World of Wolfram — Season 1

Comedy-fantasy web series for funk (ARD/ZDF) and YouTube — somewhere between shared-flat reality, nerd culture and total escalation.

At its centre is Wolfram: gamer, outsider, mildly overwhelmed by real life. When the characters from his online role-playing game suddenly turn up in his apartment, the line between fantasy world and reality slowly begins to blur. An orc is standing in the kitchen. An elf comments on everyday life. Quests turn into relationship problems, the Wi-Fi becomes a magical portal, and the shared flat gradually becomes an absurd parallel universe.

The series combines classical fantasy elements with dry German humour and a deliberately cinematic visual language that stood out clearly from typical web productions of its time. Instead of an internet-sketch aesthetic, a small world of its own emerged — with production design, ambitious VFX, atmospheric lighting and a visual seriousness that let the absurd humour work in the first place.

For the camera, Max Tsui and Sebastian Fred Schirmer developed a visual language that treats fantasy not ironically but emotionally seriously. Many scenes live precisely on that contrast: epic light meets German everyday reality, magical figures meet chaotic shared-flat life. The series constantly moves between adventure film, comedy and coming-of-age.

The concept and screenplay are by Robert Löhr; director Lutz Heineking Jr. The series was produced by eitelsonnenschein for funk. The ten episodes of around ten minutes each were released between October and December 2016.

Internationally, World of Wolfram quickly became one of the most visible German web series of its time. The production won, among others, Best Web Series at the Los Angeles Film Awards and Best Juvenile Series at the Rio Webfest. At the LA Webfest the series was also recognised in several categories — including direction, editing and visual effects — and nominated for its cinematography.