Coach fit for a movie
Philipp Petersson is the new Head of Commercials at Condor and wants to accompany Swiss film production into a new era "without hard cuts".
Philipp Petersson is the new Head of Commercials at Condor and wants to accompany Swiss film production into a new era "without hard cuts".
The new Head of Commercials at Condor came to film as one of these "almost classic career changers". Philipp Petersson previously studied political science, modern history and Spanish in Cologne, "with the intention of going into journalism". Chance would have it otherwise, and today he is glad about it. "I have a job that is fun, stressful and makes me absolutely happy." At the age of 25, the student received a call from a "dear friend" asking if he would like to help out as an assistant on a production at the then legendary Munich Filmhaus. Of course, he accepted with thanks and worked his way up in a fairly short time "learning by doing". Assistant production manager, production assistant and, after just one year, responsibility for small projects. That was 1995: "Filming has taken up my whole life."
Just two years later, Petersson was headhunted from Munich to an entertainment company in Florida for a project in the entertainment sector. Traveling by Learjet between New York, Los Angeles and Texas, he was allowed to market "The Three Tenors" in the USA. During this intermezzo with Pavarotti and Co, Petersson did not want to miss out on his relationship with film. He remained active as a freelance producer in Florida. "That's the interesting thing about freelancing. With different jobs, you can take the good experiences with you and sort out the negatives."
On his return to Germany, he continued to work as a freelance producer in Berlin and Düsseldorf, for example for Manfred Vogelsänger's established advertising film production company.
Petersson has always done commercials and never dreamed of feature films. "Cinema is my secret love and I also have a large DVD collection. But at the end of the day, I'm really into advertising." That has something to do with the adrenaline rushes, he says. "You work much longer on feature film projects, the tension curve is constant. The advertising film suits me better. Here the tension takes a steep upward curve, reaches a peak during filming and drops again when you're sitting happily in the telecine at the end."
But then came a phase where the spot junkie had to cut back a little. Two years after his return from the USA, a daughter was born and Petersson wanted to take more care of his young family. The ideal opportunity presented itself in southern Spain. Here, Petersson produced commercials for service productions, primarily for English and German clients. Film crews like to go to southern Spain because they not only find warm light and safe weather there, but also spectacular serpentines for car commercials, for example.
Despite plenty of sunshine, Petersson missed the glamor of the advertising world by the sea. "Being involved in a pitch and working on a commercial with creative people from planning to mixing" - this challenge lured Petersson back to Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Cologne for three years before the still freelance producer received an offer from Condor.
Zurich was looking for a production manager for an elaborate VW film. He was to spend six months filming all over the world with 360-degree camera rigs. When the spectacular film for six screens measuring five to eight meters was finished for the Autostadt in Wolfsburg, both Condor and Petersson were very impressed with the collaboration. There was therefore not much left to think about when the freelancer was offered a permanent job. Since the beginning of this year, Philipp Petersson has been the new Head of Commercials. He is currently completing his round of interviews with Swiss advertising agencies.
"We don't want to do the hard cut, that would be wrong for a company as steeped in tradition as Condor." He also gets to know the world of Swiss advertising in detail through the patron, Martin Fueter.
Petersson was only reluctant to accept this challenge because he would have to give up all the parallel worlds he had previously lived in - still in Spain and constantly changing centers in Germany - by moving to Zurich and taking on permanent responsibility. On the other hand, being able to have a say as a member of management at levels other than just production planning also has its appeal. "I already feel a strong connection with Condor in terms of content, personnel and emotion."
Petersson sees "interesting, creative opportunities in the Swiss market" because jobs here often depend more on a great idea and less on the size of the budget. In other words: A little more courage, a little less money. But the world of commercials is changing anyway. "We are still shooting with 35 millimeter cameras - the premier class. But we are also testing the possibilities of HD cams." The development of viral possibilities is observed with an open lens at Studio Bellerive. "More is happening on the Internet than on television, so it has to click and we are thinking: how can we bring the medium of film to the Internet?" Zattoo TV, a Swiss invention, is already demonstrating what will become even more sophisticated in the next two years.
What Petersson also likes about his work in Zurich is how creativity is handled "more freely here than in Germany, for example", where a lot of pressure is often passed on from the client to the agency to the director when large budgets are involved. "In Switzerland, boards are often seen as a more sensible basis for creative design." For him, an important prerequisite here is close collaboration with the "real capital of Condor - the directors" as early as possible.
In all these steps, producer Petersson sees himself most likely in the role of coach or translator between director, agency and client. This diplomatic aspect is a very important factor in film. He believes that being able to take ideas, translate them into figures, turn them into action and execute them with maximum production value is what makes the profession of producer so appealing.
