Lethally successful
ARD is airing its first CRIME SCENE on Sunday. Thalwil-born Florian Froschmayer is the champion director. His apartment in Berlin is the perfect crime series setting.
A backyard. A gloomy brick wall. The fire escape leads directly to 36-year-old Florian Froschmayer's bedroom. His loft in the center of Berlin is the perfect place for a crime series director. If the Thalwil- born Froschmayer could choose between playing an investigator and a villain, he would choose the first. "Because I'm the analytical type." He decided he wanted to make films very early on. He acted in the well-known Zurich children's theater Metzenthin as a child.
Florian was the ideal prince, with his blond hair and blue eyes, recalls Sibyl Metzenthin. "I even married Mona Petri as a princess," Florian says, grinning. His mother is still in touch with Rosmarie Metzenthin, the principal at that time. "She said Florian was a born director, as he always told the other children what to do on stage." As a teen, Florian started feeling shy in front of the audience, but the interest in work behind the camera remained.
He had no affinity for school, and couldn't apply to the Film Academy because he hadn't taken matriculation exams. Instead, he studied business and started work as an editor in Swiss television. Florian met people who recognized his talent and supported him, such as Martin Masafret. "Wow, there's something about that boy," the sports reporter and documentary film director would say. "Even though he doesn't have a formal education." Masafret sees Froschmayer as a natural talent. "What's more, Florian knows what he wants, and knows how to get it."
The Swiss director wanted to do CRIME SCENE for a long time. The rule in Germany: If you directed the cult crime series, you've like a footballer playing in the Champions League. Florian says: "You always need people who can see you and who have something to say."
Kerstin Ramcke, producer and managing director of Studio Hamburg Production, is one of them. "Florian convinced me right away." With his long-standing "Coast guard / Küstenwache", "Soko", "Vice Squad" (his series were even nominated for the Adolf Grimme Prize), and R.I.S - the Language of the Dead, he has made a great name for himself in Germany.
"Borowski and the Unchained World" is the name of Froschmayer's first "CRIME SCENE" episode, in which even his native Switzerland plays a small role. "When I first met Axel Milberg, the star of the show, it dawned on me: Wow, Florian from Thalwil is filming Axel Milberg." The feelings were mutual - Froschmayer impressed Milberg. "He is a very polite, young Swiss man who did not want to tell us much about his plans. But I got to know Florian quickly when I realized that he knew exactly how he was going to tell the story. The actor is convinced: "We'll hear from Florian again."
Froschmayer's DVD and CD collection features not only TV series hits such as "24", "Six Feet Under", "CSI" and "Lost", but also a lot of film music discs. "My father is a film fan," says Florian. He certainly inherited his passion from him, although their tastes are completely different. "Movies have always played a great role in our home," confirms his father Manfred, who runs a film and music mail-order business in Thalwil.
"Florian suggested an online business when I had to give my shop up because of the banking crisis ten years ago." Manfred was also the one to take Florian to the cinema for the first time - they saw Walt Disney's "The Jungle Book". Florian and his sister were rarely allowed to watch TV. "Derrick" was a long- running taboo. "Although Florian would insist his classmates were allowed to watch the crime show."
Apart from "Borowski and the Unchained World", Froschmayer recently directed another "CRIME SCENE". We don't know when "Friend or Foe" with German-Swiss investigator duo Eva Mattes and Stefan Gubser will air yet.
How much does a director of such a prestigious film make? Froschmayer does not specify - he is paid at a flat rate per film. The production company lists the filming duration for "Borowski" as 22 days. "It took four and a half months with preparation and all the trimmings." He makes more from series and advertising films, says the Berliner by choice.
He would be happy to direct a Swiss television film, but can't imagine going back home now. "Maybe when I start a family," he says. And Florian, who's now single, is sure he wants one. He broke up with his girlfriend, a television journalist, half a year ago. Since then he has been coming home to his two cats, both of which he calls «Schiisser».
A gloomy brick wall. A fire escape from the back yard to the bedroom – maybe Florian‘s loft is the perfect crime film setting. “I would love to film the Berlin ‹CRIME SCENE› with Dominic Raacke as investigator Ritter”. The director would find that terribly exciting.
original text by: Rene Haenig
Outlet: Schweizer Illustrierte (weekly glossy magazine, comparable to Vanity Fair)
Date: April 28th, 2009
Circulation in 2009: 225 750 (largest People magazine in Switzerland)
Schweizer Illustrierte is a weekly illustrated People magazine, issued by Swiss publisher Ringier Axel Springer
Media. The magazine sold 143 080 copies and distributed 168 963 copies in 2016. With its 632 000 readers, it is the most-read magazine in Switzerland.