A passionate and ambitious writer/director with a drive to tell impactful stories, Raphaela is a team-player who strives to bring out the best from cast and crew by being trusting, respectful and reliable.
Raphaela Wagner is a multi-lingual director / writer based in London and Zürich. She grew up in Switzerland in the canton of St.Gallen and completed the Eidgenössische Matura in 2017. Aged 18, she ventured to London to further her creativity and attended an intensive filmmaking course at Met Film School.
She shot her first film - a „proof of concept short film“ for the historical fantasy TV series „OnceOne“ - in the Alps with an international crew from over 16 nations. The project won the 14th cantonal Jugendprojektwettbewerb (SG) and the Smart Screen Creative Award for Entrepreuneurship.
Raphaela went on to direct two MA films for the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL), including „NeoTouch“ which screened at the 12th Gässli Film Festival and got Raphaela a “Best Upcoming Director” Nomination. In September 2019, Raphaela was offered a place ‚sur dossier‘ to do her Master‘s degree in film with the Raindance Film Festival at De Montford University, which she completed in early 2023 with the pilot episode screenplay for “OnceOne” as part of her final thesis.
In 2021 Raphaela completed her short film “Saitenstich” which premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Chicago International Children’s Film Festival and was long-listed for a Swiss Film Prize. She went on to direct the short film “The Draft”, which was shot entirely in virtual production and after a successful festival run, is now available on the sci-fi channel DUST on YouTube.
Working with a two-unit crew of both filmmakers and game-designers, Raphaela live-action-directed the video game / interactive film “Cuttlefish” in 2022 for the London based company Flavourworks. Raphaela is now working toward her first long-form credit and developing multiple projects, one of which “Glorious Bodies, Wounded Souls” was selected as one of five projects to be developed as part of the European Development Program EKRAN+ 2022. And in 2024, another one of Raphaela’s feature film projects “S’Hatili” was awarded with the St.Gallen Treatment Award. Both projects are currently at treatment stage.
Raphaela has a particular interest in stories with strong female characters and admits being “a bit of a nerd for historical/fantasy/sci-fi stories”. Throughout this year, Raphaela Wagner will also be mentored by Jamie Magnus Stones as part of the DirectorsUK Inspire 24/25 Scheme, in order to gain some more insight into the world of directing narative TV.
