Shawn Bu

Shawn Bu, a design graduate, is now a director and screenwriter. He became known worldwide in 2016 with "Darth Maul: Apprentice" and released his first Netflix series in 2021 with "Life's a Glitch". The film was shot at his former university, FH Aachen, among other locations. This shows how close the contact has remained to this day. It is also part of the 50 stories that were on display for a month as part of the university's 50th anniversary celebrations at Aachen's Katschhof.

Together with his brother Julien Bam, Shawn has produced several series in the German-speaking online landscape in recent years - from the comedy trilogy "Der letzte Song aus der Bohne" (2022) to the sci-fi project "Der Mann im Mond" (2023-2025), which was co-financed by Amazon Prime and came to a feature-length conclusion.

The cinematic collaboration with his brother began in 2017 with the film "Realität vs Superkraft", also at the FH Aachen. This now has 24 million views. With his production company Raw Mind Pictures, Shawn Bu is currently working on horror material for potential films and series and on his own new fantasy universe.

Shawn, your path from the FH Aachen to international streaming platforms is impressive. When did you realise that film and directing were exactly your path?

I started making films while I was still at school. I completed my bachelor's degree in design in 2015. That was a very creative and inspiring time. The FH Aachen is not a traditional film school. But with our projects, this area has developed a lot here. And many people from outside were surprised to see what is possible at the university. Film schools that I looked at before wanted me to commit to certain areas straight away, or I simply didn't feel comfortable there. At the FH Aachen, on the other hand, I had the impression that you can try out a lot more. And now I don't regret my decision back then at all!

Our Star Wars fan film "Darth Maul: Apprentice", which I produced for my final thesis, was very well received internationally - even Stan Lee praised the work. The film now has over 34 million views on YouTube. But the cool thing is: I've always believed that it's possible if you're talented and clever and, above all, don't lose your motivation. Because such complex projects always require a lot of stamina and you have to get creative to solve many problems that are always part of the process. Especially if you don't have a budget! You see role models - great directors - and they often started out very small.

Your first Netflix series "Life's a Glitch" was a surprise success for many. How did you experience this time?

We worked on this project for two years. The fact that the series was even in the top 10 on Netflix in Germany for a week naturally made us very happy. It was a big step and definitely a surprise success as filmmakers. The feedback from our fans was extremely positive. With "Life's a Glitch", we generally reached a young audience between fifteen and thirty who are into "geeky" and "nerdy" topics as well as comedy. For me, it was a bit like jumping in at the deep end - I learnt so much that it felt like I was catching up on film school. We were able to transfer the learnings directly to our later projects.

And right in the middle of it all: the FH Aachen as a film location. Lecture theatres, corridors, offices, even the library were used. What led to that?

I absolutely enjoyed my time at the FH Aachen and was able to try out and let off steam in many different ways as a director - together with many other talented and ambitious filmmakers. The fact that we were then able to return for the series and shoot there was of course something very special for me.

What was it like working with your brother Julien Bam, with whom you originally studied together?

I had only worked with my brother very sporadically before, for example on "Realität vs Superkräfte" or the parody of the Netflix series "How to sell drugs online fast" with the video "How to sell music fast" on YouTube. But it wasn't until the Netflix series that we started working so intensively together as brothers. As brothers, we always quickly understand what the other person means or wants to say in just a few words. That's a big advantage given the time pressure during filming.

But things went straight on after Netflix - and even bigger, right?

Yes, after Netflix and an elaborate Halo short film for Microsoft, Julien and I shot the comedy series "Der letzte Song aus der Bohne" on YouTube in 2022 when a second Netflix season wasn't booked. On the one hand, we wanted to give Julien's channel the long-promised conclusion of 3 films, but we also wanted to reunite as brothers and continue our series ambitions. I directed the film and my brother co-directed it, as he also played the lead role. Together we were also the screenwriters, along with Joshua Euskichen, who we met at Netflix, and Joon Kim, who plays the 2nd lead.

We based our series more on Hollywood models to create an adventure summer feeling and make it special with light fantasy and science fiction elements. This so-called "genre cinema", which includes science fiction, fantasy, horror or action, unfortunately hardly exists in Germany, if at all, and is simply never financed. So we did our own thing!

Was that also the starting signal for "The Man in the Moon"?

"The Last Song from the Bean" as well as 2 spin-offs were a huge success on YouTube in 2022 and we continued the story in 2023 in a larger series with a new name and took it to a new level: "The Man in the Moon", a comedy series that goes even more in the direction of science fiction and fantasy, which we produced from 2023-2025. This time, we have an entire spaceship from the future that has crashed in the present and is upsetting the lives of our heroes. Because the spaceship crew has a mysterious package for them...we have created our own big series over several seasons with "The Man in the Moon", in which we also enjoyed complete creative freedom. The original plan to make 3 cool videos turned into 16 films, including 4 spin-offs about Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman.

