‘Berlin Station’ comes to EPIX starting Sunday

Francine Brokaw Community Columnist Oct 15, 2016 (0)

In the new EPIX original drama “Berlin Station,” which premieres Sunday on EPIX, the story revolves around an Edward Snowden-like character who is outing undercover agents.

The damage he is doing will be ongoing for many years, but he feels it is his duty to publicize secrets, even if they are aiding terrorists.

The city of Berlin is very much a part of the story. Executive Producer/Creator Olen Steinhauer told a media gathering how he came up with the story.

“Well, as far as the initial inspiration for it, I have friends in Berlin, and my family has gone there to visit friends," he said. "And one of our visits, as we were moving from Europe -- we were living in Budapest before that -- to America, we stayed with them, and there were these stickers around that said, ‘ein bett für Snowden’ [Which translates to ‘A bed for Snowden.’] And these stickers were all around town. And a couple months later, when the idea of the show first came to me, that was what I remembered.”

In "Berlin Station," he said, the city itself is a character.

"This show can only happen -- this story could only happen in Berlin. We were insistent on keeping things real.”

As the world is discovering now, Germany is an unconventional place and Berlin is a city of quagmires.

“It's Berlin," he said. "You find ‘Refugees welcome’ stickers all over the place, and it sort of continues on.”

The current situation in Germany with terrorist attacks is front and center on everyone’s minds as the country can be a gathering place for Middle East refugees and terrorist cells.

The CIA Berlin station is the focal point of the series, with the stories of the individuals working in the station unfolding along with the story of the whistleblower. As the CIA agents anxiously wait to find out who will be exposed next and what damage that will cause, their personal lives continue.

"In the original scripts, there were all of these stickers, 'ein bett für Shaw,' you know. That sort of fell out, but there are versions of that throughout, these posters that go up because Berlin has a long history of sort of flirting with radical politics. And there was such a big movement going on, and it is still going on to some degree now, to protect whistleblowers, that it seemed like a natural, you know, plot to start working on. And it goes further now. It's Berlin. You find 'Refugees welcome' stickers all over the place, and it sort of continues on.”

Actor Richard Jenkins said aspects of the script began creeping into his regular life.

“We live in that world through the script, and you start not to trust anybody," he said. "I mean, that's the thing that really was amazing for me is that I'm telling this guy something. 'Should I be telling him this?' I don't know how they do it. I don't understand how you live your life as a spy and then live your life. And we did meet a couple of CIA people there, who are just these folks who have jobs that happen to be CIA agents, but you know that it's so much more than that. It's a fascinating predicament to be in.”

The series is as much a show about spies as it is a show about individuals and how they interact with each other and “civilians.”

“And trust in this series is a huge issue,” Jenkins said. “There's a lot of betrayal and interesting betrayal, not just betrayal for betrayal's sake, but for a reason.”

For the characters, they are always stuck in a predicament.

“ 'Are you really my friend? Were you my friend? Can I count on you?' And it changes constantly,” Jenkins said with amazement.

“Berlin Station” is a serialized drama that needs to be seen from start to finish to get the whole story. It promises to be a thought-provoking series for viewers.

Motherboard NEWSLETTER

Podcast: Traveling to 'Berlin Station' and 'Americatown' with the Creators
Written by CARL FRANZEN
October 21, 2016 // 03:25 PM EST
What do you do when your dirtiest secrets are revealed to the world? That's one of the questions at the heart of Berlin Station, a new TV series from the cable network EPIX, which explores the fallout of leaks of classified information from several CIA bureaus around the globe, especially the titular one in Germany.

On the latest episode of Radio Motherboard, we spoke with two of the show's writers, Brad Winters and Larry Cohen, about how to craft a riveting, realistic show about spies and spycraft in the era of Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and Wikileaks.

Winters and Cohen are also the writers of a new, completely separate sci-fi graphic novel series called Americatown, which explores a very different question: What happens if Americans become a massive immigrant population, illegally entering other countries in search of work?

Americatown is set in the proverbial "five minutes in the future," where technology such as holograms, augmented reality, and ultra-skinny transparent smartphones are commonplace, at least among wealthier parts of society. We spoke to the writing duo about their own use of technology and why immigration remains such a controversial issue in the United States, a country quite literally built by immigrants.


You can stream the premiere of Berlin Station and the second episode for free on EPIX. We've also embedded the free YouTube version of the first episode below.

Berlin Station Explores Hector and Daniel's Complicated Relationship
Jim Halterman
November 5, 2016 8:00 am
_DSC6807-Bearbeitet.tif, berlin station
Epix

The complicated synergy between CIA cronies Hector and Daniel (Rhys Ifans and Richard Armitage, above) will be revealed in flashbacks this week on Epix’s new original series, which follows a group of modern spies working in Germany.

RELATED: Watch the Stars of Berlin Station Talk About New Spy Drama on EPIX (VIDEO)

“They were on an operation together which went wrong,” teases Armitage of the relationship. “It was quite treacherous, and it’s bound them together. They know how each other ticks, and that becomes pretty useful.” The actor adds that Hector’s hard living and risk-taking both serve as a precautionary tale for Daniel’s own journey in their dangerous line of work. “I feel like Hector’s trotting a path that Daniel’s not far behind in terms of his relationship to the institution and the work that he’s doing.”




Meanwhile, CIA Deputy Chief Robert Kirsch (Leland Orser) works his own agenda in getting CIA Chief Steven Frost (Richard Jenkins) a promotion, but he may underestimate Frost’s own wants. “Everyone has a secret that they’re trying to keep covered up,” Orser says. “It’s a very jarring and unsettling episode because everyone is at the risk of being exposed.”

