At the age of 12, Steinman shot his first short film with a Super-8 camera. In the next five years, another 30 films followed. Four of them received awards. One of the early award-winning films was Die Maschinentiere , a 1977 documentary on large-scale animal husbandry in contrary to classic farming. In Die Flutkatastrophe Steinmann showed the consequences of a broken dam of a nearby reservoir and the flooding of his home townZurich. Together with an interview, it was aired on Swiss TV in November 1978, the month Steinmann turned 17.
Career
Progressing film ambitions
Still in his teens, Steinmann aimed to execute larger scale feature-projects based on his original screenplays. In 1978/79, he developed the conception Krebs! about the life-threatening virus in a woman's organism, visualized by a simultaneous life-threat of the organism of an entire city by a Godzilla-like monster-crab. In German language the title "Krebs!" bears the double meaning of Cancer and Crab.
Theater activities
Steinmann turned to theater as well; notable are: 1982: Beschti Referenze, Steinmann producing and directing. 1986: Achtung-Fertig-Los!, Steinmann producing and writing, Markus Imthurn directing. 1988: Schelmereie at the theater in Oberentfelden, Switzerland: Steinmann directing.
Hollywood
From 1991, Steinmann lived alternatively in Los Angeles. There, he wrote several screenplays on spec, alone but mostly in association, e.g. 'Bum and the Kid' with Scott Steindorff, outlines, e.g. ‘Love of my Life’ with Don Mankiewicz, rewrites, e.g. ‘Project: Metalbeast’
Illusion Infinity (aka Paradise, 2004)
Among Steinmann´s several projects, Illusion Infinity caught the eye of casting directorGerald I. Wolff. He was able to engage seven well known Hollywood actors: Dee Wallace, Mickey Rooney, Timothy Bottoms, Barbara Carrera, Martin Kove, Theresa Saldana, and Lilyan Chauvin. Illusion Infinity was labeled as biopic; however, it was an original screenplay by Steinmann about the supposed real Las Vegas singer Patricia Paradise and her life-long search for a genuine soul-mate, and a home she calls ‘Shangri-La’.
Projects ‘''The PartyKillers''’ and ‘''Ladies First''’
In 2014, Thai film star Mike Angelo became interested to star in ‘The PartyKillers’, a screwball-comedy about a humble inventor of a magical teddy-bear crashing the engagement party of a toy manufacturer. This screenplay Steinmann wrote back in 1995/98 in collaboration with Rodney Heeringa. But another concept of a screwball comedy fit Angelo's talent even better: A male singer gaining success only when performing as a woman, attracting both a father and his daughter. After Angelo agreed to star in this dual role, Steinmann originated the 2015-screenplay ‘Ladies First’. Swiss actors Beat Schlatter and Pascal Ulli confirmed their interest to participate, the latter also as co-produce.
''PhonY'' (in production)
Our world caught up with constant use of cell-phones: What would happen if all cells and computers became unusable? This topic led to the 2016/2018-screenplay 'PhonY' with the unique interactivity between segments in Los Angeles, Switzerland, Australia, Thailand and Canada. In spring 2018, the filming commenced in Switzerland with Pascal Ulli and Gilles Tschudi; it was followed by the Thai segment. The remaining segments with Burt Reynolds and Barbara Carrera were scheduled in Los Angeles for October 2018. Though, a mere month before, Burt Reynolds untimely passed away, and the production stalled temporarily. It is scheduled for a 2020 delivery.
Other activities
1983: Steinmann invented an automatic bottle stopper; patented in 1985. 1983: Steinmann prevailed in the German TV-quiz show ‘Alles oder Nichts’ and won DM 10'000. 1984: Steinmann founded the Rotsch AG, a joint-stock company, to market his invention. At that time, he was 22 years old and became the youngest president ever of such an entity in Switzerland. He sold that entity in 1996. 1995: Steinmann founded the film production company SUNSET International AG, a joint-stock company, what produces the current PhonY.
