Series to follow

“Am Wörthersee” trailer was just a publicity stunt

Julian Waldner played the lead role in the trailer.(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

For weeks, the whole of Austria puzzled over the mysterious trailer for "Am Wörthersee". Now the secret has been revealed: it was all just a publicity stunt by the Wörthersee-Rosental tourist region. But the trailer is to be followed by a mini-series next year.

Filmmakers, producers and the media puzzled for a good two weeks over what the much-heralded series "Am Wörthersee" was all about. The trailer alone, which was released on April 1, predicted a masterpiece in a class of its own. "It was purely a promotional campaign for our region," revealed the former head of tourism for the Wörthersee region, Roland Sint, on Monday. After all, the tourism expert had thought that the classic advertising motifs and videos were long outdated. And the campaign worked.

High-caliber cast fooled along
Even actors such as Manuel Rubey, Julian Waldner and Sarah Jung were inspired by the project. "I was skeptical at first, but it felt right," says Rubey, who took on one of the leading roles in the trailer. 

Waldner, who was born in Carinthia, was also immediately enthusiastic about the tourism region's project and even during the first few days of filming, "there was a great dynamic in the team. We were on fire for the film." 

Great secrecy and a bombastic film
And yet it is surprising that the six days of filming, in which up to a hundred people took part, remained secret in September. "It wasn't easy. After all, we created a huge myth with the trailer," says director Patrick Neubäck, who had a completely free hand with the three-minute film.

The team and actors of "Am Wörthersee".(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

And since the 500,000 euro trailer reached over 1.5 million views on YouTube within 14 days, there are now plans to make a complete series. "We just rolled the whole thing up from the back. First we produced the trailer and then a series," smiles Neubäck. The "Am Wörthersee" team is currently still negotiating who should shoot the mini-series. "But there are already some well-known interested parties."