Berlin Station, Sunday, Nov. 6, 9/8c, Epix

#BerlinStation
Exclusive 'Berlin Station' Episode 4 Preview Shows The Tension Rising: What Does DeJean Have Planned?
November 4, 2016 at 17:39PM

Posted by Ricky Derisz @rickyd90
Staff Writer at MP. "Holy cow, Rick! I didn't know hanging out with you was making me smarter!"
Ricky Derisz
*Warning: This post contains spoilers for Episodes 1-3 of Berlin Station, as well as conspiracy theories on Episode 4.*

As the saying goes, there's a thin line between success and failure. Add in external pressure and high stakes decision making against a ticking clock and that could result in the violent loss of innocent life, meaning those lines become even thinner, splitting into barely a hair's width.

The world of Berlin Station is such an environment, with pressure building internally and externally, from both the CIA itself and the whistleblowing revolutionary Thomas Shaw. The intense exclusive Movie Pilot preview clip below for this Sunday's episode "By Way of Deception" shows agent Daniel Miller (#RichardArmitage) making a risky decision:

The Pressure Is Building In Berlin Station

The exhilarating pace of the first three instalments has already shown a rapid and unrelenting unraveling of the status quo surrounding protagonist Miller. A fresh Shaw leak revealed Deputy Director Jemma Moore's (April Grace) support of torture, leading to her resignation and leaving Miller's only point of contact with the upper echelons of the agency non-existent. All the while, Langley operatives meticulously searched for dirt on the station's crew in an attempt to dispel further leaks before they arrive.

All of these events are happening while the organization also tracks potential terrorist Aleksandre Iosava (Merab Ninidze). The previous episode revealed that the CIA's trusted informant actively withheld information and seemingly agreed to become involved in a questionable and potentially sinister operation.

Aside from tracking terrorists, the pressure on Miller is increasing. With Moore a becoming a distant memory, veteran and possible replacement Stephen Frost has uncovered the fact Miller has an ulterior motive, offering a helping hand in the mission. Although Miller has declined, it looks like he may need some support.

In addition, Hector DeJean (#RhysIfans) is upping the ante, bugging Daniel's phone in the previous episode, and overhearing his conversation with Frost. Interestingly #BerlinStation hasn't toyed with its audience by revealing early on that DeJean has links with Thomas Shaw. Instead of trying to work out who is the culprit, the question now is, what will DeJean do with the information?

Episode 4 Could Reveal How Far DeJean Is Willing To Go


The nerve shattering preview clip only adds to the mystery. On one hand, it looks as though DeJean has deliberately sabotaged the initial plan, possibly safe in the knowledge that Miller would want to physically enter dangerous territory to plant the required malware. Is DeJean's plan to force Miller into making an error, so he can then leak the information, thus throwing him off the scent?

The question is, just how far will DeJean go? The end of Episode 2 saw what appeared to be — from the audiences perspective at least — a thinly veiled threat aimed at Daniel, while they stood precariously on a Berlin rooftop. Considering the pair appear to be friends, could DeJean really be a threat to Miller's life?

Then there's DeJean's motivation. He is clearly agitated at the system following the lack of action to protect informant Faisel (Kerem Can) from facing an inevitable death sentence, as well as claiming the CIA sent him to "hell." Is his overall aim to see the collapse of the agency as a whole?

Will Miller uncover the mystery of Thomas Shaw? [Credit: Epix]

The Thomas Shaw identity is also intriguing. While DeJean appears to have taken responsibility, we already know others have been involved (such as the mysterious killer who DeJean is in contact with) but the signs suggest this could be something much bigger, even in some ways appearing to be a hyper-charged version of real life hacktivists, Anonymous.

Finally, is Daniel Miller the good guy we assume he is from the opening episode? Only time — or Thomas Shaw — will tell.

Episode 4 of Berlin Station will air on Sunday November 6 on Epix.

POLL
Will Daniel Miller complete his mission?

No. The odds are completely against him.
Yes. He'll discover the identity of Thomas Shaw.

BERLIN STATION: Rhys Ifans on new CIA espionage series- Exclusive Interview
The actor talks the CIA and Glenda Jackson

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Contributing Writer
Posted: November 6th, 2016 / 11:03 AM


Rhys Ifans plays C.I.A. operative Hector DeJean in Epix’s new Sunday night espionage thriller BERLIN STATION. In the series created by Olen Steinhauer, Ifans’ Hector is struggling with a male asset who endangered by the station’s refusal to help, and who is also in love with Hector. Hector also has quite a few secrets of his own.

Ifans is currently on the big screen playing an even less scrupulous American intelligence officer in SNOWDEN, directed by Oliver Stone. The Welsh actor starred opposite his real-life twin Llyr in the crime black comedy TWIN TOWN. Other film credits include NOTTING HILL, HANNIBAL RISING, ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, ANONYMOUS and THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Ifans also plays Mycroft Holmes on CBS’ series ELEMENTARY and recently appeared in ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, which also featured BERLIN STATION costar Richard Armitage.

ASSIGNMENT X: Did you and Richard Armitage cross paths on ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS?

RHYS IFANS: We had one scene that we both appeared in, but he was unrecognizable [under prosthetics makeup]. We certainly didn’t know each other then anyway. I only met Richard on this.

AX: Were you looking to do another series at this time, or is it just that the part was good and it came along?

IFANS: Well, the part was great, and the journey that Hector takes in this series is fantastic for an actor. For me to play, it’s really quite intense and expansive and right now, I feel as if I’ve excavated all there is to excavate from Hector DeJean, but, given Olen’s skill as a writer, I’m sure there’s more in that crazy mind of his. So let’s see. I’m very open to all outcomes.

AX: Were you looking to play an American?

