Today we’d like to introduce you to Annika Pampel
Hi Annika, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a genre-agnostic screenwriter, director, and novelist. I was born in the gorgeous middle of nowhere in the former East Germany. Looked a lot like Middle Earth. I remember loving storytelling from the beginning. My mom used to read books to me as soon as I could comprehend them. Michael Ende and Astrid Lindgren were my nightly bedfellows and I loved every word.
My grandfather still reminds me with glee of the fact that I used to charge the neighbors to come over and listen to stories I made up on the spot. He says it was better than a lemonade stand.
Studying theatre history and directing, I got into the weeds of it and discovered what classics I loved and which weren’t for me. After finishing my BA in Bavaria, I received a Fulbright scholarship and completed my Masters in the United States, focusing on directing and screenwriting. The visual style of engaging an audience has always fascinated me and I veer toward writing like that even in a novel.
Now I work mostly in the film industry writing screenplays and adapting books. With this first novel, I’m venturing out into traditional fiction format and it’s been a very interesting journey.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I don’t think many people have had a smooth road. Particularly the past few years.
Right now independent films face many additional challenges, especially in financing in the era of streaming.
There have been so many struggles along the way, erroding financing or an actor who signed on and then fell off a project, it would be a very long answer:).
But I’d much rather focus on the positive things that I’ve been able to accomplish and that have pushed me further. That sparks something much lighter in my heart.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
In short, I’m a story-teller. Yes, people love the word multi-hyphenate, but For me, simple is great. I can tell a story with words, directing, sometimes acting and sometimes in music.
I focus heavily on writing/ directing and bringing a visual vision to life. To me that’s most important.
My latest book Death of a Nightingale is a goth, young-adult novel about a melancholic vampire calling a suicide hotline asking for advice on how to die, because who would know better? Instead of getting detailed instructions to her rather absurd request, she connects with the phone operator and they spark something deep within each other. It’s a Romeo & Juliet story but with two Juliettes and a lot more teeth.
It also plays with our old ideas of the genre specificities of what a vampire is, and what their rules are, and goes back a lot further than Bram Stoker into Greek history and medical discoveries and where the idea of “the undead” comes from.
I had a wonderful, vivaciously funny friend in high school. He was the smartest and brightest light I knew. We had a lot of adventures together as we came of age and grew into ourselves and because that time is so significant, he became like a brother to me. He died by suicide at the age of 23 and left me with both anger and a lot of unanswered questions. I’ve thought a lot about how we talk about depression and suicidal thoughts and how we as a people shy away from truly hearing about the different depths of it.
In order to chat about both, the darkness and my friends’ absurdly morbid sarcasm, I wanted to write an escapist story that can embrace all of those different shades. It’s much easier to digest those ideas and embrace death in a fictional story. There is a lot of my friend in the book. Quotes, small stories, and jokes we came up with together a lifetime ago.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Determination. I’ve been met with a stone wall so many times during my life, I’ve found the only way forward is through it.
Pricing:
- My latest book is 15.95$
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/annikapampel
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/annikapampel
Image Credits
The Bolex Camera images are both by Ian Spanier
