This is an excerpt from my book "Success in the Film Business," which has already been published in German and will be released in English at the end of 2023. Stay tuned:

Whether we grab popcorn with excitement while watching a film or flinch at a surprising moment, these moments are often caused by four essential factors: the idea, the concept /script, the emotions, and directing.

The producer is the director's best friend because he makes everything possible within the budget. In pre-production, the producer accepts all requests from a client if they are for commercial film shoots or from a production company if it is for a feature film.

The producer creates an initial briefing from these notes and arranges a first meeting with the director. The idea is explained, and the producer's interpretations are discussed, which he could hear "between the lines" during the phone call. Once this meeting is over, the director creates a 'director's note.' In my case, it's on my iPad and can be interactively integrated into other processes later.

The director takes a step back from day-to-day activities from now on. He creates a concept that can serve as the basis for a future script. Here, it all depends on the producer again. Together with the director, the concept must be "sold," meaning:

The concept must withstand the critical questions of the investor and the feature film production company. Of course, during this conversation, various adjustments are made to the concept.

If the investor or the production company is happy, then it can begin. The director now withdraws more and begins writing a screenplay, either with a screenwriter or alone.

Once the screenplay has been approved by the investor and the feature film production, the director creates a shot list with the director of photography. During production, the director's role can be summarized very easily: he holds the story together.

This means that he only ensures that actors, cameramen, or camera women, and other team members do not deviate from the storyline and that everything remains within the framework. The director pays attention to the smallest details: Is the shirt straight? Is the actor or actress authentic? Are they following the storyline?

This is precisely the challenge in Germany, a country where emotions are suppressed. Suppressed? Exactly! Personally, for me, German films are only worth watching in exceptional cases. This has always annoyed me because I wanted great films to be made in Germany too. Without judging, I searched for reasons and found many. One point was crucial for me: emotions were not lived but only played. And so I continued to research and came up with an interesting hypothesis:

Sentences in childhood such as "Don't laugh so loud, what will the neighbors think?" "An Indian does not feel pain!" "Oh, is the world so bad that you have to cry now?" or "Stop being angry; you have no right to!" or "One more for mom, one more for dad," which aim to please mom and dad, others, even though one's feelings already say: "Stop, I'm not hungry anymore!" What others think is more important than one's feelings - so they must be suppressed.

Before critics argue that an anti-authoritarian education would result in chaos, I agree that it could. However, the point here is not to avoid education, but to not block the free expression of emotions during the process. The aforementioned sentences are like small building blocks that parents and the environment set for their children. Over the years, they create a wall that separates children and later adults from their feelings and emotions.

A typical reaction of such an adult, let's call them Person One, is to say "No, no, everything is fine" when, for example, Person Two metaphorically steps on their foot, while at the same time feeling anger surging inside. Once Person One turns around and can no longer hear Person Two, anger simply explodes out of Person Two almost uncontrollably. Anger is the strongest emotion in a person. Failing to grasp it initially, then being unable to communicate it, and finally letting it burst out uncontrollably are all indicators of an emotional wall within oneself.

Adults consider the aforementioned sentences necessary, as they have learned them from their parents. For children, however, these sentences, or rather "tools of action," prevent them from accessing their emotions. Is it any wonder, then, that many German actors have to play emotions instead of feeling them? How can an actor summon and experience emotions in a scene if they were condemned for showing emotions in their early years?

What happens in these early childhood years? Children are taught to suppress their feelings and not allow them to surface. A giant wall is built over their emotions, until they appear cool and robotic as adults. A director in Germany faces this challenge too. How can they expect good acting, i.e. the experience of emotions instead of playing them, if they themselves have no access to their own emotions? In Germany, the director therefore has two tasks: not only do they accompany the actors on their way, but they also often have to help make the walls inside the actors more permeable. Only when the emotions of the character are linked to the emotions of the actor is there a chance for the role to come alive.

Therefore, a director in Germany is both an acting teacher and somewhat of a therapist, with therapy and therapist being fundamentally positive terms. It is even recommended to seek the help of a therapist for several years, depending on the perceived need, to break down this emotional wall.

It's not about judging anyone. When you've lived through feudalism and two world wars like the people in Germany have, it's a completely natural subconscious development. The generations before us have always tried with the best intentions to give us a better life. However, the results that have emerged from that are something that we, as the German film community, must now take into our hands consciously and together. Perhaps the passing down of such methods of education can end with us.

After the photos, this blog article will continue.