Introduce Yourself : A story by Ulrich Goetz

Hello there. I am Ulrich Goetz, director and writer from Berlin, Germany. I would like to introduce myself with a story. Hope you enjoy it.

We are living in interesting times. Many questions regarding our present days and the not-so-far future come up: Is the “Golden Age of Television” already dead or still alive and kicking? Will standalone films have a future? Will the industry give mid-budget movies a chance again? Will film theaters die out like the dinosaurs or have a peaceful co-existence with the different streaming platforms? How should we deal with the new possibilities of artificial intelligence? What can we do not only to become successful in the industry, but also to leave an impact that can change it for the better?

In order to put these questions into context, we have to ask ourselves first: How did we get here in the first place?

When I was a child in the 80s, “New Hollywood” had already challenged the old studio system. Shortly after, young writers and directors like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg stepped onto the scene, transforming the pulp adventures of their childhood into a new standard of entertainment that revitalized the term “blockbuster”. It was a breath of fresh air in the making of genre films – a field that had been dominated way too long by the outdated standards of epic films and musicals that “Old Hollywood” had established many decades ago.

I, like so many others of my generation, grew up with this blockbuster-magic of cinema, first experienced on VHS tape and TV, then in the theater once we reached a certain age. The lifting of the red curtain has always been a “rite of passage” to me, taking me into another world.

As a teenager in the 90s, I felt that something was missing. I needed to tell my own stories, to create my own worlds. Thus, I became a game master in tabletop and pen-and-paper role-playing games (RPGs). While playing these games with my friends was fun, I soon realized that I actually enjoyed the writing of the quests and the world building most. Here I got a first grasp of concepts that would later be known to me as “interactive storytelling”, “open world sandbox games” and “transmedia”. It also laid ground for my aspirations to become a professional writer and director.

But where to start? My intuition told me that if I wanted to tell something meaningful and interesting, I had to follow my curiosity first. Not only had I to learn what makes a good story good, I had to learn what it means to be a human being in this world as well. And I had my knowledge and skills to be tested by some experts in these fields. So I enrolled at university for German studies and philosophy. Some people shun the intellectual challenges of the academical world by claiming it was opposed to the “school of real life”. I disagree. If you join a good school, it becomes an integral part of your real life and enriches it. It shows you how less you know, how much there actually is to be explored beyond the surface. It opens up your mind to new ways of learning. It sharpens your critical thinking. And it helps you to overcome the blind spots of self-reflection by entering a discourse rather than clapping yourself on the shoulder.

I was lucky to find some amazing teachers. In German studies, I learned to analyze various kinds of literature and poetry with a huge amount of styles like “comedy”, “Sturm und Drang”, “romanticism”, “realism” “futurism” and “dystopia”. Even better, I was allowed to take courses with the subjects “audio plays”, “immersion in video games”, “comics and graphic novels” and “erotic entertainment”, some of them in the department of media culture. In philosophy, I took a deep dive in epistemology, logic, theory of science, the philosophy of language, political philosophy and ethics. But my studies were also a welcome opportunity to finally get into exchange with other experts on the subject of the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, my field of interest since the age of seventeen.

All of this culminated into a self-taught approach to the philosophy of existentialism, particular to the works of Jean-Paul Sartre. From Sartre I learned two important lessons: First, it is possible to merge philosophy and fiction. He did it in the form of novels and theatrical plays; a film or a television series would be the next logical step. Second, we are the product of our own choices – we are “doomed to be free”. This is the missing link between real life and fiction: Our choices, the connected dilemmas we have to deal with and the (sometimes drastic) consequences of these choices are the very core of our existence AND of any good story. They are – as William Faulkner would say - “the human heart in conflict with itself”.

After finishing my studies, I made the choice to get serious with writing and directing. So I rented a camera, gathered some friends and made a semi-ironical short film about crossroads. That was my ticket to the filmArche in Berlin, Europe's largest self-organized film school. Again, I learned a lot through the exchange with others. But this time it was not just about gaining knowledge and discussions. It also was about creating something together on an experimental level. This fit well into the zeitgeist of the “Golden Age of Television” that HBO and AMC had established a few years ago. Many of us at the filmArche could relate to the creative freedom of the writers' room, where ideas would manifest on index cards without self-censorship.

