The Swarm: A Director’s Cut
The Swarm is undoubtedly one of the main series events of the year 2023. With its spectacular production, thrilling story and strong message about climate change, it is set to conquer the international TV screens after its great premiere in the German-speaking markets this spring.
Director Barbara Eder tells Yako Molhov what it is like to work on such a major project, co-produced and shot in several different countries and languages with the biggest ever budget for a German TV series.
Barbara Eder
Barbara, The Swarm is the most-expensive German TV series to date, with a budget of 40 million euros. How did you come on board the project and what have been the main challenges in directing such a major project?
In order to get on board for such a big project, I had to get the trust of the broadcasters and investors involved. A budget of 40 million euros makes everyone very cautious about each decision. I guess, the fact that I had already successfully directed international shows was one door opener. But I won’t deny that all the broadcasters had to agree on me and so it took a lot of meetings and talks about my vision and ideas until I finally got the trust to direct four of eight episodes.
Anything involved with this film project was huge. The amount of broadcasters and producers was huge, the team was huge, we shot in several different languages with a cast from all over the world. We filmed in underwater studios in Brussels and built Norwegian houses in South Italy. And as fascinating as it was, it was also very hard work and involved a lot of preparation. Lots of scenes were very technical, involving special visual effects and computer animated sea creatures. But also scenes on, in or under water are a challenging by itself. So, with all this said, I guess the biggest challenge was to not get lost in the production process or the technical aspects of filmmaking, but to keep your creative vision as a director.
ZDF, France Télévisions and Rai are co-producing The Swarm alongside public broadcasters ORF in Austria and SRF in Switzerland, Scandinavia’s Nordic Entertainment Group, and Hulu Japan. Was it difficult working with so many co-producers and did they insist on having their creative input in the project?
I won’t lie, of course it is more difficult with more co-producers. And of course they have wishes and want their input heard. But I think, it was quite clear for everybody from the very start that this will only work if all parties involved are working as a team, always aiming at consensus and meeting each other in full respect. And with Frank Doelger on board, who is one of the best producers I had the opportunity to work with, extremely good in communication and mediation, we had a key person who brought all creative inputs together and made it one.
The Swarm is ZDF’s first series produced in English that was dubbed in German for local audiences. You’ve also directed Netflix’s Barbarians in which most of the characters spoke classical Latin. Is it more difficult to direct projects which are shot in foreign languages?
Directing in English is something I’ve done for years, so that wasn’t difficult. Also French or Spanish I’ve done before. But Latin is definitely a challenge when it comes to directing. For Barbarians I had to know the meaning of the lines without constantly looking into the script, so I could really follow the actor. And most important, the emotional meaning and build up of the whole scene. So, there’s definitely more preparation involved. We had some scenes in Japanese for The Swarm where I used the same technique.
Coproductions have become very popular in recent years, with broadcasters and streamers focusing on projects that have international appeal which means additional revenues. Did you have a specific list you made for yourself when directing the series with regards to its ‘internationality’?
In terms of nationality we shot in 7 different languages, our cast came from more than 12 countries, we had more than 250 crew members from all over the world. The story takes place in 12 different countries. It’s fascinating.
What are the main themes in the series that will appeal to viewers around the world in your opinion?
The Swarm deals with one of the most pressing matters of our time: Climate Change. The consequences of human behavior on our planet is something we all need to deal with or are affected by: Panedmics, floods, fires, earthquakes, unusual behavior of animals… It’s a global fear that comes with it and it goes under your skin.
The Swarm is based on Frank Schätzing’s bestseller by the same name which was published back in 2004. The main theme of the series is very contemporary and topical in 2023 but did you make many updates in the story and characters so the series stays more current?
Absolutely. We had to adjust scientific knowledge which wasn’t up to date any more. We had scientific advisors who helped us change outdated science. But also the world has changed. Twenty years ago the world wasn’t as multinational as it is now. Nowadays you have more women in science. You have more diversity. So, these were things we changed to make the novel modern and close to what we experience in our times.
The Swarm proved a hit with both German and Austrian audiences, with its debut on ZDF and ORF dominating primetime. The series, however, also attracted some criticism, including from Schätzing himself who left the production. What were the main reasons for his decision?
I think the adaptation from any novel for the screen is a highly sensitive matter. One must take into account, that the author of a novel spent hours, weeks, months, sometimes years to create his book. There’s so much love for your story that even simple changes can hurt or make you upset. So, it’s not so easy to just give it into the hands of others and have them transfer it into a TV show. I think, in our case, the basic vision of the series was clear from the beginning. It was shared by both Schätzing and the producers. The problems were to be found in story details. Certain changes were just very hard to take for the writer which led to his decision of leaving the production. I do believe this is something which happens a lot when adapting a book for the screen but I hope the writer can watch the show more distanced one day and be able to see how great it has turned out.
