EXCLUSIVE: The producers behind Prime Video’s raunchy new German drama Game of Keys [working title] have called on creatives to work with intimacy co-ordinators from an earlier stage in the production process.
UFA Fiction’s Ulrike Leibfried and Sinah Swyter said they engaged Emilia Bähr, an intimacy co-ordinator, from casting onwards and this played a part in both shaping the production and making the actors feel safe. Prime Video has worked with intimacy co-ordinators on numerous occasions but rarely this early in the process.
“She was part of the castings, she sat next to our directors and so our cast got to know her really early on and had the opportunity to develop a good relationship,” said Swyter. “We wanted quite a diverse approach to sexiness [in Game of Keys]. Some of the sex scenes are quite funny, some of them are really intense and some are emotional, so we wanted to make the intimate scenes an important part of the plot. [Emilia] gave us feedback on the scripts and it was helpful for our directors to have somebody they could talk to.”
This was crucial to a show that is rooted in sex.
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Starring the likes of Paula Kalenberg and Martin Bruchmann, Game of Keys, which is based on the Mexican Prime Video original from late last decade, follows old friends who propose a daring new game. The eight leads throw their keys into a bowl and whoever draws a key spends the night with the key’s owner. But, unsurprisingly, what begins as an exciting experiment turns into an emotional powder keg.
Leibfried said it was “super important” for actors to have a “safe space” from the get-go and this was provided by Bähr, who took a case-by-case approach to whether she got involved with certain scenes.
Intimacy co-ordinators have previously been criticized in the past by big stars like Gwyneth Paltrow but Liebfried suggested they should be used early on in certain situations and they could expand their work to cover for “violent scenes, like if you get slapped, or even yelled at.” “Being prepared in that moment can be so helpful,” she added.
Having worked with UFA Fiction on big hits like Maxton Hall – The World Between Us, Prime Video Germany approached the Fremantle-owned German producer with the idea for a local version of Game of Keys. Leibfried had worked on German series Doctor’s Diary, which was “not too dark or dramatic but with funny moments,” and she said this experience paid off when applying it and adding a touch of “spice” to Game of Keys.
“From Mexico City to picket fences”
The Mexican version launched seven years ago and the UFA team stressed there are differences between that version and the German one.
Leibfried said her version moves more quickly than the Mexican one, with two less eps.
It also takes a different tonal approach by shifting the setting. While the Mexican version was in the more liberal Mexico City, the German one is set in an unnamed suburban town.
“We quickly agreed with Prime Video and Senior Commissioner Julia Nisslein that we shouldn’t set the show in Berlin because Berlin is so open sexually, so we transferred it a little bit to the picket fences,” added Leibfried. “Being suburban makes it more of a surprise when someone comes along and suggests playing a game like that. In Berlin I don’t think you’d be surprised. And we have one character who is coming out, and that is super complicated to tell in Berlin.”
This was also done in part to satisfy German audiences. “Germans need a more accessible approach to sexuality,” added Leibfried. “It goes beyond what the characters look like and we tried to give that broader access.”
Swyter added: “We wanted to bring it out of this kinky corner and say this is normal people playing the game and seeing the consequences.”
The show premieres later today at Seriencamp in Cologne and could launch later this year.
Leibfried suggested its success could pave the way for an American version – “I think the U.S. would be the only territory which might consider remakes” – but stressed that the German Game of Keys is available in all territories.
“I think it’s quite universal,” added Swyter. “We very much hope, and are confident, that our show will travel across all territories.”
Seriencamp ends today.