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Florian Froschmayer: 'I find that films often aren't done justice'

Biography

Director and screenwriter Florian Froschmayer, born in Zurich in 1972, is a self-taught, self-made man: Without having attended film school, the business graduate went to Swiss television, where he began his career as an editor in the industry. He made a film in 1999 and another one in 2002. Since 2003 he has been a highly-demanded television crime director.

You direct CRIME SCENE, a series that is a family brand and household name. Are there any guidelines that must be followed?

There isn't a rulebook per se that is handed over to the directors and applies to every episode, but there is a specific set of rules for some "CRIME SCENE" teams, including the Swiss. This is the so-called Bible, which contains old cases, the basis, the relationships of the characters. But this is more of a recipe book, which serves to help you use the characters in the film range.

So this means that you, as the director, don't know what will happen to the characters in upcoming episodes?

Exactly.

Basically, does this mean that the director can approach a CRIME SCENE episode as if it were a separate film?

Yes. It is, of course, the case that the investigators have specific relationships, which should be treated against the backdrop of the actual crime case. This is generally so with CRIME SCENE, that's why there is the Bible. But in 99 percent of the cases I do not know what is going to happen to the characters. In many cases it isn't as dramatic if you don't consider what happened in the film right before. As for example in "You will be judged": Flueckiger's character battled with symptoms of burnout in a few episodes, but that was more or less resolved in the last case and didn't play a role in my film anymore.

What is scheduling like at CRIME SCENE? When did you learn that you would be opening the new season with your episode?

It was very short notice.

Would you say there is more pressure than with other broadcasting schedules?

Certainly. Even if I try not to take the ratings too personally, because there are just a lot of factors, such as what is being broadcast on other channels at the same time, how strong the sun is, has Greece gotten yet another bailout that day...is there going to be an immensely exciting event, focal point prior to the CRIME SCENE episode that will make people not want to watch a crime series? Of course, it is also a question of how popular the investigators are generally with the viewer, which is only conditionally influenced by the director. It is clear: the cooler it gets, the better it will be for the film. The season start is unfortunately on a rather difficult date.

In an earlier press interview, you noted that CRIME SCENE is among the last relevant formats in Germany. Is there time pressure to keep it relevant?

Not necessarily. A few years ago I was asked to make a thematic CRIME SCENE for the ARD theme week. Only the deadline had been set at first, then came the topic, then the script developed ... everything in a relatively short time. This is, however, the absolute exception. Many CRIME SCENE episodes take many years to make. With "You're being judged", I came on very late and the time pressure was then slightly higher than normal just because I had less time to prepare. However, pressure is a fact. As the date to start filming approaches, things start getting more and more hectic. Last but not least, small changes to the script often have a huge impact on logistics and technical aspects.

You have some experience with several CRIME SCENE teams. Is the attitude toward you as director any different in your work with various ARD institutions?

Yes, totally. Everyone has his own treatment of the investigators, his own way of defining the format and, consequently, his own way of approaching the director. This is particularly evident in the various relationships that result. At the SWR, for example, you are basically working with the in-house SWR team, on Swiss television or the NDR, on the other hand, you can bring your crew along. This is a crucial difference. But I can't say any given establishment is better for directors.

Does this mean that you are also "on a longer leash" creatively at institutions like the NDR, where you choose your own team?

No. The difference is expressed in a different way: that I can bring people, that the communication paths are shorter at work, because people already know you and therefore understand more quickly. If you turn to an existing team that you do not know, it can often have a very fruitful effect. I don't think that either model offers more advantages than the other.

What unique features have you tried to bring to the upcoming CRIME SCENE?

Actually, none. I just tried to make a gripping, fast-paced series, which is emotional, entertaining, and lets the viewer go to bed happy. That was my approach and I was fortunate enough to work with Urs Buehler, a very meticulous writer. Urs and I had some constructive conflicts up until the start of the shoot, but we weren't too tired to resolve them and do the best for the project. I always find it nice when I can sit with a writer and perfect the project, even if the deadline is tight. What is special about our CRIME SCENE is the content, because we know who the perpetrator is from the start, and the question shifts from "who" to "why" and "how will the investigators find out"? This is very exciting especially considering the set of characters.

Can you explain why the Swiss «CRIME SCENE» team hasn't been that lucky with ratings?

They had a difficult start with the first film at the time, and then the dubbing was often done in Germany, and they did not even talk about whether the film was good or bad. I think the films often just weren't done justice. Germany is a "dubbing land", the audience's listening habits are a given. However, CRIME SCENE is a German production to viewers, so dubbing on the broadcasting station in this format may seem a little stranger. To my mind, dubbing is a specialty of the acting and directing profession. Many great movie actors are very hard to dub. I'm not saying that the Swiss actors cannot do that, but they sound different than a dubbing artist would, who does this 300 days a year. So something comes out, which does not necessarily correspond to what the viewer is used to listening to... and already they are talking about the dubbing work and not about the film. I am sure that if the Swiss CRIME SCENEs were broadcast on the dates of Swedish crime series and not under the label "CRIME SCENE", no one would be speaking about dubbing.