IFANS: No. That wouldn’t have been a criteria, really. Not necessarily, no. But the character happened to be. I was looking for a good script, and this was a great script, and a very interesting character, who happens to be American. Any aspect of a character that’s different to yourself is always an appealing challenge, I guess.

AX: Did you have an opinion of the American C.I.A. before becoming involved in this, and has this affected your opinion, or has your opinion affected your performance?

IFANS: Well, the American C.I.A., to put it politely, has a checkered past. But like any secret service, the very currency of the secret service is one of lies, deceit, illusion. Regardless of being American or not, that’s the nature of a secret service.

AX: England has MI6 …

IFANS: Yeah, MI6, who, many would argue, are the worst of the worst, or the best of the best. It depends on which side you’re on. They are very shall we say dark entities in any society. What interested me with this project was how a human being with a moral fiber and an ethical fiber operate within a social structure whose very foundation is one of lies and untruths? How do you survive that as a “good” human being?

AX: Hector seems like he’s uncomfortable with some aspects of what he’s doing …

IFANS: Yes, he certainly is. Hector has a dark and checkered past, which I cannot reveal, but I think Hector’s take on it is similar to mine in a sense, in that there are some things the C.I.A. does which are good. There are some things which are suspect. Hector’s moral map, or moral code, because of his past, is very finely tuned. He joined the C.I.A. because he thought the C.I.A. was genuinely a force for good. Hector’s back story is that he was part of the Peace Corps in Serbia and he felt frustrated by his utter inability to stop, in this case, hundreds of thousands of Muslim men being killed through genocide. He felt powerless, and he felt, in joining the C.I.A., he would actually have some teeth, which is very true. So like everything, nothing is ever black and white.

AX: Is Serbia the back story how he wound up recruiting his asset?

IFANS: No. That would have been a back story from ten, twenty years ago now. That’s a back story that I invented for myself as to why Hector would – why someone of Hector’s ethics would want to be part of the CIA.

AX: Is Hector gay or is he just playing along to keep the asset cooperative?

IFANS: Hector is gay when it’s a matter of national security, let’s put it like that.

AX: What about when he’s off the clock? Or do we ever see him off the clock?

IFANS: Well, espionage certainly isn’t a nine-to-five job. But all shall be revealed, I’m afraid to say, on that question. I’m going to exercise my First Amendment.

AX: And are we meeting Hector at a point where he’s becoming disillusioned with what he’s doing, or he’s just at a point of particular complexity with what he’s doing?

IFANS: Well, I think the kind of work that these guys do is in constant moral flux, depending on what’s thrown at the Western world. More often than not, Western governments in retrospect don’t react mindfully to what’s being thrown at them. Sometimes there is an emotional response. And Hector finds that difficult. Although he’s an emotional animal himself, he’s not comfortable with his government responding emotionally to situations.

AX: Do you feel there’s sort of a thematic linkage between BERLIN STATION and SNOWDEN?

IFANS: Well, of course there is. That’s inevitable.

AX: They talk about Edward Snowden in STATION …

IFANS: Yeah. That’s how the showbiz cookie crumbles sometimes, more often than not. So yeah, there are crossovers thematically.

AX: Can you talk about what else you’re doing?

IFANS: I’m … in the theatre in London in a production of KING LEAR playing Lear’s Fool [which opened this past week and runs through December 3]. King Lear [is] played by Glenda Jackson, one of our great actors. She’s been a politician for twenty-five years and this is her first foray back into the theatre – a kinder audience by far I’d imagine than the House of Parliament. So I’m really excited to be working with someone who truly is a legend. I’m thrilled to be doing that.

AX: And what would you most like people to know about BERLIN STATION?

IFANS: That it’s a real exploration of what it is to be human in a sometimes inhuman corporation.

This interview was conducted during Epix’s portion of the summer 2016 Television Critics Association press tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

BERLIN STATION: Richard Jenkins on new EPIX series – Exclusive Interview
The actor talks playing a CIA station chief
COMMENTS (0)
By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Contributing Writer
Posted: October 15th, 2016 / 02:04 AM
Richard Jenkins in BERLIN STATION | ©2016 Epix

Richard Jenkins in BERLIN STATION | ©2016 Epix

Richard Jenkins has a long, impressive resume that include an Emmy win for his lead actor turn in OLIVE KITTRIDGE and an Oscar nomination for his supporting work in THE VISITOR. A smattering of the Illinois-born actor’s other film credits include SILVERADO, HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, WOLF, STEP BROTHERS, LET ME IN and CABIN IN THE WOODS. Jenkins is currently working for director Guillermo Del Toro in THE SHAPE OF WATER.

However, until now, Jenkins has only been a regular in one series, HBO’s SIX FEET UNDER. Epix’s BERLIN STATION, which premieres Sunday, October 16, has brought Jenkins back to television.

In BERLIN STATION, created by Olen Steinhauer, Jenkins plays Steven Frost, station chief for the C.I.A.’s office in the German city. Steven has his hands full professionally and personally. One agent, Daniel Miller (Richard Armitage), is keeping secrets, and another, Valerie Edwards (Michelle Forbes), apparently angling for the station chief job herself. Meanwhile, the married Steven’s affair with his secretary Sandra Abe (Tamlyn Tomita) has come unraveled, and a mysterious figure called Thomas Shaw is leaking secrets.

ASSIGNMENT X: This is only your second series. Do you prefer doing feature films, is it just that there aren’t the roles that you’re looking for in series, or is it just that an American TV series schedule is not something you want to deal with?

RICHARD JENKINS: There’s no rhyme or reason to anything I do [laughs]. I gravitate to what is interesting and what I read and think “I’d like to do this.” So that’s kind of my world. Whoever wants to use me, I let them use me. But I don’t have any grand plans. I just go where the work is.

