GERMANY: Robot repoter "Roli" is the real star on the red carpet of movie premiere for "Schlussmacher" in Berlin

Record ID: 401858

  • Title: GERMANY: Robot repoter "Roli" is the real star on the red carpet of movie premiere for "Schlussmacher" in Berlin
  • Date: 11th January 2013
  • Summary: DEVELOPERS LOOKING ON (SOUNDBITE) (German) FLIMMER.DE MOVIE WEBSITE FOUNDER AND COMPANY'S MANAGER, CHRISTOPHER ZWICKLER, SAYING: "Berlin is the capital of film premieres. Lots is happening here and that's why we're very close to it all. We thought about how we could report from these movie premieres. Should we send the 35th camera crew to the red carpet or do we have any
  • Embargoed: 26th January 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAF09T6S3GWU6O133UB8XON2CPV
  • Story Text: Two young Germans may have found a way how to attract stars' attention on red carpets, with a life-size robot asking questions and making a joke here and there.
    "Roli," named after German-born Hollywood director Roland Emmerich, was first put to work in Berlin during a recent premiere of actor and director Matthias Schweighoefer's new movie "Schlussmacher," which could be roughly translated as "those breaking off a relationship."
    The brains behind Roli is Christopher Zwickler, who, with his business partner Marco Kreuzpaintner developed Flimmer.de, a website which allows users to watch movie trailers free of advertisements.
    "Berlin is the capital of film premieres," said Zwickler, whose company pays viewers small amounts of money if they watch a trailer in its entirety and then correctly answer one question about the film.
    The money viewers "earn" can be accumulated towards movie tickets, DVDs or video on demand streams.
    "Lots is happening here and that's why we're very close to it all," Zwickler said at his office in the up and coming Wedding district of the German capital.
    "We thought about how we could report from these movie premieres. Should we send the 35th camera crew to the red carpet or do we have any other ideas? Robots have after all played a part in the history of film for a long time, such as in "Star Wars" or "RoboCop." There are many, many examples for great robots in movies and that's why these two areas do have something in common. So we said to ourselves, 'how about putting a life-size robot onto the red carpet and he then intervenes the stars.'"
    Zwickler landed a hit with his idea during the recent premiere of "Schlussmacher," with members of the British pop band "Blue" showering the idea with praise and admiration.
    "That's the future," said Antony Daniel Costa.
    His mate, Simon Solomon Webbe, was no less enthusiastic, saying in disbelief "it's a little bit like iRobot. It's a little bit too real" as "Roli" sang one of their songs.
    Roland Emmerich, the director of such as films as "Independence Day" and "Godzilla," partly financed Flimmer.de, which now employs the robot that carries his name.
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