Burkhard Blienert (left), Federal Government Commissioner for Addiction and Drug Issues, talks to actor Jan Kittmann on the set of GZSZ Photo: RTL/dpa
From BZ/dpa
The makers of the RTL soap “Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten” (GZSZ) incorporated the subject of gambling addiction into the plot and brought a knowledgeable consultant to the film set in Potsdam-Babelsberg.
The federal drug commissioner Burkhard Blienert got an impression of the shooting and the work behind the camera on site, as announced by RTL and the production company Ufa on Wednesday.
“UFA serial drama producer Dominique Moro and co-producer Christine Melzer received Mr. Blienert and reported on the idea of making gambling addiction a topic in Germany’s Daily No. 1.”
Since July, the character Tobias Evers, played by Jan Kittmann, has been all about the relapse into gambling addiction, which caught up with him again through sports betting and completely ruined him.
Expert Bienert warned: “Sports betting is one of the most dangerous forms of gambling. Politicians must also react to this: It is not at all possible to be exposed to advertising for sports betting almost everywhere on television or the Internet, even during prime time. This advertising has a considerable influence on young people in particular. I therefore appeal to the federal states: You are responsible. Prohibit sports betting advertising during prime time. Don’t procrastinate on the subject – the World Cup is just around the corner.”
As early as August 30th, there was a live talk by actor Kittmann and addiction consultant Kathrin Rosenberg on the “GZSZ” Instagram channel directly after the current episode. “There they both answered the questions of the users,” said Ufa.
“Many have those affected in their circle of friends and acquaintances and were looking for the right way to get help. Kathrin Rosenberg was able to give a lot of helpful tips, but also referred to the help line, which ran longer that evening, where you can get help tailored to your individual case. Almost 100,000 interested people could be reached on this evening alone directly after the TV broadcast via social media on the GZSZ channel.