awards

Kurt Mrkwicka (1996)

Filmography (selection)

Cinemamovies

TV movies

TV series / series

TV documentaries & shows

  • 1964/65: The yellow brother
  • 1965: The Tokyo Games - Design: Kurt Mrkwicka
  • 1966: Gymnastrada - World Gymnastics Festival - Design: Kurt Mrkwicka
  • 1968: Ski-In - Design: Kurt Mrkwicka
  • 1971: Horses - a documentary sketch (1st film for ORF) - directed by Kurt Mrkwicka, Alfred Vendl
  • 1972: The Austrian Ski School - three-part, directed by Kurt Mrkwicka
  • 1972: Christmas in Austria - Silent Night, directed by Kurt Mrkwicka
  • 1972: Fencing - Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1973: The Athletes - Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1973: Ski Kindergarten - Director: Kurt Mrkwicka
  • 1975: Formula to victory (Niki Lauda 1st world title) - directed by Kurt Mrkwicka, Alfred Vendl
  • 1976: Faster-Higher-Stronger - 22 episodes, directed by Kurt Mrkwicka, Alfred Vendl
  • 1981: Donors and forgers (Rudolf IV documentary) - Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1982: Peter Rosegger - my lust is life - director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1983: Rudolfsee - Director: Babette Reitmayer
  • 1983: The Turks before Vienna - Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1984: Sealsfield - Africa - Director: Babette Reitmayer
  • 1984: The Future of the Past - Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1984: Dying Witnesses - Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1985: Dream and Reality - multi-part series - Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1985: Organ Art (Martin Haselböck) - Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1985: Faces of Europe - 37 episodes - Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1986: Der Jüngling vom Magdalensberg - Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1986: Holub - In the realm of Maschukulumbe - Director: Babette Reitmayer
  • 1987: The Gardens of Poseidon - This is how the Mediterranean lives and dies - 5 episodes, directed by Alfred Vendl
  • 1998: Strauss-Mania - Director: Martin Pichl
  • 1990: Bruno Kreisky - Director: Kurt Mrkwicka
  • 1991: Himmelsboten - Meteoriten - 2 episodes, director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1991: Live in Peace - Teddy Kollek - Director: Kurt Mrkwicka
  • 1992: Attention forgery - three-part series, directed by Alfred Vendl
  • 1995: Kaltes Feuer - Edle Steine ​​- Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1995: Conspecifics - Walter McCrone - Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1995: Conspecifics - Ernst Hinterberger - Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1995: Kindgenossen - Frantisek Makes - Director: Alfred Vendl
  • 1999: The Majestic White Horses (1st European IMAX cinema documentary) - Director: Kurt Mrkwicka
  • 1999-: The Barbara Karlich Show - 3743 episodes (as of April 4, 2019)
  • 2004: Goya - Burden and Passion - Director: Gustav Trampitsch
  • 2004: The Spanish Riding School - Director: Kurt Mrkwicka
  • 2004: Piber - the nursery of the Lipizzaners - director: Kurt Mrkwicka
  • 2005: Bricks - from Babylon to Wienerberg - Director: Gustav Trampitsch
  • 2005: Adventure Antike - Director: Gustav Trampitsch
  • 2005: Kornkraftwerk - a means of survival - Director: Gustav Trampitsch
  • 2006: Bionik-Nature Tech - The Genius of Nature - three-part, directors: Alfred Vendl, Steve Nicholls, Emmy-Award (USA) , Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival - Best Limited Series
  • 2006: Let Feathers - Mexico's Feather Crown - Director: Gustav Trampitsch
  • 2006: Sound of Humanity - Director: Gustav Trampitsch
  • 2007: Karajan - Beauty as I see it - Director: Robert Dornhelm
  • 2007: The Bite of Knowledge - Apple - Director: Gustav Trampitsch
  • 2008: Fleisch - Director: Gustav Trampitsch
  • 2008: A Handful of Life - Mais - Director: Gustav Trampitsch
  • 2008: You can't see them in the dark - Director: Gustav Trampitsch
  • 2009: Heroes, cult and cuisine - multi-part, director: Gustav Trampitsch
  • 2013: Triumph der Tomato - Director: Maria-Magdalena Koller
  • 2015: Oh Du Mein Austria - Director: Robert Dornhelm

TV recordings in-house

  • 1986: From black-yellow to red-white-red - image & director: Kurt Mrkwicka
  • 1986: Cantabile (Salzburg Landestheater) - Image & Director: Kurt Mrkwicka
  • 1992/93: is played - 10 episodes, director: Herbert Grunsky
  • 1992: One buck too much - Director: Heinz Marecek
  • 2000: A3 - Live in front of Schönbrunn Palace - Image & Director: Thomas Roth

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. MR film website
personal data
SURNAME Mrkwicka, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian film producer, director, cameraman and diver
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna