Markus Schleinzer is an Austrian film director, screenwriter, casting director, and actor. He is best known his feature films Michael (2011) and Rose (2026).
Before establishing as a filmmaker, Schleinzer built a long career as a casting director, working on more than 60 Austrian film and television productions and collaborating with directors including Michael Haneke, Ulrich Seidl, and Jessica Hausner. His background in casting has been widely cited by Schleinzer as a formative influence on his approach to acting and staging as a director.
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Early life and background
Schleinzer was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1971. He spent most of his school years at BG Amerlingstraße, a secondary school in Vienna's 6th district.
Career
Schleinzer appeared as an actor in Austrian and German film and television productions from the mid-1990s. His early acting work includes Ich gelobe!, directed by Wolfgang Murnberger, followed by appearances in Michael Glawogger's Slumming and Antonin Svoboda's Immer nie am Meer.
In the late 1990s, Schleinzer began working as a casting director, initially assisting casting director Daniela Stibitz. He went on to establish a long-term career in casting, serving as casting director on more than 60 predominantly Austrian film and television productions. During this period, he collaborated with filmmakers including Michael Haneke, Ulrich Seidl, Jessica Hausner and Benjamin Heisenberg.