AX: What appealed to you about BERLIN STATION?

JENKINS: It was human. I expected it to be one thing – I expected it to be just a spy thriller – and I found that it was about these people that do this job, and what they’re like, and what their lives are like, and what their personal lives are like. How does it intersect with their personal lives? And I thought it was just fascinating. I gravitate to things that are about real human beings, not archetypes or caricatures.

AX: Your character Steven Frost seems like he’s operating at a level of exhaustion …?

JENKINS: Yeah, I’m tired. He’s been doing it a long time, but something happens a little bit later that changes all that. This whole Thomas Shaw thing is exhausting for anybody half his age.

AX: Is it tough to play that level of fatigue without becoming fatigued for real?

JENKINS: No, it’s somebody my age, so I understand it, and I understand the feeling. It’s not physical fatigue, it’s mental and emotional fatigue. [As the character], everywhere you turn, you can’t seem to get a handle on this. And if you’ve been doing it, it’s one thing when you’re young. When you’ve been doing it as long as this guy has been doing it, I think it’s almost twice as frustration, because you can’t see – any of the things you’ve learned don’t seem to help.

AX: Is there anything different about playing somebody who’s the boss, as opposed to playing somebody who’s a worker or somebody who’s off on their own?

JENKINS: Yeah, you tell them what to do. [laughs] It’s interesting. You think you carry more baggage than the others, but when you’re playing one of the others, you always think you’re carrying more baggage than anybody else.

AX: Do you see any similarities between Steven Frost and Sitterson, your character in CABIN IN THE WOODS, since they’re both in charge of large and dangerous organizations? I’m assuming nothing quite so bizarre happens in BERLIN STATION.

JENKINS: In CABIN IN THE WOODS, nothing ever happened. Everything always went as planned, until that day. For these two guys, who were joking and having fun and talking about their weekend, and what they were going to do, they really didn’t have any issues. The world ran smoothly, for all intents and purposes. And then, all of a sudden, the s**t hit the fan, as they say [laughs]. And so yeah, it’s totally different. This guy – I think the people who are in this world deal with putting out fires all the time. So it must be exhausting.

AX: Did you do any kind of research for the role, as far as reading any ex-CIA officer’s memoirs or anything like that?

JENKINS: No, it’s just from the page, from the script. You try to bring what you have to offer to it.

AX: Did you actually shoot in Berlin?

JENKINS: Oh, yes. Five months. They were there for almost six, but I had a play to direct. And so they had to get me out by April.

AX: What was your play?

JENKINS: OKLAHOMA! In Providence, Rhode Island at Trinity Repertory Company.

AX: The musical – are you a musical performer yourself?

JENKINS: No, I’m a director, in the theatre. Not a lot. I work with my wife, Sharon Jenkins, who’s a choreographer. So we do musicals together. We like to rethink them, find another way to do them, try to do them in a way they’ve never been done before.

AX: Is there anything different about working in Berlin than working in the U.S.?

JENKINS: Well, it’s Berlin, and it’s just a great city, a great culture. There’s so much going on. It took a couple of months to get situated, organized. A lot of it reminds me of big cities everywhere, and yet there’s something distinctive about Berlin. I see why they shot there. Everywhere you turn, there’s something interesting going on.

AX: Because of course the real-life CIA is still very active in Berlin, did you ever look around and go, “Now, I wonder if that guy is …?”

JENKINS: Yeah, you do. Because that’s part of the thing. And I think that’s one of the reasons they chose to do it in Berlin, is that it’s a history of spies and it’s the epicenter of intrigue and cool stuff. But you do learn in this who to trust.

AX: Do you particularly like the espionage genre, or is this just where the good part was?

JENKINS: It was the part. I read the part, loved the part, loved the series, liked the people. The creative team is really great. Great cast. And it was just a lot of fun. I hope people like it.

This interview was conducted during Epix’s portion of the summer 2016 Television Critics Association press tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Spy drama Berlin Station filmed in German capital

17/11/2016

by Nick Goundry

Berlin StationModern day spy drama Berlin Station filmed largely in the German capital as a co-production between Paramount Television, Anonymous Content and Studio Babelsberg.

The ten-part series tells the story of a CIA agent who relocates to the agency’s Berlin field office as part of a clandestine internal operation to find the source of an intelligence leak.

“We wanted to show Berlin as an interesting and lively modern city, and authenticity was always a key word,” says Michael Scheel, the series line producer, in comments to KFTV.

“The plan was always to shoot where the story took place, to get that feeling of Berlin and its special vibration as a city.

“Other places in Europe have doubled for Berlin in different productions, but Berlin is unique as a city.”

The production team’s dedication to authenticity extended to ensuring that story details accommodated the specific geography of well-known public spaces like Berlin Alexanderplatz railway station in the city centre. Even the direction of travel was kept accurate when characters used public transport.

Scheel praises the local city’s authorities – including the Berlin Brandenburg Film Commission – for helping facilitate the shoot.

“One of the central challenges we faced was shorter prep times to arrange filming permits, and also for sorting out parking in the centre of the city,” Scheel says. “It’s a major operation when you have equipment trucks and trailers for a location shoot, but the local authorities were great.”

The Berlin Station team did venture outside the city, opting to double La Palma in the western Canary Islands for Panama and Morocco.

“Filming in the Canary Islands was partly a financial decision, but it was also a practical one,” Scheel says. “It was easier to get the crew to Canary Islands than it was to travel all the way to Panama. La Palma offered the jungle scenery we were looking for and it was also easy to find locations that looked like Morocco.”

