Schattental (2018)

Schattental is a region and self-sustained town in the middle of the German wilderness; it isn’t listed on any major German maps, nor are there any national census records that list it.

The town was founded in a small valley in the shadow of a dark woodland and an overgrown marshland. This town and the greater region that surrounds it is in fact an allegory to the box of Schrodinger’s Cat. Whereupon all the people, events and incidents that take place there are either happening, or not happening, or the people are all dead, or merely part of some dream, or they are alive. In fact there are three perspectives that fit the over-arching concept behind Schattental.

After the reunification of Germany, the Neumann family moves from the West to a strange, idiosyncratic town in the East to start a new life. They soon discover the town witholds shadows from a dark past, steeped in age-old mysteries that unfold a foreboding fate.

Schattental, follows the development of a town entrenched in the mystery of the past and entangled by its own inevitable future fatalism. The series takes place throughout different time periods that develop the narrative of its origins and the people who live there. In many ways it is a reflection of German culture and history packaged into a mystery/thriller narrative, about a town and the people living there throughout the ages.

Pitch Developed for: Netflix
Agency: Art-on-the-Run GmbH
Original Concept + Writer + Creative Developer: Bernardo Sena