Mario Müller has been part of the FMX team for 12 years – now as project manager. He acquired his basic knowledge of the subject area – and the necessary professional experience – as a filmmaker, screenwriter, cameraman and creative producer for image and advertising films. His start at FMX and his knowledge of the history of visual effects are due to his lifelong fascination with the subject and a formative cinema experience in 1978 in a galaxy far, far away.
DP: Hello Mario! Something I’ve always wanted to know: How do you actually choose the trailers?
Mario Müller: The FMX trailer is selected every year from the current projects of the Animation Institute of the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. These are usually new projects from the third and fourth year of study.
We made an exception for FMX 2023 because “The Beauty“, a somewhat older project from the Animationsinstitut, simply fitted in perfectly with this year’s FMX motto EVOLVING, which deals with sustainability and the environment.
DP: And if we take a look at your FMX time: What was your favourite trailer?
Mario Müller: The great thing about the FMX trailers over the years is the wide range of techniques used. I particularly remember “Globosome” from FMX 2012(is.gd/globosome_fmx – the pictures at the top of the page), “Wrapped” from 2015(is.gd/wrapped_fmx – the pictures at the bottom of the page), and “The Beauty” this year, which is perhaps my overall favourite because of its message and storytelling. If you already like the trailers, the short films they are based on are real revelations
Revelations.
DP: At your first FMX, what were the important themes back then?
Mario Müller: That would be FMX 2012. The topic of the hour was the beginnings of virtual production, which entered the industry with the workflow that had been established for the first Avatar film. Previs, tech-vis, performance capture and virtual camera setups, some with real time feedback, were being used in more and more Tentpole productions, which led to a focal topic with which we tried to bring all aspects and important players to the stage.
DP: And, when FMX takes place, what is the part that you enjoy the most?
Mario Müller: The thing that fascinates me most personally is that the technical, creative and logistical feats that it takes to realise a film with the complexity of today’s blockbusters are performed by completely normal, approachable people that we bring to the stage in the Haus der Wirtschaft in Stuttgart.
The fact that these people are usually pleasant contemporaries in conversation before or after their presentation and are happy to talk to us is the greatest gift for me and for many national and international visitors to FMX.
DP: FMX evolves every year – what are you doing differently this time?
Mario Müller: FMX has evolved every year in small steps to pick up the fans of the established as well as those curious about the changes in the industry in the present and take them into the future.
Since we’ve largely left most of the technical hurdles of photorealism of virtual people, creatures and fantastical scenarios behind us, the question is what the industry’s creatives are – and should be – concerned with. In this respect, more “soft” topics have found their way into FMX in recent years, such as working conditions, diversity and equality, and more general media production topics such as storytelling.
On this basis, it was possible – and important – to make the topic of sustainability in film and media production the main focus of FMX this year. There is a lot to do here, and a lot is already being done. Bringing this together for the FMX audience is the big task for FMX 2023.
And while we’re on the subject of sustainability, we’ve also taken the opportunity to transform FMX into a climate-neutral event. A long road, but one that has already led to certification as a climate-friendly event by the Baden-Württemberg Climate Protection Foundation this year.
DP: Since corona, there has been a hybrid version – how has it been received and will you continue with it in the long term?
Mario Müller: As things stand today, the topic of hybrid and online presence is here to stay as long as there is interest and demand for it. As nice and important as the personal meeting on site in Stuttgart is, the online addition to FMX still enables people in other countries to participate in the content of FMX. This expands the circle of participants and reduces the overall number of journeys to and from FMX, which unfortunately cannot be made without CO2 emissions.
In this respect, the offer of an on-site and an online visit to FMX allows both approaches depending on the personal (also financial) possibilities and the ecological awareness of the participants. In particular, we see the offer of being able to access a large part of the FMX offerings as video on demand for several weeks as a great benefit for all visitor groups, because they can watch many presentations, discussions, masterclasses and more as recordings, which they would otherwise miss due to the large number of lectures taking place at the same time during FMX.
DP: If we look at the “focus topics” of FMX, which ones do you think have been particularly interesting in recent years and which topics were just hypes that have already gone away?
Mario Müller: We don’t look at it from that perspective. Some of the topics and trends that have been discussed at FMX over the years have not, or not yet, become established in the industry and the mainstream. However, the discussion about them, especially within the industry and community, are and remain important opportunities to discuss the pros and cons of the respective buzzwords. Some of the topics that have not yet achieved market penetration are nevertheless relevant because they may lead to other important milestones at a later date.
“THE” buzzword of recent years, metaverse, will sooner or later penetrate not only the market but society as a whole, even if a precise definition is still being discussed and work is still being done on standardisation. Nevertheless, the long-promoted immersion of large sections of society in spatially presented content will take shape, for which some previously discussed and supposedly failed XR topics will find application. In this respect, it was and is important for FMX to address most of these trends and topics.
DP: Let’s unpack the crystal ball: What kind of theme will FMX 2030 have?
Mario Müller: I don’t think we can actually imagine it. Many of the topics that the industry and community are currently researching and working on – not least metaverse and artificial intelligence – will lead to changed platforms, marketing channels and working models that are currently still the subject of visionary or dystopian discussions. For me, it remains exciting that we will be able to discuss this more in terms of content and creativity in the future than purely technical challenges and achievements.
DP: Do you already have plans for the next FMX?
Mario Müller: As I said above, FMX 2024 will focus on developments that are constantly changing work in the media & entertainment industry. Increasingly, these changes must also be viewed critically. It has not yet been decided which of these topics, which are already being discussed today, will be the focus of FMX 2024 (a shortlist already exists). First and foremost, however, we – the organisers, speakers and visitors – want to get involved with FMX 2023, which will take place from 25 April on site in Stuttgart, on 28 April online and until the end of May on demand!