In order to get on board for such a big project, I had to get the trust of the broadcasters and investors involved. A budget of 40 million euros makes everyone very cautious about each decision. I guess, the fact that I had already successfully directed international shows was one door opener. But I won’t deny that all the broadcasters had to agree on me and so it took a lot of meetings and talks about my vision and ideas until I finally got the trust to direct four of eight episodes.
Anything involved with this film project was huge. The amount of broadcasters and producers was huge, the team was huge, we shot in several different languages with a cast from all over the world. We filmed in underwater studios in Brussels and built Norwegian houses in South Italy. And as fascinating as it was, it was also very hard work and involved a lot of preparation. Lots of scenes were very technical, involving special visual effects and computer animated sea creatures. But also scenes on, in or under water are a challenging by itself. So, with all this said, I guess the biggest challenge was to not get lost in the production process or the technical aspects of filmmaking, but to keep your creative vision as a director.
ZDF, France Télévisions and Rai are co-producing The Swarm alongside public broadcasters ORF in Austria and SRF in Switzerland, Scandinavia’s Nordic Entertainment Group, and Hulu Japan. Was it difficult working with so many co-producers and did they insist on having their creative input in the project?
I won’t lie, of course it is more difficult with more co-producers. And of course they have wishes and want their input heard. But I think, it was quite clear for everybody from the very start that this will only work if all parties involved are working as a team, always aiming at consensus and meeting each other in full respect. And with Frank Doelger on board, who is one of the best producers I had the opportunity to work with, extremely good in communication and mediation, we had a key person who brought all creative inputs together and made it one.
The Swarm is ZDF’s first series produced in English that was dubbed in German for local audiences. You’ve also directed Netflix’s Barbarians in which most of the characters spoke classical Latin. Is it more difficult to direct projects which are shot in foreign languages?
Directing in English is something I’ve done for years, so that wasn’t difficult. Also French or Spanish I’ve done before. But Latin is definitely a challenge when it comes to directing. For Barbarians I had to know the meaning of the lines without constantly looking into the script, so I could really follow the actor. And most important, the emotional meaning and build up of the whole scene. So, there’s definitely more preparation involved. We had some scenes in Japanese for The Swarm where I used the same technique.
Coproductions have become very popular in recent years, with broadcasters and streamers focusing on projects that have international appeal which means additional revenues. Did you have a specific list you made for yourself when directing the series with regards to its ‘internationality’?
In terms of nationality we shot in 7 different languages, our cast came from more than 12 countries, we had more than 250 crew members from all over the world. The story takes place in 12 different countries. It’s fascinating.
What are the main themes in the series that will appeal to viewers around the world in your opinion?
The Swarm deals with one of the most pressing matters of our time: Climate Change. The consequences of human behavior on our planet is something we all need to deal with or are affected by: Panedmics, floods, fires, earthquakes, unusual behavior of animals… It’s a global fear that comes with it and it goes under your skin.
The Swarm is based on Frank Schätzing’s bestseller by the same name which was published back in 2004. The main theme of the series is very contemporary and topical in 2023 but did you make many updates in the story and characters so the series stays more current?
Absolutely. We had to adjust scientific knowledge which wasn’t up to date any more. We had scientific advisors who helped us change outdated science. But also the world has changed. Twenty years ago the world wasn’t as multinational as it is now. Nowadays you have more women in science. You have more diversity. So, these were things we changed to make the novel modern and close to what we experience in our times.
The Swarm proved a hit with both German and Austrian audiences, with its debut on ZDF and ORF dominating primetime. The series, however, also attracted some criticism, including from Schätzing himself who left the production. What were the main reasons for his decision?
I think the adaptation from any novel for the screen is a highly sensitive matter. One must take into account, that the author of a novel spent hours, weeks, months, sometimes years to create his book. There’s so much love for your story that even simple changes can hurt or make you upset. So, it’s not so easy to just give it into the hands of others and have them transfer it into a TV show. I think, in our case, the basic vision of the series was clear from the beginning. It was shared by both Schätzing and the producers. The problems were to be found in story details. Certain changes were just very hard to take for the writer which led to his decision of leaving the production. I do believe this is something which happens a lot when adapting a book for the screen but I hope the writer can watch the show more distanced one day and be able to see how great it has turned out.
