DER SCHWARZE PANZER
Looking out at the production setup for a fantastic Indie film in Stuttgart, Germany, it was incredible to see all of the work that was being pushed for a production that crossed over the collaboration between four studios, from three different countries. I was honored to be given the chance to be part of this war epic that is based on the real life experience of WWII soldiers on both ends of this dark battle that took place at the end of the war.
On the second day of filming, I was allowed to use one of the US Army's old 50. Caliber Machine guns that was mounted on a Sherman tank! I left rip to 150 rounds of real ammunition and feel the real power of American weaponry that was used during WWII. To be exposed to such terrifying fire power and seeing the destruction at the other end just made the whole experience terrifying to analyze what other monstrous weapons were being used by both sides of the bloodiest war in world history. That war was fought by men, young men at that. My exposure to only one of the weapons in that war was enough for just the change for me to have a nibble of the excitement of pulling the trigger under supervision. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to do it on my own or in a war time atmosphere with an enemy force firing back at me. I say, leave those experiences to the men who were there and pray that today's youth isn't given the chance to have to ever face it alone.
We were on the set of an Indie Film being produced in Germany by some talented men who were put together to get both sides of a battle produced to film. The film, Der Schwarze Panzer presents a story where a platoon of US Army soldiers are being hunted down by a black Tiger Tank, that's being run on independent operations by a five man German team, some Hitler youth's, the oldest being 17 years old. Real American actors were flown in to play the part of the US Army platoon, while German actors filled in German roles to tell both sides of their tactics during the battles. There were no women involved in this film, besides the ones behind the cameras.
Due to the NDA's signed before the production, I was not allowed to show photos of me on the mocked up Tiger tank, but I can say that what the production team looked pretty damn close to what was used during WWII. As a matter of fact, all of the uniforms, weapons, and locations were all carefully chosen for this film. Our team, MICRO Entertainment, were welcomed to assist in close up tank operations, soldier movements, camera setups, and screenplay. Me being an experienced producer, I was able to assist the production with financing the American actors and also preparing them for their introduction to the German actors, most of whom are actually part of the German Army and large majority only spoke broken English.
During free time, I was allowed to clown around with the cast and shoot rounds from some of the many real weapons used on set. During our two weeks in the city of Stuttgart, we had a lot of hard days, with many nights walking around the large city and celebrating with the local townsfolk. It was one hell of an experience and I was very proud to work with the entire cast, the small production team who built the sets and made many of the war torn scenes look real and dated to the actual time of the events that occurred at the end of the war. We hope that our input into the American soldier side of the film will make an impression on the people who watch the film. Der Schwarze Panzer will be one hell of a film!
Kelly Bleichner
Producer/Contributing Writer
QSE.357 ISSUE 43 of 4/1/2025
