I Heart Noise: Congratulations on having Woman of the Dead reach #3 on Netflix’s International Series charts!
Wolfgang: Great. Thank you.
Benito: Yeah, we’re very excited about it.
I Heart Noise: As showrunners, what exactly do you do for this production? I know that title can mean different things on different shows.
Benito: I mean, it started very early on with discovering the book through a contact of Wolfgang’s in at Random House in Germany, and all the way to devising a concept and bringing it to buyers, convincing them that they should be doing this. And in this case, it’s a bit of a unusual role. We’re both producers and showrunners, so a lot of putting together the production was done by us too. But then eventually also they’re writing together with our head writer Barbara Stepanksy in season one, and then we brought on some additional writers in season two.
Wolfgang: I think what we really loved was, and from the very beginning, and still now, and even hopefully in the future as well, is the main character of the show, Blum. She’s so rough and vindictive, and that is very fascinating and unique for us, and it was great fun to work on that and see how it works out.
I Heart Noise: I love any show that’s about vengeance with a strong female lead like Blum. Do you find a lot of people are looking for a strong lead, female lead in their shows?
Benito: Yeah, I mean, I think, as Wolfgang said, I think we don’t look for stories thinking, oh, the market is looking for this, or we’re searching for that. But when we found it, we just loved the premise and the character that Bernhard Aichner created because it’s based on a series of novels. A lot of that character that he created was there. We just found this woman who takes destiny into her own hands. Very fascinating.
Wolfgang: Yeah, I mean, we met her in the book, in the novel, of course, and then we saw her with the wonderful actress Anna Maria Mühe, and she gave it a very different thrill as well. So, it was really a wonderful journey.
I Heart Noise: How long have you worked together? I saw that you co-founded Barry Films in 2007. Were you working together before that?
Benito: You did some good research there.
Wolfgang: It’s a long time, right? It’s a long period.
Benito: We actually met in LA in 2006 and then we founded the company and we’ve been Working across the pond ever since.
I Heart Noise: Was it difficult to come up with ideas for the second season that would continue to heighten the tensions after the super heightened nature of the first season?
Benito: I mean, there was a trilogy of novels written by Bernhard Aichner, so that was definitely an inspiration to where the story went. And obviously the TV series has its own universe a bit, so we strayed a tiny bit from the book. But the thread of what Bernhard wrote is definitely there. So that was our guiding light.
I Heart Noise: Have you been happy with the responses to the second season so far?
Wolfgang: Yeah, it was overwhelming. It was fantastic. As you know, it’s this Netflix show, but it’s also in Austria where the novel originally came from, it is on the local broadcaster over there. And they were so, so supportive for us and they loved it so much. It was even bigger than the first season.
I Heart Noise: The setting for this is stunningly beautiful. Where in Austria was it filmed?
Wolfgang: On different locations in the Alps. A lot of the interiors were shot in Vienna.
Benito: Yeah. The region is Tyrol, which also supported the shoot. Then there’s a regional support, and they were great partners in getting this made.
I Heart Noise: Do you think they’ve seen an increase in tourism because of the show?
Benito: We hope so. We hope it’s an increase in tourism and not in murders.
I Heart Noise: Woman of the Dead has a very suspenseful atmosphere. How do you maintain that from season to season with different directors for each season?
Benito: I think it’s all based on the character and her strong want. You need to be fully with her. And as long as you’re with her on this journey, you’re gonna stay glued to the series. And then season two, I think it’s really the whole village that started to come into play and with all these different intricacies. There’s always some sort of conspiracy going on, but it’s not the one you think. And that’s what we’re trying to keep up.
I Heart Noise: What do you hope the audience will take away from the second season?
Wolfgang: Of the show, that they want to see a third season.
I Heart Noise: That’s my next question. Are you hoping for a third season?
Wolfgang: Well, we have a lot of ideas. Yes. I think we are brainstorming right now.
I Heart Noise: Okay, so the book series is a trilogy. Do you think you might go past the book series Would that be something you’re willing to do
Benito: Yeah, into 10 seasons. We have actually been talking with the novelist Bernhard Aichner about where the story goes, exchanging ideas, his ideas, our ideas.
Discover more from I Heart Noise
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.