Emre Mirza

Creative Producer, Writer & Director

A disgraced ex-hostage negotiator finds redemption working at an offbeat conflict mediation agency. Together with a wide-eyed and empathetic trainee, he delves into a peculiar world of ‘neighborhood disputes’, stumbling upon a vast criminal conspiracy woven into the fabric of the community...

Why we love this

Are we beyond repair? That's the question at the heart of this dramedy about an unlikely duo bringing their very different skills to solve human disputes together. Emre Mirza deftly blends big themes and conflicts with keenly observed character-driven humour. The show lends itself to stories that will travel globally as they speak to universal aspects of being human.

Synopsis | Pitch Trailer | About Emre Mirza | Contact

Ivo Bellemans, a 55-year-old elite hostage negotiator, suffers a breakdown after a mission goes catastrophically wrong, costing innocent lives. Haunted by guilt, he discovers the mission was sabotaged by his own corrupt superiors, forcing him to flee. Escaping to Berlin under a new identity, Ivo lands in a quirky bohemian neighborhood and reconnects with his old army buddy, Declan “Dex” Fischer, now a small-time criminal. To repay Dex, Ivo uses his specialized skills to assist in Dex’s network—until a run-in with the police forces him to find a legitimate job sponsor to keep his cover intact.

In an unlikely twist, Ivo’s search leads him to KiezKrieg Buro, a neighborhood conflict resolution agency run by Carla Heinecke, a sharp-tongued ex-human rights activist battling budget cuts, understaffing, and an avalanche of cases in the aftermath of a global health crisis. Carla quickly sees Ivo’s potential and hires him, pairing his ex-special forces precision with Franka Poehlman—a 32-year-old ex-techno raver and “new-age healer” with an uncanny knack for reading people. Their contrasting styles—his tough pragmatism versus her cosmic intuition—create an unexpected chemistry, drawing in even the most skeptical clients and revitalizing Carla’s struggling agency.

As they dive deeper into Berlin’s gritty community disputes, Ivo begins to notice disturbing connections between the cases they mediate and a rising mental health crisis, fed by hidden criminal networks operating in the area. The more they uncover, the clearer it becomes that dark forces are pulling the strings, even within their seemingly eclectic community.

With KiezKrieg Buro on the brink of bankruptcy, Franka finds a lifeline by marketing Ivo’s skills to the corporate world through Eli Matheson, a 38-year-old lawyer she once rescued from a disastrous drug trip. Eli’s high-paying clients bring unexpected success, propelling the agency into high-stakes mediations among Berlin’s rich and powerful. The cases grow stranger, the stakes higher, and each new client raises the risk of exposing Ivo’s hidden past.

Their most lucrative case yet reveals the root of the troubles tearing apart their adopted community. Now, Ivo and his team must confront his buried history in a final, high-stakes mediation that could either save their fragile neighborhood or risk losing it to powerful forces set on destroying it. As the community teeters on the edge of collapse, Ivo faces his ultimate test: can he truly escape his past, or will it define the very future he’s fighting to protect?

Emre Mirza grew up in London, Los Angeles, and the Middle East. He began his career in acting with the British theatre group ‘The Black Ensemble’ before transitioning to writing short scripts and comedy sketches for British television. After studying film and video production at UCLA and specializing in editing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Emre worked as an editor on TV shows, films, and commercials. He then moved into directing music videos and short films for brands such as Coca-Cola, Red Bull, and Levi’s.

Post-9/11, Emre created five hour-long BBC documentaries about Afghanistan and Pakistan amidst the American invasion. His passion for narrative films based on true stories led to his first feature, the docudrama Hashashin, made in southern Afghanistan with a cast of non-actors, including the protagonist, an ex-CIA cameraman. Emre later conceived and co-wrote Outside the Wire, a project from the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, now completing post-production. He also wrote and directed the feature drama East of West, chronicling an Iraqi refugee’s escape to Europe during the Iraq War.

Currently, through his company IMIRZIVE, Emre is the lead writer and producer on several series and features for cinema and SVOD platforms, focusing on audience-driven storytelling and community co-creation. Recent projects like the sci-fi thriller The Printer and 12 Hours reflect his multi-genre approach to exploring complex social issues. His latest work, Medium, a social impact TV series, is backed by Medienboard, Germany’s premier film fund. Emre divides his time between Berlin and London.