Life
Steff Gruber is the son of the painter Hannes Gruber and Annemarie Gruber-Vogelsanger. He grew up in Oberrieden on Lake Zurich. In childhood his greatest ambition was to be a pilot and inventor. He constructed his first radio receiver at the age of eight; when he was fifteen, during the first manned space flight to the moon, he succeeded in listening in on the dialogue between the astronauts and ground control. He started to train as an electronics engineer, but abandoned the course before completing it after deciding that he wanted to become a film director.
Both during and after his time at the Juventus Gymnasium in Zurich, from 1972 on Gruber attended film lectures and courses given by Dr Martin Schlappner, Viktor Sidler, Georg Radanowicz and Sebastian C. Schröder at the University of Zurich, ETH Zürich and F+F, Schule für Gestaltung (Zürich) . During his two-year course at the College of Design he studied with Serge Stauffer, Hansjörg Mattmüller and Peter Jenny. On the side he worked as a commercial photographer and film maker.
In 1976 he transferred to the University of Georgia, where Gruber made the acquaintance of the painter and film director James Herbert. His friendship with Herbert had a lasting effect on him, and remains an influence on his work to the present day. Returning to Switzerland, for a short time he worked as assistant to the American painter Sam Francis, with whom he cooperated on a film about C.G. Jung. In 1976 Gruber joined René Grossenbacher in founding the cultural advertising firm ALIVE Media AG, of which he is still a Managing Director today. He has also taught since then at various schools and colleges. From 1994 to 1997, for example, he was a lecturer in Film and Electronic Media at FH Konstanz . As a cameraman he worked for the artist Isa Hesse-Rabinovitch and the film maker Erich Langjahr.
Since January 2008 Gruber has been CEO of the recently founded film production company KINO.NET AG, which not only aims to produce innovative auteur movies that take a critical view of contemporary life, but also handles the business of distribution and global rights. KINO.NET AG is currently producing Gruber's Passion Despair as its first film.
As an author and director Gruber has spent several years working on each of his films – not just because he does practically everything himself, up to and including the design of the film poster, but because he has also been busy on the side with other projects as a pilot and internet pioneer. He continues to indulge his passion for flying, making round trips as a pilot in the Swiss Alps, as well as taxi and private flights within Europe and North Africa.
Steff Gruber is married to the German communication designer Anke Felgenhauer. They have two sons.
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