Back to All News
BIG M CK: Gangsters and Gold - New documentary feature film about the most peculiar character in Germany's legal history
Entertainment
15 January 2023
GlobalGermany
Written and directed by: Fabienne Hurst and Andreas Spinrath
Creative Producer: Teresa Messerschmidt of BTF Bildundtonfabrik
Executive Producers: Matthias Murmann and Philipp K bohrer of BTF Bildundtonfabrik
Editing: Nathalie Bartel, Johannes Hiroshi Nakajima, Florian B ttger
Coming to Netflix on January 20, 2023!
Information and press materials are available in our Media Center and for more Netflix news, visit our Newsroom.
Berlin, January 16, 2023 - Amid two robberies, multiple court cases, a prison sentence and numerous witnesses, one name keeps popping up: Donald Stellwag.
New images provide a glimpse into the true crime feature film that tells the incredible story of Donald "Big M ck" Stellwag-a story that is both tragic and peculiar. For the first time, he tells his own story in front of the camera. Guilty or innocent? That's the question.
Fabienne Hurst and Andreas Spinrath wrote and directed BIG M CK: Gangsters and Gold.
Fabienne Hurst on the idea for the film: We read the Wikipedia entry about Donald Stellwag and thought: What an incredible story! Our first research revealed that Donald Stellwag had disappeared. Someone said that he had fled to Italy. Someone else thought he was dead. We contacted every person who might know him and really got on his former lawyers nerves. Several months later, the phone suddenly rang: Stellwag here; you wanted to talk to me?'
We quickly realized that we had to check each of his statements, get copies of the judgments, find witnesses. Stellwag is a fabulous storyteller, but he tends to embellish details, recalls Andreas Spinrath. He's been successful at that for years. So, that is what we decided to focus the film on: The power of a well-told story.
BIG M CK: Gangsters and Gold, coming to Netflix on January 20, 2023, was produced by the Bildundtonfabrik company, which has also produced titles like How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast), King of Stonks and Shiny Flakes. In BIG M CK: Gangsters and Gold, cellmates, childhood friends and business partners give us a comprehensive picture of Donald Stellwag.
About BIG M CK: Gangsters and Gold
Donald Stellwag is an outsider: He is bullied and moves away from his small Bavarian hometown to Frankfurt, where he descends into drug addiction. In the early nineties, just as he's getting his life under control, he's linked to a bank robbery by the German TV program Aktenzeichen XY. They describe the perpetrator as very tall and noticeably obese. Just like Stellwag. A controversial expert witness convinces the judges of Stellwags guilt based on an analysis of his earlobe, which they claim is distinctive. Despite his alibi, he is convicted and spends nine years in prison. Less than two weeks after his release, he finds out that the real perpetrator has been caught. Stellwag is exonerated-and becomes an absolute media sensation. However, when a gold transporter is hijacked near the A81 highway and 1.8 million euros worth of gold is stolen, everything changes. The ringleader of the heist, notorious gangster rapper Xatar, gives a revealing testimony in court. The gold thieves and their victims have one thing in common: They all know Donald Stellwag. Has he now committed the crime for which he's already served time in prison? Has this made him the avenger of his own fate?
About BTF Bildundtonfabrik
Founded by Philipp K bohrer and Matthias Murmann in the Ehrenfeld district in Cologne, BTF celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Under Philipp's and Matthias creative and content management, BTF has won numerous prizes for various made-for-TV show formats, series, documentaries, promotional films and video games in its relatively short history. This includes winning the renowned Grimme Award 12 times, eight German Television Awards, two ADC Awards, the German Comedy Award and the German Computer Game Award.
Journalists Fabienne Hurst and Andreas Spinrath have both worked together with Bildundtonfabrik numerous times, including for the documentary series docupy: Ungleichland, which won a Grimme Award in 2019.
In addition to her work as a journalist, Fabienne Hurst is also a fiction writer (King of Stonks, Netflix). As an investigative reporter, the primary focus of Andreas Spinrath's most recent work has been producing documentaries for German networks WDR and ARD.
About Netflix
With 223 million paid memberships in over 190 countries, Netflix is the worlds leading streaming entertainment service, offering access to a wide selection of diverse TV series, documentaries, feature films, reality and comedy formats, as well as mobile games, in numerous languages. Members have unlimited streaming access to the content anytime and anywhere and can change their plan whenever they want. They can start and pause playback and resume watching the selected title at will.
Please feel free to contact us anytime if you have any questions or need more information.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
21/01/2026
Wisycom, a global leader in advanced wireless RF solutions, launches its new wideband antenna matrix, MATF, which supports RF and fiber for demanding multi-zone...
