Denis Parchow: Sven The Terrible (Test)

It seems that Denis Parchow’s love of commercial making stems from the fact that, as a child, he wasn’t allowed to watch any commercials at all.

Growing up as the son of two school teachers who forbade him from watching television ads wasn’t always easy, he says, but that early censorship planted a certain seed. “There has always been something mystical about commercials to me,” he says, “and I haven’t lost that feeling to this day.”

But commercial directing wasn’t Parchow’s first love; that was blowing things up, specifically buildings. “As far as I can remember,” he relays, “I always wanted to be a buildings blaster, but unfortunately I really suck at chemistry. So the first shorts I shot on VHS always featured explosions. But I do believe that being a blaster and a director have a lot in common; you always need to be well prepared and have a clear vision of the finished project.”

Parchow started his journey into directing by interning at a variety of production companies.

He says he worked in every department over the course of his internships and that it has really helped him build his knowledge. In 2008, at the age of 23 he enrolled in Germany’s famed Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg to study commercial directing. He has shot a couple of spec spots already – and is planning to shoot more before he graduates this year – but the spot we are featuring in this issue is a comedic take on how film piracy can affect a film’s main character, with Sven the Terrible, a Viking, reduced to searching for a new job – film extra, baker, clown – with unsuccessful results.

“At first I wanted to shoot the idea with Darth Vader instead of the Viking,” explains Parchow, “but then a lot of other spots came along featuring Star Wars characters so I thought the spot would be better without the Star Wars reference. The main inspiration for the film was a scene in [animated TV series] Family Guy where Darth Vader comes home from work and starts crying because his plan of ruling the Empire didn’t work out.” The main character in the spot is an actor called Günther Kaufmann who plays the Viking in a famous German kids’ movie called Vicky the Viking, which gives the film’s core idea even more resonance. “It was a very nice shoot.” Parchow says. “Every department was very well prepared and we didn’t have any problems.”

Parchow admits to favouring comedy as a genre with a previous spec film for a hair product lampooning a Bond-type character. “Comedy is definitely a favourite genre for me,” he says. “I also love hair commercials. Can’t tell you why. Just love them.” He is currently preparing to shoot his last films as a Filmakademie student before embarking on what is sure to be a successful commercials career. “I can’t wait to get out there and shoot awesome scripts,” he enthuses.