Germany is becoming more popular as an international filming location. In 2015 the US terrorism drama Homeland filmed an entire season in Germany – becoming the first American TV series to do so – and Marvel spent four weeks filming scenes locally for Captain America: Civil War, including a key action sequence at Leipzig Airport.

The country faces limitations with its filming incentive programme – the German Federal Film Fund is capped at just €10m – but productions like Berlin Station are likely to help boost Germany’s international profile.

For more on filming in Germany see our production guide.

Berlin Station': Spies, Lies and Shooting on Location
"They wanted to get away from the old cliché of the 1960s spy movie," says cinematographer Hagen Bogdanski.

10/26/2016 12:45 PM Eastern
By : Kevin H. Martin

Checkpoint Charlie. The Wall. While the city is no longer divided as it was in the years after World War II, Berlin will forever be linked with these touch points of the Cold War. For CIA analyst Daniel Miller (Richard Armitage), who spent his youth in that very different Berlin of old, returning there to root out a whistleblower means having to face some ethically compromising situations while relearning the lay of the land.

Launching on cable network EPIX with a ten-episode season on October 16, Berlin Station is a contemporary spy series that follows Daniel Miller, who has just arrived at the CIA station in Berlin, Germany. Miller’s clandestine mission is to determine the identity of a now-famous whistleblower masquerading as “Thomas Shaw.” Guided by jaded veteran Hector DeJean (Rhys Ifans), Daniel learns to contend with the rough-and-tumble world of the field officer—agent-running, deception, danger and moral compromises.

Produced by Paramount Television and Anonymous Content, the series’ creator/executive producer is bestselling author Olen Steinhauer. Bradford Winters (The Americans) is the showrunner and an executive producer. The ensemble cast includes Richard Jenkins, Michelle Forbes, Leland Orser and Tamlyn Tomita.

To shoot the series, the producers turned to cinematographer Hagen Bogdanski, BVK, best known for the German film The Lives of Others, which received the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Regarding his work on Berlin Station, Bogdanski says, “They wanted to get away from the old cliché of the 1960s spy movie. The politics and plot turns are contemporary and relevant, and telling this story against the backdrop of modern Berlin, which is so very vibrant and packed with people, meant conveying the energy of this town, which was very appealing to me.”

Part of the attraction for Bogdanski was that the series was shot principally on location, with stage work limited primarily to the CIA station interiors. Even with 110 filming days, however, Bogdanski and crew would be shooting 10 to 12 pages at two to three different locales per day. “The 1st AD was essential for getting things scheduled so we would be shooting in the right light both in early morning and evenings,” Bogdanski explains. “At many of these places we were shooting interiors as well, so that meant having a crew to pre-rig the lighting. The good part was that we had no walls to take out—because that isn’t an option out in the world—but we had to be able to shoot within minutes of arrival at each location. My gaffer had LED light boxes that could be wheeled in and turned on. It is amazing what you can do with them—we could handle any kind of changes to color immediately, which sped things up tremendously.”

Bogdanski also exploited existing location lighting for night work, relying on it as primary illumination and supplementing only to put the actors in a good light. “We’re on [ARRI] Alexa, and the real advantage with night shoots is that you can go to [ISO] 1600 without noticing the push,” he relates. “We carried two and sometimes three ARRI Alexa XTs, along with an Alexa Mini. That smaller camera became a real workhorse for us in all the tight spaces, and I used it in handheld and Steadicam mode.”

Footage was acquired in 2K ProRes, with DIT Daniel Pieper backing up drives prior to delivery to ARRI Post in Berlin. Digital dailies would be uploaded to the cloud, with editorial taking place in Los Angeles. Bogdanski chose a LUT that allowed him to achieve most of his desired look right out of the gate. “I always shoot with the idea that what you see in dailies is what you are going to see in the final,” he declares. “By locking in a look and style up front, and reviewing this with the colorist, we get him on board with the idea that the DI will be about corrections and enhancements, not major tweaking. We use the digital intermediate to polish, knowing we’re already 90 percent of the way there.”

The interior of Berlin Station, which includes a security entrance as well as the windowless office space within, was built on a stage at Studio Babelsberg near Berlin. “We stayed away from traditional lighting on the station interiors,” Bogdanski acknowledges. “Instead, it was all industrial LED lighting, on dimmers, primarily top-lit from the visible ceiling fixtures. That way when we came in each morning, we could turn things on and be ready to shoot. When you’re doing 16 pages per day with multiple cameras, that is a huge aid.” While the DP preferred to avoid shooting in both directions when possible, he did often shoot with one camera at 90 degrees to A-camera, and also with cameras side by side for wide and close coverage.

The office set contains a large wall of monitors depicting world situations; the monitors are operated via media server. Much of this and other surveillance imagery was captured by second unit DP and operator Ralph Kaechele using up to six Sony Alpha A7s cameras with Metabones adapters and Canon EF 16-35mm lenses, augmented by as many as 12 custom-rigged 4K GoPro HERO4 Black Edition units.

Kaechele explains that the DIT and cloud support each played a part in providing him with necessary reference imagery when matching to first unit. “Cloud support helped me in communicating with main unit directors about their needs when it came down to shoot parts of scenes they started and I had to finish or complement. [But] since the turnaround for digital dailies in the cloud system was often too long, the DIT became essential, preparing drives [that allowed] me to look at main unit footage.”

Kaechele sometimes worked from storyboards, though some directors just issued verbal descriptions. “Once main unit and second unit were shooting and the machine was running, it was much tougher to get briefings from directors,” he recalls, “so I would try to meet them during lunch break or talk to them on set in between takes. My schedule also filled up really quickly and prep time got shorter and shorter. It’s always good to have a battle plan on big action scenes with lots of talent, crew and gear, but I think it shouldn’t restrict you from making creative choices on the day. I do like working both ways and therefore also really enjoyed days when the directors handed me entire scenes and all we had talked about were story beats and emotions. I was free to direct and set up angles as I felt appropriate.”

