Jakob Montrasio: Digital Craftsman & Visual Storyteller
About Me — A Visual Storyteller in the Digital Age
I was born on June 17, 1982, in Freiburg, Germany. My father, a philosophy student at the time, surrounded me with books, music, paintings, and films—creativity was simply part of daily life. When I saw The Blues Brothers at the age of ten, something sparked. Soon after, I was in my Heidelberg nursery, filming Lego stop-motion clips with my father’s camcorder. From then on, every bit of pocket money went to movie tickets.
From Analogue Roots to Digital Vision
In 1998, I created a short film featuring a digital spider that won a national award—small but pivotal. It set me on a path toward filmmaking, design, and technology. A few years later, during my apprenticeship at AD&VISION near Frankfurt, I gained my first professional experience as a media designer, learning the craft of non-print advertising, web development, and digital image creation with tools like Photoshop and Flash.
In 2003, everything came together. Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Volume 1 reshaped how I saw cinema—it was, to me, “a film in perfect harmony.” That same year, I co-founded the news portal mysan.de, where I handled both design and technical development. The project grew to attract six-figure monthly visitors, and I taught myself to code directly in HTML, CSS, and later Python, discovering how art and logic could merge into a single discipline.
Soon after, I worked as a Frontend Developer at Montrasio & Illing GbR in Heidelberg, designing and maintaining websites, optimizing SEO, and experimenting with early responsive design techniques. These years gave me a solid foundation in web structure, usability, and digital communication—skills that would become invaluable later.
A Cinematic Chapter in Shanghai
After a visit to the Festival de Cannes in 2005, I decided to take a leap and move to Shanghai—a city that seemed to hum with creative energy. There, I founded MK Media Productions Co., Ltd., and under my Chinese name 孟亚柯, I worked as a cinematographer, editor, and media designer. Between 2007 and 2011, I collaborated with global clients such as Porsche, Dell, and Microsoft, wrote three feature scripts, and joined the visual effects crew for John Rabe.
In 2010, I directed my own feature film, The Way of the Spur—a martial arts–Western hybrid featuring Jon T. Benn, Bruce Lee’s infamous villain from The Way of the Dragon. Those years in China were my creative boot camp—equal parts filmmaking, storytelling, and technology.
Returning Home and Reframing the Lens
In 2011, I returned to Germany with my wife and daughter and joined m&r Kreativ in Saarbrücken as a Video Producer. I handled every aspect of production—from concept and scriptwriting to filming and post-production—creating music videos, commercials, and documentaries.
One of the most formative experiences during this time was co-directing and shooting the documentary Souls of Zen with my friend Tim Graf. The film was later nominated for the Golden Eye Award at the Zurich Film Festival.
After that, I spent a year as a Frontend Developer at mowin.gs, where I deepened my knowledge of JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and UX/UI design—the natural next step in blending my creative and technical sides.
My passion for photography continued to evolve in parallel. My early HDR work was exhibited at the New York Skyscraper Museum and featured by major outlets such as CNN. In 2014, Microsoft invited me to become one of their Lumia Ambassadors, recognizing my innovative approach to mobile photography and digital storytelling.
Building Digital Experiences at DIE RHEINPFALZ
Since 2016, I’ve been working as a Frontend Developer at DIE RHEINPFALZ, one of southwestern Germany’s leading newspapers. I’m responsible for the design and implementation of our online platform’s user interface—creating engaging, intuitive layouts and interactive features that deliver an optimal reading experience.
I work daily with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, ensuring the website runs smoothly across all devices and browsers. I’m also part of the team developing the paper’s digital strategy, continuously optimizing performance, testing new features, and improving accessibility for all users. Through this work, I help DIE RHEINPFALZ remain a leading and trusted source of regional news in the digital age.
Where I Am Now
Today, I live in Bammental near Heidelberg with my wife, daughters, and our Corgi, Benji. Alongside my role at DIE RHEINPFALZ, I continue to pursue creative projects in photography, filmmaking, and digital media—always exploring how art and technology can inform and elevate each other.
Whether I’m crafting a responsive website, designing a visual identity, or filming a story through my lens, my goal is the same: to create experiences that connect, inspire, and last.
