NGDSC by Saatchi & Saatchi : showcases the most exciting director talent - presented at the ADC Festival. Highlights and exclusive interview with Michael M-Maschke on GoSee!

This year marks the third NEW GERMAN DIRECTORS SHOWCASE. And Saatchi & Saatchi are once again presented Germany’s upcoming film elite. The jury, including Stefan Kolle, Chief Creative Officer Kolle Rebb ad agency and Guido Heffel, creative head of Heimat ad agency, chose their Top 13 from over 100 films.

These were showcased during the ADC festival in Frankfurt by Michael M-Maschke, Head of Creative Services, as well as Burkhart von Scheven, CCO Saatchi & Saatchi Germany.

We present our highlights, including the delightfully evil exorcism spot for DIRT DEVIL by Andreas Roth and ‘A world without electricity’ by Stephan Hilpert, who graduated from Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film in Munich.

Also part of the oeuvre: ‘ONE’ by Mario Zozin c/o DBC and the new Nature Film by Hanna Maria Heidrich from Filmakadamie Baden-Württemberg, as well as the final project ‘Raju’ by director Max Zähle (Hamburg Media School). More can soon be found on the NGDSC website.

GoSee presents an exclusive interview with Michael M. Maschke, Head of Creative Services Saatchi & Saatchi.

The rows in the audience at the ADC exhibition were packed when the New German Director’s showcase (short: NGDSC) was presented. Are you satisfied with the event?
“About four years ago, when Burkhart von Scheven had the idea to launch a German spin off of the international Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase, and I started the preparations shortly after, we were met with quite a few smirks. In the meantime, the German organizer of another European new talent festival approached me and asked whether they could use our submissions.”

What was your reaction?
“Business as always – friendly & professional. The utilisation of our submissions adheres to strict rules. Using it in such a way is out of the question. Also, the other competitions were exclusively about ad films.”

Isn’t that the case at NGDSC as well?
“There are two things that differentiate us from other competitions. On the one hand, we only sport one category: talent. That explains why there is neither bronze, silver nor gold. You are either part of the showcase or you are not. Furthermore, the NGDSC gives each director the chance to submit his or her work, regardless of its nature. Feature film, short film, video clip, documentary, animation, real TV spot, spec, whatever. As long as you have not been active as a professional in advertising for the last two years, you can submit whatever your heart desires. Even your age does not matter. It is all about ‘New German Directors’ in advertising and that does not necessarily translate to ‘Young Directors’.

You have been part of the jury yourself again this year, next to Guido Heffels, Burkhart von Scheven, Bernhard Lukas, Stefan Kolle and others? What was the general vibe?
“I hope everyone had fun, but I haven’t a clue to be honest. All the jury business happens online, so that everybody can go about judging in his or her own time. But I think the results speak volumes. In the meantime, one of the films from the current showcase was nominated for the Student Academy Award in Los Angeles.”

The short film ‘Raju’ which is all about the area of tension between adoption and child trafficking?
“ . . .Yes, an outstanding work by Max Zähle from the Hamburg Media School. Another award winner, Florian Friedrich was made the Junior of the year at the ADC for his LadaNiva spot, if I remember correctly. One more thing about Andreas Roth, who had two works on show. One with a serious subject, ‘Typewriter’ and the other was a humorous take on ‘The Exorcist’. Very well worth watching.”

Felipe Ascacibar was in the race with not less than six films ? How did that happen?
“That is because they all were part of one submission, a collage of several VDW trailers, which already caught my eye at the last Hatto award ceremony. Back then, I even though that the trailer was more interesting than some of the winning works, but that is another story for another time."

Who finances the Showcase?
“We as an agency. Without our partners such as ADC Germany, ProduzentenAllianz and Flowworks, we could not pull it off."

Isn’t that rather unusual for an advertising agency?
“The promotion of directing talents has a long-standing, 20 year tradition in our network: Tarsem, Michael Gondry, Ivan Zacharias, Jonathan Glaeser, you name it, all of them were in a Saatchi & Saatchi showcase at the dawn of their ad film career."

In your humble opinion, who is the next German Tarsem?
“This year, we have 20 films by 12 exceptional directors in the showcase. Each work shines by its own merits. Like I said, there are no categories.”

Duly noted. So much for the politically correct part. I will ask differently: Do you have a personal favourite?
“I think Hanna Maria Heidrich should not go unmentioned in this context, she received highest ratings throughout the jury and once again proved what she is capable of with ‘We miss you’. Just about right that this woman was part of our international showcase in Cannes 2010.”

So, she is not that ‘new’ after all ?
Talent is talent and must be promoted. Hanna Maria is still a student and will leave the Filmakademie in Baden-Würtemberg this autumn. According to our rules she can even apply again. Just so you know, the film we showed this year had only been finished shortly before the deadline and did not run anywhere else so far.”

Will there be a German director at the international Saatchi & Saatchi Showcase in Cannes.
“Let’s put it this way, it would be the first time since 2009 that we would be unsuccessful in doing so. This is one of the reason’s why we created the showcase in the first place. We forward our choices – and everything else that caught our eye – to the international Saatchi & Saatchi jury. The rest is not in our hands. As far as I know, four works were shortlisted. Let’s wait and see.”

Why has the NDS, as the original in Cannes goes by, managed to be so successful for such a long time? For years, it has been one of the most visited events at the Palais du Festival.
“True, you can’t see such large number of CCOs queuing up in such an orderly manner anywhere else. When Paul Arden launched the international showcase, he anticipated a development that is prevalent in the scene today, when he opened up the spectrum of possible submissions: Commercials, Branded Entertainment, Soaps or documentaries, all those formats are more relevant than ever in the digital age of advertising.”

Back to the German showcase. Where can we watch the films just in case we missed them during the ADC?
“If you work at Saatchi&Saatchi or are one of our customers, pick up the phone and give us a call, which will do the trick.”

That’s it?
“It’s early stages. We were approached for the next Wellwork event in Frankfurt. That was very exciting. We are talking to many partners at the same time to bring the showcase to other cities. I can let GoSee know the upcoming dates.”