Nico Hofmann, born on December 4, 1959, in Heidelberg to a journalist couple, initially completed a traineeship at the daily newspaper Mannheimer Morgen after finishing high school. He then applied to the Munich University of Television and Film (HFF), where he studied from 1980 to 1985. In his award-winning HFF graduation film "Der Krieg meines Vaters", Hofmann dealt with the recent German past—a theme he revisited in his 1988 feature "Land der Väter, Land der Söhne", which marked his breakthrough. The drama, inspired by the life story of the controversial businessman, Nazi profiteer, and CDU/CSU supporter Fritz Ries, was nominated for the German Film Award, and Hofmann received the Bavarian Film Award as "Best New Director." 

In the following years, he became one of the most successful and renowned directors in German television with works like the East German/West German satire "Schulz & Schulz" (1993), the critically acclaimed and award-winning thriller "Der Sandmann" (1995; both starring Götz George), and various episodes of the crime series "Balko" and "Tatort."

In 1995, Hofmann received a professorship in "Dramatic Film" at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy in Ludwigsburg. At the same time, he collaborated with Bernd Eichinger's Constantin Film, though he left the contract after just two years, instead dedicating himself fully to producing. In 1998, Hofmann directed his last film in his own name, the thriller "Solo für Klarinette" ("Solo for Clarinet"), before founding the production company teamWorx. Under its auspices, he produced large-scale and successful TV films like "Stauffenberg" (2003) and "Die Flucht" ("March of Millions," 2006), as well as ambitious auteur films such as Christian Petzold's "Wolfsburg" (2003) and "Toter Mann" ("Something to Remind Me," 2001) and Stefan Krohmer's "Ein toter Bruder" ("A Dead Brother," 2005). In 2000, Hofmann, always active in supporting emerging talent, co-founded the "First Steps Award" with Bernd Eichinger, which quickly became one of Germany's most important awards for young filmmakers.

To this day, Hofmann has maintained a remarkable balance between lighter, commercially successful projects and more artistically or politically ambitious works. For example, he produced the romantic comedy "Liebe ist Verhandlungssache" (TV, 2009), about a wedding planner and a couples therapist who are forced to work together, the comedy "Vorzimmer zur Hölle" (TV, 2009), about love and intrigue in a large corporation, the youth film "Teufelskicker" ("Devil's Kickers," 2010), and between 2009 and 2012, the three parts of the youth novel adaptation "Hanni & Nanni." At the same time, he also produced Stefan Krohmer's drama "Dutschke" (TV, 2009) about the life of the eponymous student leader, Roland Suso Richter's political TV thriller "Die Grenze" ("The Frontier," 2010), and Richter's unconventional adaptation of the bestseller "Dschungelkind" ("Jungle Child," 2011). 

He also stayed true to his penchant for ambitious historical films with the disaster thriller "Hindenburg" (2011) and the biographical film "Rommel" (2012), about the legendary German field marshal Erwin Rommel (played by Ulrich Tukur), although both films took liberties with historical facts: "Hindenburg" invented a story set against the backdrop of the infamous airship's crash, and "Rommel" was sharply criticized by Rommel's family for alleged inaccuracies. 

One of his largest projects came in 2012, with the production of the bestseller adaptation "Der Medicus" ("The Physician"), directed by Philipp Stölzl. The adventure film set in the 11th century about a young Briton’s journey to Persia was shot in Germany and Morocco, featured Ben Kingsley and Stellan Skarsgård in international roles, and premiered in German cinemas in 2013. 

In 2013, "Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter" ("Generation War"), a lavish three-part series about the personal fates of young people during World War II, aired on television. Despite receiving mixed reactions from critics and audiences, it went on to become an international success, ultimately winning the International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series in 2014. The satirical TV film "Der Minister" ("The Plagiator," 2013), about the plagiarism scandal surrounding former Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, also tackled a contemporary political issue. 

In 2013, Hofmann became the Managing Director and Chairman of UFA Fiction, which brought together all feature film and series productions from UFA Television, Phoenix Film, and teamWorx. In this role, he was responsible for numerous successful productions, such as the docudrama "Der Rücktritt" (2014) about Christian Wulff's final weeks in office as President of Germany, and the tragicomedy about the fall of the Berlin Wall, "Bornholmer Straße" (2014). 

Hofmann’s other TV productions include the two-part biopic "Grzimek" (2015) about the zoologist and wildlife filmmaker Bernhard Grzimek (played by Ulrich Tukur), the remake of the novel "Nackt unter Wölfen" (2015), which won the German Television Award for Best TV Movie, and the first season of "Deutschland 83" (2015), a thriller about an East German spy in the Bundeswehr, which won a Grimme Prize and an International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series. The film "Ich bin dann mal weg" ("I'm Off Then," 2015), produced by Hofmann, also became a major box office success.

Since September 1, 2015, Hofmann served as co-CEO of UFA alongside Wolf Bauer. Under his leadership, UFA produced Matthias Glasner's historical drama "Landgericht - Geschichte einer Familie" (2017, TV) and the TV series "Charité" (2017). In September 2017, Hofmann assumed sole responsibility as UFA’s CEO, a position he held until the fall of 2023. He continued to serve as Chairman of UFA until February 2024. In March 2024, Hofmann began working as an independent producer, returning to his creative roots.