Second unit tackled many pursuit sequences, allowing Kaechele to use a Moving Cine Company X2 arm and a Technocrane, and occasionally work from 65-meter cherry pickers. “There is a pretty big shootout scene, where a hostage situation goes bad,” recalls Kaechele. “Main unit shot all the ‘drama work’ leading up to the first gunshot. At that point I took over and shot the remaining scenes and angles, naturally including principals when needed, and body doubles/stunt people when possible. We shot all the action scenes in real time 23.978 fps since we wanted to have an authentic and realistic feeling. So no slow motion and no lock-off crash boxes.” Second unit shot 10 days of aerial work using a Skynamic Cinema Drone system carrying an Alexa Mini.

One episode takes the concept of “drowning in paperwork” to nearly Brazil-like extremes, when an office in the station becomes flooded. “Babelsberg has a big tank in one stage and we built a copy of the Richard Jenkins character’s office in it,” says Kaechele. “A scene like this that includes a principal requires full control—water level, temperature and chemical constitution need to be just right and to be monitored all the time.” The scene took four weeks of prep and lensed for three days, with underwater specialist Jens Winkler and crew building waterproof practicals to match the office originals.

Kaechele relied on a Hydroflex underwater housing for the Alexa XT and a Hydroflex Bag for the Mini, working with the 15mm-40mm T2.8 Angenieux Optimo zooms. This configuration allowed the DP to adjust focal lengths quickly while staying true to the overall visual tone established by first unit, which entailed staying tight on the characters rather than executing the typical wide “spectacle” view for underwater action. “We also lit the set with waterproofed HMIs and other HMIs above the water,” he notes. “There were two shots when we had to suspend the camera underneath the ceiling with water gushing down right next to it. Key grip Alex Zielke did a fantastic job to mount the Hydroflex from above onto a waterproof remote head.”

While not lacking for action, Berlin Station’s prime focus remains on the personal aspect—specifically the emotional toll associated with espionage. “Though this aspect doesn’t carry through for the whole season, we begin by seeing Berlin through [Miller’s] eyes, remembering the Berlin of old while having to adjust to the modern reality of it,” concludes Bogdanski. “That’s like the movie memories audiences carry of Berlin too, so there’s an existing connection to play off. We want viewers to feel his dilemma: how can I adjust to this and do my job? That was one goal for shooting, and I hope we succeeded.”

14 Shows to Binge Watch Over Thanksgiving Weekend

[...]

“Berlin Station”

Where to watch: EPIX

Time commitment: 6 hours

Reason to binge: Epix’s original series efforts are off to a good start with this high-gloss spy thriller that makes great use of Richard Jenkins, Michelle Forbes and Richard Armitage. Half of the season has already aired, so now’s the perfect time to pull into the station and catch up.

[...]

BERLIN STATION: Creator Olen Steinhauer talks Season 1 – Exclusive Interview
The series creator talks about the CIA and more

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Contributing Writer
Posted: December 13th, 2016 / 02:12 AM


Olen Steinhauer is a successful novelist (the Milo Weaver series, YALTA BOULEVARD QUINTET) who decided to write a television series. BERLIN STATION is the result. The Epix series, now in its first season Sunday nights and renewed for a second, takes place at the title C.I.A. location. Richard Armitage, Rhys Ifans, Michelle Forbes, Leland Orser and Richard Jenkins star as some of the operatives circling one another while someone is leaking information.

ASSIGNMENT X: Did you start BERLIN STATION as a novel and then decide to make it a TV series instead?

OLEN STEINHAUER: No. Actually, I started it as a TV series, and then, seeing as that’s a ridiculous idea to think you can produce a TV series, I thought, “Okay, if nobody wants it, then I’ll write a novel based on it,” but luckily, I didn’t have to.

AX: Is this a co-production between Epix and a German company?

STEINHAUER: Studio Babelsburg in Berlin is involved. And they’ve been around for over a hundred years. They have that fabulous book. They did METROPOLIS. So they go way back.

AX: What kind of research did you get to do?

STEINHAUER: We got the State Department to allow us to get a tour of the [American] embassy [in Berlin], we got a special tour of the embassy, so that we could figure out the design aesthetic. Marco Bittner Rosser, our [production designer], used that to create this whole station, which you saw, and it’s modeled after a lot of the design inside of the embassy. But we also got special permission, which a certain other show didn’t get, to shoot outside the embassy, which you had to go straight up to the State Department for that.

AX: When you were casting this, were you looking at people who seemed like real CIA people? Richard Jenkins, Rhys Ifans and Richard Armitage have all played intelligence community people before …

STEINHAUER: No, actually. In a way, although we make sort of a midseason shift into more thriller territory, it’s really more of an espionage drama. So we were just trying to find topnotch actors who could pull off the roles. It’s the basic conceit of the show that these are just normal people. So to go out of our way to find people who had played espionage characters before would have been a step too far, I think.

AX: You have a ten-episode first season. Was it hard to write it so that it was open-ended enough to allow for a second season?

STEINHAUER: Well, in the ending, there is closure. You have the satisfaction of closure, and to me, to continue on, you’ve just got to make sure everybody’s alive [laughs], by and large.

AX: And what would you most like people to know about BERLIN STATION?

STEINHAUER: [long pause, laughs] It’s like my novels. It uses spy craft, but that’s not its interest. Its interest is in, what does a difficult job do to people? And it’s about the human factor in international relations. There’s a basic question of, at what point does the human cost of foreign policy just undermine it completely? And you can do that on the large scale, thinking of drones blowing up weddings or cities, or on the smaller level, where you have characters who are harmed by American foreign policy, but just individually, in small ways. And that in a way is what’s most interesting.

