The youngsters should not alright in German YA thriller “Shadow Leaks,” screening at Monday’s new Series Mania Buyers Upfront, with Beta Film dealing with worldwide distribution.
Following a mysterious suicide of considered one of its college students, a small city highschool is terrorized by a web site that appears to know all their intimate secrets and techniques. The so-called “Shadow Page” is able to expose all of it: chats, screenshots, express footage and movies. No one is protected. And, because it seems, nobody is harmless.
So far, so very “Gossip Girl”. But the sequence, based mostly on the bestselling novel by actor and influencer Jonas Ems, just isn’t precisely a German reply to the enduring New York-set teen drama.
“It follows the same principles,” says Stefan Raiser, who produces for Dreamtool Entertainment. “Shadow Leaks” is bought by Beta Film.
“I grew up with ‘Gossip Girl.’ I loved watching it and I was slightly shocked by the reboot [in 2021]. It was boring. When I got my hands on Jonas’ bestseller, I was watching ‘13 Reasons Why.’ That was more of a reference for us, because it was also a bit dark and had all these secrets coming out.”
We are all hiding unsavory issues on our telephones, argues Ems.
“We try to be so careful and yet we give all our information away to the Cloud. We wanted to show what happens to people when all their secrets come out. Does it free you or does it lead to even bigger problems?”
“Shadow Leaks” Maincast
Credit: Elliott Kreyenberg
Ems additionally acts within the present, joined by Samirah Breuer as new lady Nola, Florian Geißelmann, Ludger Bökelmann, Tanya Nguyen and Marven Gabriel Suarez Brinkert.
Raiser provides: “My 12-year-old son always thinks about what to say to his friends, he ponders it day and night, but he’s so careless with his damn phone. One of the things that struck me in Jonas’ book was exactly this point: Maybe it hurts to have your secrets out, but it’s also really liberating?”
“It’s so relatable: being young and wild, taking that picture and being tempted to deliver it to the really bad guy in order to get yourself out of a tricky situation. Of course they’re turning on each other. It’s entertaining and commercial, and more popcorn-y than arthouse, but it’s still very realistic.”
Sticking to the youthful era’s perspective, and their issues, was key.
“When I first met Jonas, he said: ‘I watch all those TV shows about Gen Z and even younger generations, and most of them don’t feel authentic. It feels like some 40, 50-year-olds are making them and don’t know shit about what they’re talking about. The sign in our writers’ room said: ‘Make it authentic.’ We didn’t just make a show about this generation. We made it with them,” notes Raiser.
“I don’t believe in the ‘young at all costs’ mindset, because newcomers can easily get overwhelmed. You can’t just put young directors and young writers in the driver’s seat, because experience in filmmaking is invaluable. Still, the real magic happens when seasoned professionals step back a little and make space for the younger generation’s vision.”
In the sequence, issues escalate shortly. Revelations unearthed by the “Shadow Page” can destroy lives – they’re additionally too juicy for them to cease clicking.
“We wanted to ‘tie’ the viewer to the story right from the start. It’s aimed at a generation that keeps scrolling through TikTok and Instagram, so we had to make sure we can pack a punch and keep them interested for 45 minutes,” says Ems, who himself boasts a major social media following, together with 3.4 million followers on Tik Tok and a pair of.9 million on YouTube.
“From my very first conversation with Jonas, I was struck by how deeply he understands the world of entertainment on platforms like TikTok and YouTube. His instinct for cutting right to the core is nothing short of impressive,” says Raiser.
“I was quickly convinced it’s a good way to follow his lead, but I was also constantly asking: ‘Is this too much? What’s happening in this fucked up town?’ Nobody seems to be normal there,” he laughs.
“Then they convinced me to do a ‘deep dive’ and we kind of went undercover, sending people to schools. These were the stories the kids were telling us. We gave them the script of the pilot episode and they told us to add ‘more juice.’”
While there are nice reveals for youthful audiences – “Sex Education’ is very relatable and it has very believable characters” – a few of them lack “commercial tone and approach.”
“When I look around, in Germany or even in Europe, lots of those local series are very artsy and they don’t really look cinematic. That’s not what we wanted to do. I think this format will travel.”
Or end in extra seasons.
“We are, how can I put it, very optimistic. We started developing a second season. If you only knew what was coming,” teases Raiser.
“The parents are on the chopping block, too.”
Apparently, the grownups should not alright both. XOXO.
Shadow Leaks
Credit: Elliott Kreyenberg
