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Guest Writer
March 3, 2016

Ron Markus | Celebrating our longest-lasting member

Ron Markus is an acclaimed comedy writer and the longest-lasting member in betahaus - he's been here for over 7 years. His work includes more than 20 prime time productions as a screenwriter and producer for shows such as "Letzte Spur Berlin", "Flemming", and "Stromberg". For the latter, he was awarded the Grimmepreis, one of the most prestigious awards for German television. He has also written "Romantik für Anfänger" (Romance for beginners), a popular satirical novel on the German TV-industry. It’s about time we got to know the guy.

What does your creative work process look like?

I ride my bike to betahaus between 9 and 10 am in the morning, sit down in front of my laptop and „go“ to work. Pretty glamorous, isn’t it? My creative process? I’m talking to myself on the computer. Asking myself questions. „Why is the protagonist funny?“ - and answer them. „He thinks he’s smart while being a complete idiot. … He’s not funny, he’s like me."

Which parts of this process do you work on in betahaus?

All the parts.

How do you utilize the betahaus community for your work?

I don’t. Still, I’m a social animal and go for lunch with my fellow coworkers. Sometimes I do a little market research and ask them about ideas of mine.

Which of your work was written here, and has betahaus inspired you to come up with specific stories or storylines?

I wrote my novel „Romance for beginners“ in betahaus. It brought out my romantic side … just kidding. Has betahaus inspired me? You bet. Just the other day I was pitching a story to a production company about betahaus. My idea: a young hotshot working in betahaus gets involved with the German industrial military complex. He tries to sell them his brilliant software for operating drones. Of course you know how the poor guy ends up. Pretty dead, you’re damn right. It’s just fiction but still: It should be a warning for all of us!

We heard a rumour that you once used our CEO Madeleine as inspiration for a protagonist.

We'll leave that to the imagination of the reader.

“Stromberg” is the German version of “The Office”, a parody of stiff and stale office culture. Coworking is considered to be hip and cool. How are we holding up?

betahaus is a supercool place, no question about that! You might not always find a table with stable legs in this place, but you definitely find the coolest people on earth. I probably never belonged to this group, but I learned from the best. I even bought a beanie the other day!

 

“ You might not always find a table with stable legs in this place, but you definitely find the coolest people on earth”

What’s your single most favorite thing about betahaus?

I really love betahaus and its spirit. I really do! The thing I love the most: the TOURISTS. The hoards of Japanese, Scandinavian and South European tourist groups that are led through the house, staring right at my face watching me curiously while I try to come up with the best line of my career. Seriously, it doesn’t bother me, I only wish they didn’t throw bananas.

 

Wanna meet the novelist? Ron has had a 12-Day/Month membership for the last seven years. Catch him on one of those days and he'll be happy to share a coffee and a story with you. Just make sure to not mention bananas.

 

Ron Autorenfoto freundlich