This interview was conducted during Epix’s portion of the 2016 summer Television Critics Association press tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

How actor Richard Jenkins got from DeKalb to 'Berlin Station'

Tracy SwartzContact ReporterChicago Tribune

Richard Jenkins was shooting a movie in Toronto when the Cubs got their Hollywood ending last month.

"I couldn't find a TV," Jenkins told the Tribune by phone this week. "The sound truck had a TV on so I was running back and forth. I had to shoot the scene and one of the producers came to me with the Cubs game on the phone, but it was on a delay."

The DeKalb native said he heard yelling from the sound truck before he saw the Cubs had won the World Series. He said the crew members on "The Shape of Water" set were congratulating him because he's a lifelong Cubs fan, though "I didn't make the play. I'm just watching."

Jenkins, 69, is usually in the thick of the drama. He's appeared in more than 100 movies and TV shows, including HBO's "Six Feet Under" and "Olive Kitteridge," and currently plays CIA station chief Steven Frost in Epix's "Berlin Station." The spy thriller's Season 1 finale is set to air 8 p.m. Sunday.

"I like the fact that ('Berlin Station') wasn't just about solving a case or working on a case, that it was about the lives of the people in the CIA in this area, all their warts and their flaws," Jenkins said. "I felt that the series was very human and not just stereotypical spy characters."

"Berlin Station," which was recently renewed for a second season, is the first TV series in which Jenkins has been a regular. The officials he's played in past productions were "just there to move the plot along," he said.

Jenkins' evolution from character-actor-to-leading-man was celebrated at last year's Emmy Awards, where he won the lead actor Emmy in the miniseries category for his role as pharmacist Henry Kitteridge in "Olive Kitteridge."

"It's hard to drive carrying the Emmy and it's a little tough wheeling the grocery cart with your Emmy and all your stuff," Jenkins joked, when asked how his life has changed since winning his first Emmy.

Weeks before his Emmy win, Jenkins was awarded a replica Oscar by his DeKalb High School classmates at his 50th high school reunion in August 2015. Jenkins garnered a best actor Oscar nod for his role in the 2008 drama "The Visitor," but lost to Sean Penn, who played Harvey Milk in "Milk."

Jenkins said he doesn't get back to DeKalb very often because both his parents are dead and he's an only child. Jenkins and his wife Sharon, a native of the Northwest Side, live in Rhode Island.

He said he ended up there because he was hired as an apprentice at a theater in Providence after graduating from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington.

He expected to spend only a few years in Rhode Island, but he started doing movies in 1985 and the couple decided to stay.

"I'm a Midwesterner. I always will be. I have great affection for Illinois. We thought about moving back to Chicago a few years ago... but we don't know anybody anymore," Jenkins said.

Berlin Station Finale: Michelle Forbes on Valerie's Vulnerability and Trusting Other Spies

Jim Halterman
December 18, 2016 8:54 am

Spies are a tricky bunch. It's their nature to have deep, dark secrets and hidden agendas. But when they’re all on the same page, they can also be a pretty powerful bunch. That’s surely the case with EPIX’s Berlin Station, a drama about a group of CIA operatives, which wraps its first season Sunday.

In the season finale, former station chief Steven Frost (Richard Jenkins) has been imprisoned and the identity of whistleblower Thomas Shaw has been revealed (no spoilers here if you're not caught up!), the rest of the spies come together to not only get him out but to also conquer some other forces that have been working against them.

TV Insider sat down with Forbes to get some insight into the finale, Valerie’s relationship with the crafty Robert Kirsch (Leland Orser) as well as why she’s excited to get back to Berlin to film the show’s second season.

There’s a great moment where we see Valerie pretty vulnerable. I feel like it's been building all season but how was it to play that moment?

I always fought to keep Valerie’s femininity and her vulnerability, even though it's a very ruthless cunning world that they live in. I reject that idea that women in a man's world have to behave like men. I just reject it. I think it's actually more damaging to everyone involved. That's my own personal opinion. Please don't send any letters! [laughs]

But to maintain your sense of humanity...there was a speech I had with Frost where I said, "You used to care about the human cost. You used to care about the repercussions. What's happened to you? This is really just about your political ascension!” The two of them together are sort of two of the same. It's sort of Valerie against these two guys.

A bulk of the season saw all the characters off on their own journeys and they’d cross here and there but the finale sees a lot of you together again, like you needed to work together. It was necessary, right?

Yeah, and it was important that as we watched over nine episodes, this station falling apart and fragmenting, and relationships completely fracturing and imploding, again for it to come back at the end. Unfortunately, once Robert threatened Valerie, she wasn't going to go down without a fight. She turned it around and wanted to see what he was up to, found out something about him and somehow they were able to heal this. I don't know if they'll ever truly trust each other ever, but it seemed to work in this moment. I think sometimes all you can do is fix that one moment.

In the finale, Valerie and Kirsch end up working together and Valerie even says, "I don't know why I'm trusting you?" Why does she trust him in this point in the story when he’s given her so many reasons not to?

I think that hit such a crescendo at that point. When we first step into the story, we're stepping into an earthquake of these leaks, right? We're all dealing with the aftershocks and the infrastructure damage, and on top of that, it just starts spiraling into dynamics and betrayals and deaths and losses that people weren't expecting. And [regarding Kirsch] how do you even cope with understanding somebody you've been working side by side with has betrayed you, and then he tells you he hasn't?