What was special about "Der Mann im Mond" for you?

We had our own spaceship set built for "Der Mann im Mond"! It was just around the corner here at the Krantzcenter. With a huge bridge, corridors and various rooms that were all connected to each other. You could walk right through the enclosed spaceship! We had 6 huge screens running different animations, interactive fittings everywhere, doors you could open and close. It was a dream! That was one of the greatest memories and achievements of the shoot.

In general, we placed a lot of emphasis on simply great, special backdrops during our filming in order to tell our story and to place our characters in exciting, atmospheric scenarios. Following great role models such as Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson or George Lucas. And also modern inspirations from games and anime.

You also filmed in Aachen again, right?

We actually shot most of the film in and around Aachen! I'm sure that you'll recognise some places if you live here. We also spent a lot of time in nature and shot outdoors, which is very rare for film and series productions. Because of the uncontrollability of the weather and the size of such locations and the additional logistical effort involved. Most films are only shot in studios and buildings. But that's why German productions usually look so boring and the same! For our sense of adventure and the feeling of a big journey, we wanted to take on the challenge of so-called "on-location shooting". That's what makes our series look so big and high quality. And so Hollywood-like.

When we released the first "Mann im Mond" video in August 2023, it was a huge success. The online response was so great that Amazon Germany took notice of us. The collaboration developed into a great partnership, through which Amazon co-financed the 2024-2025 films and our videos are shown on Prime.

What challenges did you face during filming and production?

The last 3.5 years have definitely been the biggest challenge of my filmmaking career. We've never worked on a continuous story for so long. Every year we have produced and released over two hours of material. A project like this is like running a marathon, where perseverance at the end is one of the most important skills. Every year, the ambitions of the story and the realisation grew, as did the team and the number of effect shots. What's more, Julien, Joon Kim and Julia (Beautx) Willecke have all played multiple roles. Sometimes in the same scene. Such scenes always needed a lot of preparation. But thanks to the great acting, the same actors still played completely different characters, which you could immediately distinguish from the play. Then, of course, there were the costume changes.

However, with all the extensive days of filming and challenges in post-production, the biggest boss was the script! The story became more and more epic and complex. There were more and more characters. And as we attached great importance to a logical resolution and an emotionally comprehensible path for the characters, we ended up racking our brains for months for certain scenes, moments and resolutions. As the series starts out as a pure comedy series, you wouldn't believe the surprises and twists the story has in store. Many of them were already planned and written years ago. It's also really nice to see when viewers and fans finally see twists that have been planned for years for the first time and how they react to them and are really surprised. And as I said, everything is meaningful and built up over a long period of time and not simply intended as a "shock effect". If I were to show you our Miro mind map, you'd probably be amazed at how complex this story is. A little tip for anyone who makes films or writes: Beware of time travel! It makes everything 100 times more complicated!

Do you ever really get off work?

I don't have much of that during a project, as it always requires a lot of time and work. At the very least, you keep working on your "baby" in your head, even if everyone has gone home. But that's exactly what I want to do: make films and series. Such productions are always a struggle. But in a positive way. It also energises you and is part of the passion. The fire that motivates everything.

Have you ever had setbacks? If so, how do you deal with them?

After "Darth Maul: Apprentice", I realised some cool music or advertising projects, but I didn't achieve my actual goal of making films or series for a few years. Back then, I kept asking myself: What did this first big success do for me? Can I even repeat or surpass it? Was I perhaps putting a career obstacle in my own way? But then came a Netflix series and then an even bigger series that came from our hearts and was celebrated by viewers. And it's even on Amazon Prime. That showed me that all the successes and setbacks in the past are part of it. They have helped me to move forward professionally.

And what's your next project?

In March 2025, we released our last "Mann im Mond" episode, a feature-length film. If you look at the reaction videos for it, a lot of people really cried... so we found the emotional connection and farewell that we wanted to achieve. As we've now been working on series and projects for 5.5 years, including the Netflix series, it feels like we've had almost no break, so for the first time in a long time I've really had some time off. And I really enjoyed the time! I caught up on a lot of private life, but also travelled a lot to trade fairs and events such as Gamescom, which is always a mixture of private interests and networking. I also gave a few talks this year and was often a podcast guest. It was important to socialise and travel again to gather new inspiration. Of course, I'm also catching up on a lot of films and series that I missed at the moment!

But I'm already itching to get back to it. We're working on different material at the moment. I can't talk about it yet. But of course we're starting from scratch again. New stories and characters. Nevertheless, one thing remains consistent: I want to make genre cinema. That's why the ideas are currently moving strongly in the direction of science fiction, fantasy and horror...