Location Managers Guild International

LMGI COMPASS | Summer 2021 • 33 But then the problems began. For some reason, the trams went in the wrong direction. It was very, very clear that we would not be able to film this way. It was really a tense situation. There was not enough time to leave the square with the old trains and turn around, but filming that way was not possible either. We got a helping hand from the friendly Berlin police, and we managed to work everything out. Police in Germany do not do the lock-offs for film crews, so this was anything but guaranteed. A wonderful day of shooting began, surrounded by 80,000 marathon runners from all over the world! How did the Berlin Brandenburg Film Commission help? Only 2½ people there—average of 1,200 searches/day—good locations database—did you use it—for what? There were times when everything seemed to go wrong. That was December 2018. Every application would be rejected by the authorities—too much parking space, too long a period, too short-term. We are used to dealing with these problems. But an extreme increase of problems can simply bring the production to a stop. It was clear that we needed help and had to intensify our already very good relationship with the Berlin Brandenburg Film Commission. Thanks to Christiane Krone-Raab's personal commitment, she skillfully negotiated for us with the authorities, and we were able to make it through. We look occasionally at the commission's database and have already found filming locations there. It's great and well maintained. Above all, Christiane is always there, and I mean always there to solve problems. Never in the last 10 years, have I heard that she has no time or anything. That is very impressive and extraordinary. For this reason alone, the nomination last year for the LMGI Film Commission Award was more than justified. What locations were unable to be used because of non-cooperation? There is a town hall in the west of the city. They just didn't want to cooperate with us or any other film company. Unfortunately, this is a really good location and with the help of the film commission, we managed to shoot there for one day for Season 1. But the disbalance between commitment and benefit was so hard that we had originally decided not to go there ever again. But memory is short: We are currently trying to get in for Season 4. We'll see how it turns out. What did you already know about Berlin's Golden Twenties? Is there anything le‡ from that period? Lots of extremes—poverty versus immense wealth; far right/far le‡? Thank God, there is not much left from the negative side. In particular, life in Berlin is relaxed and pleasant. But I do remember the time after the reunification of Germany in 1990. About eight years later, I moved to Berlin to study. There was a certain unusual freedom here in Berlin. Laws weren't really strictly followed. Many buildings were empty, and it was not so clear who they belonged to. During this time, nightclubs emerged and quickly closed and opened again in one week. The police had other worries and were hardly to be seen. That time reminds me a bit of the period of Babylon Berlin. Is Babylon Berlin your biggest project? It's smaller in relation to large international productions. But for German standards, it is quite big. The normal shooting crew has around 60-80 members. Sometimes we also operate with split units. It's hard to believe what kind of results these units can produce. One of the biggest surprises was the AGE Tunnel in Season 1. We were looking for a cellar for the dog fight scene on the director's scout. The janitor of the property mentioned that there is a second cellar with a tunnel on the other side of the street. We were under time pressure and thanked him for his idea, thinking it would be good for the next time. We weren't even looking for a tunnel. But the designer and the director wanted to take a look. Human curiosity is a good thing. Everyone was speechless. The tunnel was a 300m test tunnel for the Berlin subway system in a smaller form, built in 1895. We hadn't seen anything like this before. The only problem was there was neither a scene with tunnel nor even an idea for this that could be shown in the schedule. But everybody wanted to bring the tunnel onto the screen. Since the main unit didn't have time, our main actor went with Mario and a crew of maybe seven or eight people to the tunnel. This turned out to be a very memorable scene: The nightmarish world where Gereon Rath wanders around in search of himself. For the third season, we came back to the tunnel for a slightly longer scene. Did you use the backlot in Neue Berliner Strasse in Studio Babelsberg? The backlot is Uli's world, and our department is not really involved. But I am happy if we can make scenes work there. For the first season we had street-fighting scenes between the communists and the police—quite big, with burning cars, horses, etc. We thought about filming in the middle of Berlin, and there was even a place mentioned for this, the Kottbusser Tor. Unfortunately, this venture turned out to be impractical. The Kottbusser Tor is a hotspot of problems. Drugs, crime and riots take place quite regularly even without Babylon Berlin, and it doesn't look anything like the 1920s anymore. The police also didn't like the idea of having to close the five streets leading toward it. In the end, it was clear that the backlot was the better place for this riot sequence. But it doesn't mean that we are not trying to bring action into the city. We don't want to spoil too much, but the opening sequence of the fourth season will top everything we saw before, and it is shot entirely on location. Did you repeat a lot of locations over three-plus seasons? Yes, that is the idea, but also a huge challenge. Of course, the town halls and other historical buildings still exist, and you can come Hermannplatz train station. Photo courtesy of Uli Hanisch

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• 24-35 Cover-Story_Babylon Berlin
• 36-49 MANK
• 52-59 NEXT GEN
• 62-63 Martini shot