Annette Hess Accepts Deadline’s German TV Disruptor Award: Talks Screenwriting, Gender Pay Gap, And Dishes Details Of Buzzy Drama ‘Ku’damm 77’
EXCLUSIVE: Annette Hess accepted Deadline’s first ever German TV Disruptor Award at Seriencamp in Cologne today. The powerhouse writer lived up to her award billing when speaking with Deadline, with a no-holds-barred take on the industry’s gender pay gap. She also dished details on Ku’damm 77, the latest instalment in the German drama franchise and which is hugely anticipated by fans.
Hess has created several iconic German series, including Ku’damm ‘56 and follow-up Ku’dammm ‘59, Christiane F story We Children From Bahnhoff Zoo, and Disney+ project The Interpreter of Silence, which was adapted from her novel Deutsches Haus. She has also been central to German screenwriters’ efforts for better recognition.
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Hess revealed that three-part series Ku’damm ’77 will likely go into production in January. It will follow the series’ key characters in 1970s Berlin as they are filmed by a documentary team. Hess had framed the whole series through through a mockumentary lens, but the mockumentary element will now only form part of the finished show. Revealing a move into directing, Hess added: “I want to direct one episode.”
“I’m really shocked at the fact that also that little changed really,” Hess said about gender disparity in the business. Specifically addressing the difference that male and female writers and actors get paid for their work, she added: “For my [female] colleagues it is always is 20% less for a script. And when I see the casting papers… for the main cast it is always 20% more [for the males] than the females.”
Asked if she saw progress in terms of pay parity, the lauded screenwriter said the opposite is true: “My impression is it is getting worse – it’s a battle, it’s a war, still.”
Hess also spoke about demanding better representation for writers. She demanded a degree of creative control on the first Ku’damm series off the back of earlier negative experiences with producers and directors. UFA, which makes the show, agreed. “I really wanted to talk about who was going to direct, to talk about the cast, and I wanted to be in the process until the end, so also in the cutting room,” she said, adding: “I am the protector of story and characters and the vision.”
Owning her German TV Disruptor moment, Hess took the mic to tell the crowd the disruptor tag is one that sits well with her. “I felt that this is my prize,” she said, adding for comic effect: “When I saw it was the Deadline Disruptor award, I thought they must have talked to ZDF who had told them this a woman who has been disrupting every deadline!”
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