21/01/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate how it is powering scalable, future-ready live production at FOMEX 2026, taking place February 2 4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Exhibi...
21/01/2026
BCNEXXT, the developers of the advanced playout platform Vipe, today announced that OKAST, the monetization-first OTT platform provider, is using BCNEXXT's ...
21/01/2026
Revamped design enables advanced capabilities, leading with powerful IP to HDMI conversion
Magewell, developer of innovative, high-performance video I/O and I...
21/01/2026
Jan 20th 2026, Changsha Kiloview today announced the launch of two major additions to its AV-over-IP ecosystem: the AVX24-4 Media HUB and KiloLink Station, ma...
21/01/2026
Latest version of enterprise-class Buttons brings simple, coherent control to more than 700 professional devices and applications
Bitfocus, the specialist in ...
21/01/2026
Clear-Com is pleased to announce the appointment of Kari Eythorsson as the new Regional Sales Manager (RSM) for Southeast Asia & Australia, based in Singapore,...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
RT News is pleased to announce the appointment of Jackie Fox as its new Washington Correspondent. Jackie is a multimedia journalist with RT News and has repor...
21/01/2026
From skilled trades to startups, AI's rapid expansion is the beginning of th...
20/01/2026
SVG Sit-Down: BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on the Future of Cloud, Remote, Softwar...
20/01/2026
From architecture to reality: What CBC's Milano Cortina 2026 workflows tell ...
20/01/2026
Milano Cortina 2026: Making the Winter Olympics and Paralympics workflow work fo...
20/01/2026
Countdown to Milano Cortina 2026: SVG Launches SportsTechLive Blog in Lead-up to...
20/01/2026
Grand finale: Rally Saudi Arabia pushes WRC to make the most of cameras and dron...
20/01/2026
State of Change: What's Happening in the Remote-Production Business?NEP Group, Game Creek Video, Dome Productions, Mobile TV Group, Program Productions exec...
20/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: A Look Back at SVG's Complete CoverageGo behind the scenes with ESPN, Game Creek Video, Van Wagner, and the champion Indiana...
20/01/2026
The Gotham, Film Independent, and Creators Coalition on AI Join Alliance
by Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director, Sundance Institute's Artist Programs...
20/01/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
20/01/2026
December, the first month of winter and the holiday season, has traditionally encouraged families to spend time together in front of the television. During this...
20/01/2026
During December, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico settled at 24.3%, an increase of 0.1 share points from the previous month.
Disclaimer: YUMI TV,...
20/01/2026
Christmas Day is Most-Streamed Day Ever with 55 Billion Viewing Minutes, led by...
20/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/01/2026
Disguise and ASB GlassFloor today announced a strategic partnership that turns the arena floor into a fully customizable interactive digital surface. This will ...
20/01/2026
Last summer, ITV celebrated the tenth anniversary of its popular reality dating show, Love Island. To ramp up the excitement of series 12 (launched in the UK on...
20/01/2026
Berklee's Mark Ethier Named One of SPIN's Most Influential People in Mus...
20/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/01/2026
Emergent, a provider of AI-powered media production solutions, today announced its presence at ISE 2026 in Barcelona, taking place February 3 6, where it will u...
20/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery Amend Agreement to All-Cash Transaction
Business
20 January 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
All-C...
20/01/2026
Back to All News
Now You Can Play a Role in Our Live Events With Real-Time Voting
Elmar Nubbemeyer
VP, Member Product
Product
20 January 2026
Global
Link...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: Indiana Football's Digital Crew Generate Hyp...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: Van Wagner Relies on Experience for Indiana-Miam...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: Game Creek Video Fields Premiere IP Compound for...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: For a Slew of Studio Shows, ESPN Turns Hard Rock...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: ESPN's Sweeping Live Game Production Leverag...
19/01/2026
The new L3Harris NOVA binocular system is the every-soldier goggle' - and the beginning of a new era for night-vison capability....
19/01/2026
The Majority of Those Surveyed Prefer to Buy Brands Who Advertise in Content Tha...
19/01/2026
Back to All News
Straight to Hell' Sets April 27 Premiere: Teaser Trailer,...
19/01/2026
New Workflow Enhancements for All Broadcast Pix Systems, Plus 4-Channel ISO Recording for Hybrid and Roadie Tyngsboro, Mass. - January 2025 - Broadcast Pix ann...
19/01/2026
Monday 19 January 2026
Sky News reinvents News at Ten for the modern audience with The Wrap
Sky News today announces The Wrap, a bold evolution of its 10pm ou...
19/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Announces the Series Nights & Days, Directed by Kamila...
Back to All News
