Credits ✦
Production Design ✹
Art ✦

After initially studying physics, Merlin Ortner moved into graphic design before finding his way into film — a path that still shapes his work today, combining analytical thinking with a strong visual intuition.

He graduated from the Weißensee School of Art in Berlin in 2013, where his background in painting became a lasting influence. For Merlin, production design is not decoration, but a way of constructing emotional space — shaped through composition, light, material, and atmosphere.

Since 2006, he has been working as an art director and production designer across film and advertising. His recent film work includes Bloody Tennis (dir. Nikias Chryssos) and Drive (dir. Sergej Moya, Amazon). He previously collaborated with Christian Petzold on Undine.

Alongside his work in film, Merlin has designed numerous high-end commercials, working with talents such as Charles Leclerc and Siegfried & Joy, as well as brands including Telekom, Armani, and WWF. He also designed the music video for Rammstein’s Deutschland.

His work is driven by the belief that spaces are never neutral — they define how a story is felt.

Feature Film Work

• Drive The Pretenders (Post-Production)
  Director: Sergej Moya
  Amazon Studios / Bavaria Fiction
  Shot in Prag, CZ and Italy

• Bloody Tennis (Premiere Summer 2026)
  Director Nikias Chryssos
  Augenschein Filmproduction,
  Shot in Gran Canaria and Germany

• Undine
  Director Christian Petzold
  Schramm Film
  Shot in Germany

• Narziss & Goldmund
  Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky
  Sony Pictures,
  Shot in Czech Republic and Autria

• Suspiria
  Director Luca Guadagnino,
  Amazon Studios, Sony Picttures.
  Shot in Italy and Germany

• Phoenix
  Director Christian Petzold,
  Schramm Film
  Shot in Poland and Germany

• Deutschland — Rammstein
  Director: Spector Berlin
  Shot in Germany

• Gold
  Director Thomas Arslan.
  Schramm Film
  Shot in British Columbia, CA

• The Young Karl Marx
  Director Raoul Pec
  Vorfilm
  Shot in Belgian and Germany

• Barbara
  Director Christian Petzold,
  Schramm Film,
  Shot in Germany

Awards

• Allgäuer Art Prize (2016)

• ARTiges Award (2016)

• Moscow Photo Award (Honorable Mention)
  Education

  Exhibitions (Selection)

• Solo & group exhibitions in

  • Berlin,

  • Leipzig,

  • USA,

  • Salzburg,

  • Miami