“Every story has its own world, a logic and feel to it that expands beyond the exact image that the audience is seeing.”
- Christopher Nolan -
Dutch Hospital Drama Day & Night season 2, Premiering May 7, 2025
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Ilse co-wrote the gripping Dutch hospital drama Day & Night season 2, a series that offers an intimate look into the lives of the medical professionals working in the children’s ward. Balancing high-stakes medicine with emotional depth, Day & Night tells the powerful stories of those who care for the youngest and most vulnerable patients—day in, day out. Day & Night premieres nationwide on May 7, 2025.
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May 2025
International Talents at Canneseries Writers Club
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Dutch screenwriter Ilse Ott was selected to participate in the prestigious Canneseries Writers Club, where she collaborated with a diverse group of international writers. The exclusive program, held during the renowned Cannes International Series Festival, fosters creative exchange and cross-cultural storytelling among emerging and established screenwriting talent from around the world.
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April 2025
Dutch Royal Series ‘Maxima’ Sells Worldwide Ahead of Second Season
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International broadcasters are maxing out on Máxima. The Dutch royal drama series continues its global rollout, with sales outfit Beta Film closing deals in 50 territories, including with Australia’s public broadcaster SBS.
The drama, which premiered at TV festival Canneseries earlier this year, is a Dutch-style The Crown, a dramatization of real-life events surrounding the Dutch royal family. Adapted from Marcia Luyten’s 2022 novel Máxima Zorreguieta: Motherland, the series revolves around the romance between the Argentinean Máxima Zorreguieta and Willem-Alexander, the future King of the Netherlands. Zorreguieta, of course, will go on to marry Willem-Alexander to become Queen Máxima.
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October 2024
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I'm a storyteller at heart.
After spending ten years acting on stage and screen, I felt a powerful pull to create my own stories. In 2016, I earned my Master’s in Screenwriting from the Binger Writers Lab, and I’ve been writing ever since.
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My debut feature film script, Find That Stupid Cow and Throw Her in the River, premiered at the Warsaw International Film Festival in 2017, where it was honored with a Special Mention from the jury. The film went on to claim multiple international awards, including the New Director Award at Trondheim IFF and Best Narrative Feature at the Greenwich International Film Festival in New York. It also received a Special Mention at the Netherlands Film Festival..
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In 2018, I penned the short film Afua (BNN/VARA), which won the Zilveren Krulstaart for Best Short Film Screenplay. My feature script White Berry was selected for the De Oversteek talent development program in 2020.
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From film, I transitioned to television, taking on the role of lead writer for the hit Dutch series Máxima, alongside Marnie Blok. The series has been sold to over seventy countries. I also co-wrote season 2 of Day & Night with Kim van Kooten, Tamara Bos, and Anne Barnhoorn.
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Based in Amsterdam I am currently working on several exciting series in development for Videoland, Netflix, and the Dutch broadcaster NPO.
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Some stories come from a spark in my own mind, others from a seed planted by someone else—but no matter the genre, whether it's drama, thriller, or dark comedy, my focus is always the same: characters first. Their inner lives, contradictions, and transformations are what drive the story forward.
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I'm drawn to storytelling that dares to be raw, layered, and unapologetically human—like the work of Ruben Östlund, Greta Gerwig, Vince Gilligan, and Thomas Vinterberg, whose voices continue to inspire me.
Henneman Agency
contact: Gillian Pagano Mirani
mail: gillian@hennemanagency.nl
t: +31 20 6943399
www.hennemanagency.nl