YANN THÖNNESSEN, born 1987 in Viersen. After graduating from high school in 2008, he toured Germany and abroad as a singer and guitarist in the indie bands Supermutant and Chai Khat. After various publications and concert tours, he decided to study journalism at the DEKRA Media University in Berlin in 2015. As a working student for Axel Springer, he quickly realised where the journey would not take him, landing an internship at ZDF in 2018. After completing his bachelor's degree, he specialised in crime and justice and wrote various true crime documentaries for ZDF and ZDFinfo. In 2020, he switched to the funk format TRU DOKU, where he was responsible as editor and author for more than twenty films, which were nominated for the Grimme Prize in 2021, among others. Since 2022 Yann has been in charge of the funk format Hundert Hektar Heimat in cooperation with MDR and since 2024 he holds the position of "Head of Hochkant" at DRIVE beta.