From the Jury President's Perspective: Juliane Ellrich
Leading Eurobest 2023's Film Craft Jury
We interviewed Juliane Ellrich, Partner and Executive Producer, Zauberberg Productions, as she prepares to lead the Eurobest 2023 Film Craft Jury.
What is the best bit of creative advice you’ve ever heard?
For me, it might have been trust in your first feeling, the process and be persistent. The first idea is usually the best one and overthinking doesn‘t make it any better. Relax.
"Give it time and play the game for the long-haul. "
Juliane Ellrich
Partner and Executive Producer, Zauberberg Productions
President Film Craft
Is there a legacy piece of European creativity within Film Craft you’d like to shout about?
CHICKEN | DAIMLER
JUNG VON MATT, STUTTGART | BRONZE FILM LIONS | 2014
Why did you select this?
There is a lot of great work that has come out of the European market. I think, for me, “Mercedes Benz - Chicken” is one of those pieces. The creative is so simple but the craft is fantastic and the effect it had, also on other brands, was great.
What moment in your career defined where you are today?
When I met my now partners at Zauberberg, Andrea Roman-Perse and Frank Siegl. They ultimately made me into the producer I am today and I am very fortunate to also consider both of them friends of mine.
How has European creativity in Film Craft evolved over the last few years and what trends do you expect to see this year?
I’m hoping to see more humorous storytelling and storytelling in general again. In the past years European creativity has gotten a lot bolder, especially the German market which has seen a lot of international agencies open up their doors in Berlin. Europe has great talent that is just waiting for a chance. I’m hoping that’s the way we will continue, to give young talent the chance to thrive.
In your opinion, what creates the best conditions for creative success?
Trust from everyone. It creates an environment where everyone is prone to go bolder and usually that’s what you want with an idea.
What does ‘creative excellence’ mean to you?
It’s doing something groundbreaking or executing a great idea to perfection. It has to be something I can watch over and over and keep discovering details.
What’s the most common piece of advice or feedback you find yourself giving your teams regarding reaching ‘creative excellence’?
Give it time and play the game for the long-haul. Success doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a lot of people to make a great campaign that you don’t always have control over. So be patient.
What’s the one piece of advice you would give to entrants entering work into the Awards?
Being bold and longer is not always better. Some stories are better told in 45 seconds than 5 minutes. It’s a form of art to be able to tell a story in a short amount of time and most commercials are written for those formats. Just because you can tell them in 5 minutes doesn’t mean you should.
Why does having your work benchmarked matter?
The creative industry loves to celebrate itself and having your work recognised in front of an audience is always great - no matter the industry. People are vain and what better way to speak to that than have your work benchmarked. But ultimately we don‘t work for our competition or peers, we do it for the audience and the biggest deal is to get the attention of the audience out there. That is the actual benchmark - getting people to love a piece of work.
What’s the best bit of advice you can give to creative leaders looking to foster creative excellence in their teams?
Give everyone room to develop their skills and if you think an idea is good pursue that idea and fight for it. And, rewriting typically doesn’t make things better but rather waters them down.
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