We all lie. I think this is when you have to rely on your gut and your instinct. You can't really because Valerie had relied on her gut and her instinct and knowing Kirsch was always a little shifty, a little dodgy, an opportunist and a company man. Knowing that he's always going to do the politically right thing to get ahead. It's so opposite to the way Valerie conducts her business. Still she respected him and respected his contribution.

When the world seems against you, you have a choice to shut down your heart, become incredibly bitter, and put up your dukes and fight everybody or do you try to keep your heart open and most importantly your brain open? I don't think CIA people talk about keeping your heart open. Keeping your intuition and your brain open in case you're missing something, that's what I've learned about these people. They always have to have that third eye.

When do you go back to start shooting the next season?

It's exciting for this year because we're going back in April or May. Last year we went in November so we had a long cold winter in Berlin ... super cold. Although there were many beautiful nights of delicious, hardy German soup and ginger tea locked in cozy little places, it's going to be really beautiful to be there when Berlin is just vibrant and exciting and there's so much going on and it's green. The show has two such different moods and looks. The fact that we get to see both of these in two different seasons is really exciting.

Berlin Station, Sundays, 9/8c, EPIX.

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ENTERTAINMENT // TV
Bonus Preview | ‘Berlin Station’ Season 1 Finale
Daniel Miller attempts to get answers from Esther Krug in an advance look at tonight's first season finale of 'Berlin Station'!

image: http://cdn1-www.craveonline.com/assets/ ... -crave.jpg

Blair Marnell
by Blair Marnell
Dec 18th, 2016
image: http://cdn3-www.craveonline.com/assets/ ... review.jpg

Bonus Preview | ‘Berlin Station’ Season 1 Finale

Tonight, the Epix original series, Berlin Station will bring its first season to an end as Daniel Miller finds himself at the crossroads with his life on the line. Daniel found the elusive Thomas Shaw…and let him go. But considering that an assassin has already tried to kill Daniel and his target, that decision may come back to haunt him.

After last week’s penultimate episode, the picture has become a lot clearer. German intelligence’s Hans Richter is the real enemy. He used the Thomas Shaw leaks as a coordinated attempt to bring down “American impunity” and destroy the CIA’s Berlin Station, even at the expense of his “friend,” Steven Frost. And now, it makes a lot more sense for Richter to send his operative, Esther Krug, to seduce Daniel and attempt to turn him.

Before tonight’s finale, we’ve got an additional bonus preview that finds Daniel and Esther reunited as he tests her loyalties, and she tells him about another betrayal from his own country.




Here’s the description of this week’s episode from Epix:

Daniel assembles the crew as they piece together the extent of Langley’s involvement in the Iosava rendition. Steven and Kelly Frost reunite against the odds; Hector pursues a new approach for his atonement – and the Thomas Shaw mantle is passed.

The season finale of Berlin Station will debut tonight, December 18 at 9pm, only on Epix!


Read more at http://www.craveonline.com/entertainmen ... GZOO1Ai.99

Erfolgsjahr 2016 für den deutschen Filmstandort Berlin

Das medienboard BerlinBrandenburg vermeldet ein erfolgreiches Jahr 2016. Mit insgesamt 26,5 Millionen Euro von 31,8 Millionen Gesamtvolumen unterstützte die Filmförderung des Medienboard im vergangenen Jahr Filmprojekte.

Von Viktor Pulz am 02.02.2017


Hervorragende Crews und eine Bandbreite unterschiedlichster Motive – von historisch bis futuristisch und natürlich JETZT – überzeugen Filmemacher, ihre Projekte in der Hauptstadtregion zu drehen. Laut einer Pressemitteilung vom medienboard BerlinBrandenburg handelte es sich um ein sehr erfolgreiches Jahr 2016 für den Standort.

Rund 5.000 Drehtage gab es 2016 in Berlin und Brandenburg, davon 2.024 allein für Medienboard-geförderte Projekte, hinzu kommen u.a. Serien wie "Dark", "Berlin Station" und "Sense 8". 8 der Top 10 Filme in den deutschen Besuchercharts sind zudem mit Unterstützung der Medienboard-Förderung entstanden.

Medienboard-Geschäftsführerin Kirsten Niehuus: "Auch 2016 stehen Filme und Serien aus der Hauptstadtregion für Kreativität, Unterhaltung, Bewegung, Arbeit, Innovation, positives Image, Meinungsvielfalt, Experimente und einen Schritt auf dem Weg zur Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern. Das ist gut so und eine großartige Motivation, weiter daran zu arbeiten, Filmemacher*innen gute Rahmenbedingungen für ihre Projekte zu schaffen. Denn von der Filmwirtschaft profitieren nicht nur die Filmemacher, sondern auch die ganze Region – wirtschaftlich und kulturell."

Mit insgesamt 26,5 Mio. Euro von 31,8 Mio. Gesamtvolumen unterstützte die Filmförderung des Medienboard im vergangenen Jahr Filmprojekte, High End Drama Series, Verleih und Festivalauftritte. 104 Projekte, darunter 42 Spielfilme und 5 Serien, wurden mit 22,7 Mio. Euro Förderung produziert. Diese Medienboard-Mittel lösten mehr als das 5½-Fache an Investitionen in der Region aus: Für 1 Förder-Euro wurden 5,66 Euro in Berlin-Brandenburg ausgegeben!

Berlins Regierender Bürgermeister Michael Müller und Brandenburgs Ministerpräsident Dr. Dietmar Woidke: "Die Hauptstadtregion ist mit ihrer Geschichte und ihren Geschichten immer wieder inspirierend für kreative Filmemacher. Berlin und Brandenburg haben gemeinsam eine erfolgreiche Filmförderung aufgebaut, die der Medienindustrie in der Hauptstadtregion starke Impulse verleiht. Damit ist Berlin-Brandenburg Filmstandort Nr. 1 geworden."