IMAGE FILMS

… have a bad image. Usually too long, usually boring. To find the language in the best-of phrases of marketing and communication. Interchangeable. But what happens when you put the often used shell of many of these films, as it is often used by larger medium-sized companies and industrial companies and their corporate videos, over the smallest economic unit: a one-man operation? About a fruit and vegetable vendor with mobile street sales?

That was the initial question for a film that has now been seen by more than a million people across platforms, about which practically all major German daily newspapers have written, as well as SPIEGEL, focus, Wirtschaftswoche, Managermagazin, STERN and many more.

It was discussed on television, which was even shown in a Bavarian cinema as a supporting film and which was and is presented as “best practice” by banks as well as management consultants and auditors. Who found his way to the radio and, of course, to numerous platforms and Internet forums. Which is still shown today at colleges and universities.

Dieter Schweiger, called “Banana Didi”, an always cheerful one-of-a-kind, who already had camera experience as a weather announcer for a Munich local station. His motto: “S’ Lebn is a Freid”, life is a joy. Schweiger was immediately ready for anything. Someone who enjoys the public eye — and the constant flirting with the students who shop with him. However, the rough calculation of the filming resulted in an amount that hurts a small production company.

The result of an on-site casting was the decision for an older original Munich fruit stand there. The catch: The fruit merchant feared a significant drop in sales if a camera team were to shoot at his stand for a day. More than one or two hours would not be possible. So Peter Schels, the author, managing director of al Dente Entertainment and its creative head, remembered the fruit merchant who was already standing in front of the subway entrance of the Ludwig Maximilian University during his student days.

“S’LEBN IS A FREID”

That’s the story behind the film. Al Dente Entertainment has been producing image and corporate films for quite a while. In 2013, the Munich-based production company won the German Business Film Award for the first time. With a film about the values of the building materials champion Knauf. As quasi “German champions” of image filmmakers, the filmmakers wanted to tackle exactly this project, with which they had been conceptually pregnant for some time. A fat image film about a very small company. So they set out (two interns from al Dente) to find the right fruit stand.

The project was on the verge of failure. In Frankfurt, at an airport bar, the author told the then managing director of the German branch of the Japanese lens manufacturer Sigma about the project. He was happy to cover the costs of the shoot and also provide lenses. In retrospect, one of the best investments in marketing and communication of the company ever. Two days of filming on site at the stand and in Munich’s wholesale market halls.

IMPLEMENTATION

A manageably large team of seven people. Drone footage at the Victory Gate, an interview with Schweiger in front of a black background. That’s it. After all, the script was the result of the concentrated viewing of countless image films of larger companies and thus almost wrote itself. In contrast to the phrasebook, the authentic original sounds of the fruit stand customers on site, all of which were spontaneous and not cast. Exceptions were the admittedly very pretty interns at the time (those who had done the casting) and the director’s little daughter, who is still allowed to pick up her free bananas at the stand.

The conversation with Dieter Schweiger, on the other hand, initially went in pure stupid mode. The fruit seller assumed that it was a pure fun number and felt compelled to give the most comical answers possible. To the displeasure of the interviewer, who wanted real, honest answers. The conversation became serious and thus the statements good.