John Gürtler
John Gürtler is a composer and multi-instrumentalist renowned for seamlessly blending acoustic warmth with electronic textures to create deeply evocative film scores. Born in London in 1981 to Portuguese-German parents, he began saxophone and piano lessons at eleven before relocating to Berlin in 2001 to study composition, saxophone, and piano at the Universität der Künste. He further refined his craft in film music and sound design at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, bringing an improviser’s spontaneity and a performer’s keen sensitivity to every project.
In 2012, Gürtler co-founded the Berlin studio Paradox Paradise alongside Jan Miserre. Together, they have crafted powerful scores including System Crasher (2019), which earned him a European Film Award for Best Composer and the Camille Award, and The Outrun (2024), recipient of the German Record Critics’ Award and long-listed for a BAFTA. Their most recent work on Krank (Berlin ER series) for Apple TV+ features a driving electro-acoustic score that intensifies the series’ high-stakes urgency.
Gürtler has worked with the Filmorchester Babelsberg and the Vienna Scoring Stage, bringing his nuanced approach to orchestral recording. Released on labels like Decca and Sony, his compositions are marked by rich orchestral layers enhanced with subtle electronic flourishes and moments of expressive solo performance. His patient and immersive creative process involves close collaboration with folk musicians and field recordists, sculpting soundscapes that intimately reflect the emotional contours of each narrative.
Alongside composing, Gürtler teaches film music at the DFFB, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, and Konrad Wolf Academy, where he encourages original musical concepts and fosters effective communication between composers and filmmakers.
His collaborative spirit extends beyond film: he co-created Field Kit with Hannah von Hübbenet, releasing music on Nonostar and K7, and works closely with electronic artists Philipp Sollmann (Efdemin) and Ed Davenport (Inland), the latter contributing to scores such as The Outrun and Berlin ER.
Jan Miserre
Jan Miserre is a German composer, producer, and pianist whose work moves fluently between film composition and jazz performance. With formal training in jazz piano from the Berlin University of the Arts, and deep roots in contemporary classical music—particularly 20th-century Russian composers—Miserre brings both technical finesse and expressive depth to his projects.
As a pianist and keyboardist, he has performed internationally with artists including Till Brönner and Nils Landgren, appearing on stages from the Kölner Philharmonie to major jazz festivals across Europe and Asia. This live experience informs his instinctive approach to timing, texture, and dynamics—skills he brings into the studio as an arranger and orchestrator.
Since co-founding the Berlin studio Paradox Paradise with John Gürtler in 2012, Miserre has co-composed and produced a wide range of critically acclaimed scores. His detailed harmonic sensibility and structural clarity shape their collaborative sound—layering acoustic instruments with electronics to create immersive, emotionally driven compositions. Notable joint works include The Outrun (2024), nominated for a BIFA and long-listed for a BAFTA, A Pure Place (2021) by Nikias Chryssos, and the award-winning documentary Space Dogs (2019).
Most recently, the duo’s score for Krank (Apple TV+, 2025) underscores the physicality and emotional extremes of a Berlin ER, blending electro-acoustic tension with carefully sculpted motifs.
Beyond film, Miserre continues to refine his voice as a solo pianist and composer, navigating genre boundaries with subtlety and clarity, creating music marked by structural elegance and rich lyrical depth that resonates across both intimate performances and expansive cinematic works.
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