MCB19: Between cliché and reality – the path to new content

F.l.t.r.: actress Bettina Lamprecht, actor Jürgen Vogel, author, actor and blogger Schlecky Silberstein

F.l.t.r.: actress Bettina Lamprecht, actor Jürgen Vogel, author, actor and blogger Schlecky Silberstein 

Visitors of MCB once again take a look behind the scenes of high-end series productions this year in the “Meet the Team” session. One of the projects which will be presented here with a strong team is the Vox production “Das Wichtigste im Leben” (“The Most Important Thing in Life”), the station’s first series produced without an international template. Besides the leads Jürgen Vogel (“The Wave”) and Bettina Lamprecht (“Die Känguru-Chroniken” – “The Kangaroo Chronicles”), director Laura Lackmann (“Too Hard to Handle”), writer Richard Kropf (“4 Blocks”), producer Lasse Scharpen (Bantry Bay) as well as Hauke Bartel (Head of Fiction, VOX) will be present.
 
Content with the label of “science nonfiction” intended to entertain in the manner of a science fiction film will be presented by the Author, actor and blogger Schlecky Silberstein in the session “Modern Times – Schlecky Silberstein on digitalisation and its consequences”. Following the book publication “Das Internet muss weg” (“The Internet has to go”), the new documentary film series MODERNE ZEITEN (WT) (“Modern Times”) is supposed to transform passive users into mature net citizens. The new format focuses on a variety of topics and allows experts to speak, who try to answer the core question of digitalisation: What is the best possible digital future?
 
The fact that Germany is a modern, multifaceted and diverse society is still not always reflected in our films and TV programmes. People from various cultures, people of colour, LGBTI people or disabled people tend to be the exception. How can film and TV in Germany break away from ethnic and cultural stereotypes and develop formats that reflect the diverse character of our society? On the panel “The stuff of dreams: more diverse perspectives for better content”, Dr. Skadi Loist (Film University Babelsberg), Tyron Ricketts (actor and producer for Panthertainment), Emrah Ertem (casting director) and Martina Zöllner (programming director documentary and fiction, rbb) will examine how to achieve a more realistic portrayal of zeitgeist and current realities of life.
 
Even as the golden age of television seems to have begun: Things are not looking quite so splendid behind the camera, which leads to a downright “war for talents”. Stress, precarious working conditions and loads of overtime work seem to keep the cohorts with a low birth rate from getting into the media industry. The question of which working conditions young talents need to be provided for young talents to develop and produce appealing, meaningful and diverse content will be discussed by Joachim Kosack (managing director at UFA and UFA Serial Drama) and Grischa Böhmer (EPI, winter class – Serial Writing And Producing) in the session “A golden age – but where is the next generation?”

More information about the sessions and speakers of the MCB19