Do you know whether the broadcasters consider 'foreign dubbing, that is, experienced professionals doing voiceover? Diane Krueger does not dub herself...

There are many different views in this regard. I've also suggested that for smaller roles. The Swiss actors want to speak themselves, because CRIME SCENE is a great platform, through which they can get famous in Germany. The station or ARD Degeto also wants this: If we already have a Swiss CRIME SCENE, there should be a certain color, which is then also a unique selling point, feature ... That is already a tightrope act, which everyone must perform. I am very happy with our version.

The CRIME SCENE episode «You will be judged» has a special production-technical feature: it was created using the new film production software SCRIPTtoMOVIE, which you have developed. What is this tool?

I developed SCRIPTtoMOVIE out of sheer need parallel to my work as a director. "You will be judged" was the third test film that I used the software to prepare and shoot. The software was launched in September too. It is more precisely pre-production software, used to link an entire film crew in a project-related network. I can create a project, work as director, cameraman or director's assistant or any other function because the software automatically adapts the user interface to my needs based on my job on the set. Everyone can use SCRIPTtoMOVIE to make preparations. Since all users are entering the same data pool, everything has to be entered just once more. This shortens the communication time. We can spend the time we save by not having to write emails and copy any lists being creative.

So that means with your software, there is less bureaucracy in the team ...

(Laughs) Yeah, exactly, you can say that was the idea and my wish. For the second part of our interview on Friday, Florian Froschmayer will talk about how quick producers are to stereotype directors, among other things.

Your romantic comedy "Sweet September" will soon be on TV. How did you come across this project?

Like the Virgin to the Child. This is a project I was asked if I wanted to take - more specifically, it happened through my agent, who had suggested the film to me. What CRIME SCENE and Sweet September have in common is my very good relationship with the writer. The big difference, however, was that the script was basically already finished when I came. After I signed, we made very few changes. This was just a really nice screenplay, and the production itself was really fun.

What had already been decided apart from the screenplay when you got there, and what decisions did you have to make before the beginning of the shoot?

Apart from the screenplay, all the decisions were left to me. Caroline Peters was set to be the main actress, who had also been involved in the development of the script before me. Everything else had to be decided very quickly. We then had to gather the full crew and, within a very short time, the complete cast apart from Caroline. A team formed, whose members I had never met before with few exceptions, but fortunately there was chemistry, which soon became evident. This was an example of how a team you do not know can get your creative juices going.

According to my information, the shoot ended in October 2014. How long did post-production last? If Sweet September is only now on television, it must have been very long ...

We completed the post-production on 18 December 2014. It was all very quick because the station wanted to see the film finished before the end of the year. So I find it really amazing that it is on TV only now. It was also shown at the Emden Film Festival, where the reaction was very, very positive. The team is very proud of the end result.

I doubt this was planned, but: Sweet September and CRIME SCENE follow, one almost right after the other, which is a good opportunity to show the audience and the industry that you don't specialize in just one genre ...

Yes, this is an exceptionally great occasion for me. As a director, you are quick to be stereotyped. Interestingly, this isn't so much from the press; it comes mainly from broadcasters and producers. There is often the bias that directors are not able to cover two different genres. In addition, in this particular case of my two films, I am very happy with how they turned out. Many directors can say this, but for me it really means something, because I am very self-critical.

This is exciting to hear. Many filmmakers admit in interviews that they love all their "children" the same. Since you are different, can you say, off the top of your head, which of your films you're happiest with and which you hate the most?

I'm totally in love with Sweet September because I had the chance to make a comedy that fits my sense of humor perfectly. I always enjoy watching a humorous situation develop from an authentically dramatic one, something that goes beyond slapstick comedy. A hate project ... (gets pensive) I'm afraid "hate" is the wrong word, because when I make movies, I always give them 100%. "Hate" leads to false implications; it makes it sound like I didn't want to sit in the director's chair. But what really happens is that I will finish the film and think: "Crap, we tried so hard, but so much potential was wasted." There are many reasons why this potential wasn't used - complications arising from the filming location or the weather or relationships that didn't work as I hoped. Those are films I wasn't lucky with because of the opportunities presented to me - of course, I try to avoid such things in future films.

original text by: Sidney Schering

Outlet: Quotenmeter.de (Germany)
Date: September 3rd and 4th, 2015
Circulation: online platform (trade specific, like Variety / The Hollywood Reporter)

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