“It really blew me away”: Interview with the showrunner of the Hohlbein series “Der Greif”

Mr. Marka, you read the fantasy novel “Greif” by Heike and Wolfgang Hohlbein for the first time when you were twelve years old – right when it was first published in 1989.
A friend lent me the book. At first I was surprised that there were no pictures in it. Then I started reading – and it really got me. The book also brought me to film. I saw these images vividly in front of me, then became interested in animation and made my first film at the age of 16.

As a director and showrunner, what fascinates you about fantasy?
Fantasy is the genre that offers the most space for the medium of film. The classic tragedies up to the Bible have a very fantastic touch. It’s about gods and demons, good and evil.

These themes reflect the basics of human existence very well. Anything is possible in this genre, anything can be real. This gives me the opportunity to tell big conflicts on a small scale and vice versa. For me, fantasy film is pure.

And the charm of the “Griffin”?
The “Griffin” has a statement at the very end of the book, which is also hinted at in the first season. It reads: You can’t fight hate with hate. The cycle can only be broken by love. This truth has fascinated me since I was a child.

Also, the main character Mark in the book is about the same age as I was at the time, so I could identify with him. Mark must assert himself in a fantastical world that takes place in our real world. For me, the “Griffin” has always been a preview of what you can do with stories.

The message that hate cannot be fought with hate sounds very timely.
There has never been a lack of conflicts that this message could fit. There was no specific political topic, but the Trump era and the increasing polarization not only in the USA fell at that time. More and more people think other people are bad and evil and feel they have to fight them and stir up hatred. That influenced us a lot.

You speak of a first season. Will there be a sequel?
When we started the concept in 2015 and bought the rights from Wolfgang Hohlbein, the project was designed for several seasons. The novel is divided into four elements. We also designed the series for several seasons. Everything else depends on how well the first season of “Griffin” works.

“Der Greif” would not have been possible without streamers like Amazon.

Sebastian Marka, director and showrunner

You have directed a number of “Tatort” crime novels. How far is the path from the Sunday night thriller to the fantasy series?
Usually very far. Before “Griffin” we made a very successful science fiction film called “Exit”. In addition, one must not forget that “Tatort” is the most successful German series. Up to ten million viewers every Sunday is a lot, even by American TV standards.

That was already a good business card, especially since all of our “crime scenes” played in a certain genre. Nevertheless, without streamers like Amazon, the “Griffin” would not have been possible. Otherwise someone who hasn’t done anything like this before won’t be trusted with such a budget.

Germany is not exactly the motherland of fantasy.
There is not so little fantastic from Germany. “The Perfume” also has fantastic elements.

But there are neither demons nor monsters.
Okay, that would bring us to Michael Ende’s bestseller The Neverending Story. The fact that Germany is very critical of fantasy may have something to do with the fact that, because of the country’s past, art has long wanted to understand, represent and process what happened in the past. In addition, the fantastic in Germany always has the reputation of being childish, of fairy tales. Only now is fantasy slowly being taken more seriously. It’s different in other countries like Spain. There is a strong horror and fantasy tradition there.

The industry is waiting to see how “Der Greif” is received

Nevertheless, it was only a matter of time before streamers discovered Wolfgang Hohlbein. After all, the industry is still looking for a sequel to Game of Thrones.
When a network like HBO has made such a great series, you know that something like this can be done again. It’s worse when you’re struggling all the time and not being successful at it. I know from many colleagues that some fantasy material is in the pipeline and everyone is now waiting to see how “Der Greif” is received.

How difficult was it to convert the fantastic pictures from the “Griffin” with current film technology?
The images I had in mind had nothing to do with the technically complex sets. It was often about the feelings associated with it. We’ve already used a lot of CGI for the “Griffin”. But we didn’t want to generate the Horned Ones on the computer because we wanted to recreate the feeling from our youth with “ET” and “Lord of the Rings”.

But for that we needed very good actors and resilient Creatures performers – they then gave the masks of the horned ones expression and emotion. Hundreds of people put their heart and soul into making the show what it is now. They all want to prove that people in Germany really want to make high-quality fantasy.