Margarete "Maggy" Prijak has been working at the Munich Oktoberfest since 1987. Since the age of 16, only a broken knee and the birth of her son have kept her away from the Theresienwiese. Maggy followed in the footsteps of her aunt and her mother, who, like many other members of her family, are firm favourites at the Augustiner-Festhalle. The Wiesn is Maggy's living room, between the beer benches she has laughed, cried and experienced countless crazy, funny and touching stories.

Stefan Lukschy was born in Berlin and grew up in Berlin, Munich and Hamburg. He comes from a family of artists. His mother was a painter, stage designer and interior designer, his father a film and theatre actor and director.
During his school years, he studied piano and conducting. At the same time, he developed an interest in literature, photography and film. After studying German language and literature, journalism, philosophy and musicology, he began studying directing at the dffb (German Film and Television Academy Berlin) in 1972.

Curtis Briggs was born in the USA and grew up in Germany. He comes from a family of artists on his mother's side: his grandparents were opera singers, his aunt was an actress and two of his uncles were film directors. After graduating from high school and university, he began his professional career at ZDF, followed by several years as an assistant director. At the same time, he organised concerts and tours and worked closely with the impresario Fritz Rau. This led to the first tours with Sting and Police.

After studying ‘Journalism and German Studies’, Oliver Kalkofe began his career in 1991 at the radio station ffn with the cult format 'Frühstyxradio'. He quickly became one of the best-known audiobook and dubbing voices in Germany thanks to his versatile vocal talent and has lent his voice to countless film and television characters. Oliver Kalkofe's passion for film led him to write the screenplays for the successful cinema films ‘Der Wixxer’ and ‘Neues vom Wixxer’, in which he also played a leading role himself.

Cornelia Schulz, born in southern Germany in 1987, completed her first series of novels after moving to Bulgaria. Since then, she has been passionately writing fantasy books, drawing inspiration from the Bulgarian mountains for her stories, poems, and unusual pastry creations.
While the trained media designer successfully publishes books for the Bulgarian market with her partner in her home country, she presents a six-volume high fantasy romance saga in Germany with Die Pforten von Lopahr.

Annika Strauss, born in 1984, attended a drama school in Stuttgart and studied general rhetoric and German language and literature in Tübingen. She began making films during her studies. To date, she has appeared in almost 40 film productions - many of which are in the horror genre, earning her the nickname "German Screamqueen". Whether horror or thriller - it always has to be exciting for her. In her private life, she tends to be more cautious, which is how she deals with the darker sides of the world and people. The opposite pole is her work as an editor at SWR.

Prof Michael Becker was born together with his twin brother Christian in Krefeld in 1972, where he spent his childhood and school years with his two brothers. His medical studies at the RWTH Aachen also took him to the Charité in Berlin, the Royal Medical School in London and the Washington School of Medicine in Seattle/USA.

After studying at film schools in Rome and London, Stefan Grebe is now known for his is known for his 180-minute film portraits of stars from the music industry, which have been broadcast with great success on television and in cinemas, including films about Queen, Whitney Houston and Die Fantastischen Vier. With his political thriller debut Die Übermacht in 2024, he transfers his passion for suspenseful storytelling and his fascination with people, their stories and their abysses in the pursuit quest for power and fame into the world of literature.

Jouanna Hassoun, who fled to Germany from the civil war in Lebanon and has Palestinian roots, has been active as a political educator for over 15 years. She is a recipient of the Order of Merit of the State of Berlin and an ambassador for democracy and tolerance, as well as co-founder of the educational organisation Transaidency e.V., which was established in 2015 and is also dedicated to humanitarian aid. Her commitment includes addressing the Middle East conflict, anti-Semitism and combating hostility towards Muslims.