Andreas Panzeri
The new Head of Commercials at Condor came to film as one of these "almost classic career changers". Philipp Petersson previously studied political science, modern history and Spanish in Cologne, "with the intention of going into journalism". Chance would have it otherwise, and today he is glad about it. "I have a job that is fun, stressful and makes me absolutely happy." At the age of 25, the student received a call from a "dear friend" asking if he would like to help out as an assistant on a production at the then legendary Munich Filmhaus. Of course, he accepted with thanks and worked his way up in a fairly short time "learning by doing". Assistant production manager, production assistant and, after just one year, responsibility for small projects. That was 1995: "Filming has taken up my whole life."
Just two years later, Petersson was headhunted from Munich to an entertainment company in Florida for a project in the entertainment sector. Traveling by Learjet between New York, Los Angeles and Texas, he was allowed to market "The Three Tenors" in the USA. During this intermezzo with Pavarotti and Co, Petersson did not want to miss out on his relationship with film. He remained active as a freelance producer in Florida. "That's the interesting thing about freelancing. With different jobs, you can take the good experiences with you and sort out the negatives."
On his return to Germany, he continued to work as a freelance producer in Berlin and Düsseldorf, for example for Manfred Vogelsänger's established advertising film production company.
Petersson has always done commercials and never dreamed of feature films. "Cinema is my secret love and I also have a large DVD collection. But at the end of the day, I'm really into advertising." That has something to do with the adrenaline rushes, he says. "You work much longer on feature film projects, the tension curve is constant. The advertising film suits me better. Here the tension takes a steep upward curve, reaches a peak during filming and drops again when you're sitting happily in the telecine at the end."
But then came a phase where the spot junkie had to cut back a little. Two years after his return from the USA, a daughter was born and Petersson wanted to take more care of his young family. The ideal opportunity presented itself in southern Spain. Here, Petersson produced commercials for service productions, primarily for English and German clients. Film crews like to go to southern Spain because they not only find warm light and safe weather there, but also spectacular serpentines for car commercials, for example.
Despite plenty of sunshine, Petersson missed the glamor of the advertising world by the sea. "Being involved in a pitch and working on a commercial with creative people from planning to mixing" - this challenge lured Petersson back to Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Cologne for three years before the still freelance producer received an offer from Condor.
Zurich was looking for a production manager for an elaborate VW film. He was to spend six months filming all over the world with 360-degree camera rigs. When the spectacular film for six screens measuring five to eight meters was finished for the Autostadt in Wolfsburg, both Condor and Petersson were very impressed with the collaboration. There was therefore not much left to think about when the freelancer was offered a permanent job. Since the beginning of this year, Philipp Petersson has been the new Head of Commercials. He is currently completing his round of interviews with Swiss advertising agencies.
"We don't want to do the hard cut, that would be wrong for a company as steeped in tradition as Condor." He also gets to know the world of Swiss advertising in detail through the patron, Martin Fueter.
Petersson was only reluctant to accept this challenge because he would have to give up all the parallel worlds he had previously lived in - still in Spain and constantly changing centers in Germany - by moving to Zurich and taking on permanent responsibility. On the other hand, being able to have a say as a member of management at levels other than just production planning also has its appeal. "I already feel a strong connection with Condor in terms of content, personnel and emotion."
Petersson sees "interesting, creative opportunities in the Swiss market" because jobs here often depend more on a great idea and less on the size of the budget. In other words: A little more courage, a little less money. But the world of commercials is changing anyway. "We are still shooting with 35 millimeter cameras - the premier class. But we are also testing the possibilities of HD cams." The development of viral possibilities is observed with an open lens at Studio Bellerive. "More is happening on the Internet than on television, so it has to click and we are thinking: how can we bring the medium of film to the Internet?" Zattoo TV, a Swiss invention, is already demonstrating what will become even more sophisticated in the next two years.
What Petersson also likes about his work in Zurich is how creativity is handled "more freely here than in Germany, for example", where a lot of pressure is often passed on from the client to the agency to the director when large budgets are involved. "In Switzerland, boards are often seen as a more sensible basis for creative design." For him, an important prerequisite here is close collaboration with the "real capital of Condor - the directors" as early as possible.
In all these steps, producer Petersson sees himself most likely in the role of coach or translator between director, agency and client. This diplomatic aspect is a very important factor in film. He believes that being able to take ideas, translate them into figures, turn them into action and execute them with maximum production value is what makes the profession of producer so appealing.
Andreas Panzeri