This freedom, however, came at a price. Yes, we were independent, but without any safety net. We took a certain pride in it (one of our slogans was “No budget, no bullshit.”), yet it could be exhausting to make films under these conditions and keep the school running at the same time. Still, I kept on, working on project after project.

Finally, the hard work paid off. I got the opportunity to direct a satirical short film with the title SCHMIDT – DAS GEHEIMNIS VON MOGADISCHU. We were shooting it on Super 8 mm film as a homage to the “Bahnhofskino” from the 70s – the German equivalent to the American exploitation films. It would have been way easier to shoot it in digital, but this way it got an authentic look that gave the film a special flavor.

Of course we were exited to show our newborn baby to the world at first, like all proud parents are. And like all new parents, we had to learn that there are billions of other babies out there and, apart from close friends and family, almost no one cared. I was quite disappointed. For a few depressing months, I was asking myself if I had been naive and done all of this for nothing. Then, when I least expected it, I got the great news that our film was going to be part of the “Mondo Cult Film Variety Showcase #3: Everything is Awesome” at the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre.

At this moment, all the weight got lifted from my shoulders. Sure, from a neutral point of view, this was not a world-shaking event by any means. But to me, the fact alone that I got the first screening of a film directed by me in the US at the first premiere theater in Hollywood was of high symbolic value. If this was possible, then everything was possible. Suddenly it was there again - the magic I had experienced as a child. It felt like coming home.

I took a look back on my journey so far and realized: All that I had learned on my way was somehow important in regard to the current situation of film and television series in general - it helped me to adapt and refocus. From the nostalgia of my childhood, the world building of my RPG times, my academical adventures and my practical experiences in writing and directing to my first steps into the industry, it now all came full circle.

Once again, I had to make a choice, to set a new goal. I decided that, from now on, I wanted to use my skills and knowledge on an international level. In order to reach for a wider audience, I started to write in English. At the same time, I thought about what I could bring to the table as a German. I wanted to bring in my own unique voice.

It has always bothered me that in the current film industry of Germany, the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror are reduced to an extreme niche product and do not get the credit they deserve. This used to be very different about a hundred years ago, when films like NOSFERATU, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI or METROPOLIS have set international standards. Sadly, this came to an end once the national socialists took the power.

I want to change that. It is my personal mission to do the best I can do to help revitalizing the once proud tradition of German genre film. Not by simply imitating the classics, but by honoring their spirit.

As an artist, this is my approach to the idea of “think big”. I never believed in drawing a straight line between “commercial” films and “art” films. As far as I see it, all good films and TV series are entertaining on some level and give us something substantial at the same time. Most of the film and TV series classics that are now - and often rightly so! - considered to be artistic masterpieces (for example, CASABLANCA or BREAKING BAD) have originally been produced for a sheer commercial purpose. Maybe Michael Eisner (ex CEO of Disney) put it best when he said that “to make money, it is often important to make history, to make art, or to make some significant statement.”

Now, regarding the questions I asked in the beginning, I am sure you already found your own answers to at least some of them. One thing is clear: The industry will always change, as we will. Maybe it is time for a “revolution”, a “new New Hollywood”. Maybe not. But no matter what the circumstances are, we can always come back to certain standards of quality.

Instead of recycling the same stories again and again as spin-offs, prequels, sequels and remakes, we can use our creativity to tell new stories and establish fresh franchises by remembering what made the old ones great in the first place: Great characters with relatable needs and personal flaws, suspenseful story arcs, immersive worlds and fascinating “What if?” scenarios.

We should always keep in mind: It is possible to make a bad film / TV series based on a good script, but it is impossible to make a good film / TV series based on a bad script. Writing comes first, writing is essential.

Last but not least, there is no good story without conflict. We are living in interesting times.