Stefan Prehn was born in Bad Schwartau on November 22nd 1963. After studying visual communication at the renowned Hochschule für Bildende Kunst (hfbk) in Hamburg, he worked as an assistant DoP and camera operator for numerous TV productions, and also produced segments for the TV show "Aktenzeichen XY ungelöst".

His immensely popular short "Staplerfahrer Klaus – Der erste Arbeitstag" (2001), which he co-produced with Jörg Wagner, involuntarily became an early internet phenomenon and quickly achieved international cult status. The appropriately gory parody on instructional work safety videos screened in the 2001 competition of the Cannes IFF. It went on to win numerous awards at festivals in Valencia, San Sebastian and Brussels, and also garnered a FIPRESCI award and the Short Film Award of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung. Due to its unique marketing and dsitribution – it got a wide release on DVD with an 80-minute making-of feature –, the film is to this day considered to be the most profitable German short film release.

Since 1988, Prehn is a member of the artist collective "Reproducts" which creates collage works out of German TV classics. 

His second short "Go Bash!", on which he collaborated with fellow "Reproducts" artist Stefan Eckel, portrays a fictitious street sport phenomenon called "Bashing", which has its participants running full speed into walls. It won the award for Best Short Film at the Nordische Filmtage Lübeck.