Tim Trageser was born in Frankfurt am Main on November 28 1969. From 1991 until 1994, he studied journalism and drama in Munich. During that time, he also worked as a freelancer for print magazines and news programs. From 1994 on, he studied filmmaking at the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film (HFF) in Munich. Already as a student, he garnered awards for his shorts: the Murnau-Kurzfilmpreis for "Ein kurzer beschissener Abend" (1995), the Geißendörfer-Nachwuchspreis for "Kleiner Stürmer" (1997) and the Eastman-Förderpreis for "Die letzte Sekunde!" (1997). Trageser and Peter Thorwarth collaborated on the 1997 short "Was nicht paßt, wird passend gemacht", which Thorwarth adapted into the 2002 feature film of the same name. Trageser graduated from the HFF with the feature "Clowns" (2001), which was also based on a previous short and won the Studio Hamburg Nachwuchspreis in 2001.

Tim Trageser made his TV debut as director with the romantic comedy "Harte Brötchen" (2002), starring Katharina Thalbach and Uwe Ochsenknecht. He went on to direct numerous TV movies, including "Tollpension" (2006), "Ein verlockendes Angebot" (2007) and "Einer bleibt sitzen" (2008). He also helmed memorable "Tatort" episodes like "Das zweite Gesicht" (2006), "Höllenfahrt" (2009) and "Der Traum von der Au" (2007).

Trageser frequently worked with actress Anna Loos, whom he directed in the acclaimed made-for-TV films "Wohin mit Vater" (2009), "Die Lehrerin" (2011), "Mandy will ans Meer" (2012) and "Mord in den Dünen" (2013). Between 2012 and 2014, he also helmed four episodes of the show "Kommissarin Lucas".

After directing the Grimme Award-nominated TV drama "Neufeld, mitkommen!" (2014), Trageser made "Der weiße Äthiopier" (2015, TV), in which Jürgen Vogel stars as a criminal on the run who finds unexpected redemption in Ethopia. "Der weiße Äthiopier" won the audience award at the 2016 Festival des deutschen Films in Ludwigshafen and was named Best TV Feature at the 'New York Festivals 2016'.

Following the TV crime drama "Wolfsland - Tief im Wald", Tim Trageser directed the children's comedy "Hilfe, ich hab meine Eltern geschrumpft" ("Help, I Shrunk My Parents"), which was theatrically released in January 2018.