{"id":237780,"date":"2026-01-14T16:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T16:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/237780\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T16:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T16:24:09","slug":"inside-the-hbo-max-german-launch-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/237780\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the HBO Max German Launch Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tHBO<\/a> Max went for classy cool in Berlin Tuesday night, celebrating the launch of the streamer in Germany and the world premiere of HBO\u2019s new Game of Thrones<\/a> prequel series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/a> with a blow-out bash that combined high culture with urban grit. <\/p>\n

\n\tHBO took over the modern art museum at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, a stone\u2019s throw from Berlin\u2019s Potsdamer Platz, for the event, staging the party like a cultural exhibit, with display crates featuring stations with Instagram-worthy backdrops inspired by HBO Max<\/a> series and the film library of parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere was a Superman-themed ice-sculpture vodka luge; a The Pitt<\/a>-style emergency room, featuring the show\u2019s real, freshly-minted best drama series Emmy, quickly shipped over from New York for the event; and a makeup section where guests could get glam blow-ups from Euphoria<\/a> make-up artist Doniella Davy.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the back, iconic German fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth had set up shop, shooting portraits of the now even-more-glamorous attending talent.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tA guest at the HBO Max German launch party enjoys a shot from the \u2018Superman\u2019-themed vodka ice luge. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDavid Jon \/ HBO Max<\/p>\n

\n\tJen Weinberg, senior vp of talent relations, events and awards at HBO and Max, who organized the event together with Berlin-based creative agency Chest of Wonders, said the crate idea was born of necessity, as the museum was only available for a single day. All the individual sections were pre-built and shipped in their crates to the museum at midnight on Monday and had to be packed and shipped out by 10 am Wednesday morning to allow the museum to reopen to the public.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tParty guest got the on-location glam treatment courtesy of \u2018Euphoria\u2019 make-up artist Doniella Davy.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDavid Jon \/ HBO Max<\/p>\n

\n\tThere were other locations for Industry, Game of Thrones, Sex and the City and even The Last of Us<\/a> got a shout-out, courtesy of themed cans of (very tasty) high-end ravioli circulating among the guests. The food, it must be said, was extraordinary, provided by Berlin restaurants Beba, Bonvivant Cocktail Bistro, Horv\u00e1th, and Pralinen, who have four Michelin stars between them. <\/p>\n

\n\tSpray-painted HBO Max campaign slogans \u2014 in German \u2014 were mounted on the second floor, lending the event a gritty, Berlin feel (Personal favorite: \u201cHBO Max: We Kill More Stars than Live on Other Platforms.\u201d) <\/p>\n

\n\tThe party followed a red carpet at Berlin\u2019s Zoo Palast theater for the world premiere of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the new Game of Thrones prequel series, which bows on HBO Max on Jan. 18.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe cast and crew were out in force \u2014\u00a0including series talent Peter Claffey, Dexter Sol Ansell, Sam Spruell, Daniel Ings, Finn Bennett, Shaun Thomas, Bertie Carvel and Tanzyn Crawford \u2014 as well as HBO\u2019s top brass<\/a>, with Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO, HBO and Max Content, and JB Perrette, CEO and president of global streaming and games, in town to oversee the launch. HBO Max on Tuesday launched in Germany, Italy <\/a>and a handful of other European territories, bringing the total HBO Max global footprint to more than 100 countries worldwide. The streamer will complete its European expansion in March with a launch in the U.K. and Ireland. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Berlin crowd braved the chilly weather to cheer on the talent, but reserved the biggest cheers for GoT creator George R.R. Martin, who walked the red carpet in style wearing a dapper bowler hat. <\/p>\n

\n\tNot to be outdone, child actor Dexter Sol Ansell, who plays Egg in the series, dazzled with a rainbow-colored show suit, designed, he said, by the same tailor who designed the outfit his dad, British singer Jonathan Ansell, wore on the first season of The X Factor in the U.K. in 2004. (Ansell and his group, G4, came second in the show).<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tDexter Sol Ansell, who plays Egg in HBO\u2019s \u2018A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u2019 poses for German fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth with his series-themed jacket at the Berlin launch party.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDavid Jon \/ HBO Max<\/p>\n

\n\tAnsell was a consummate professional as he worked the red carpet, marveling at being the second lead in a GoT series before he even entered middle school.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI was 8 when I first started auditioning (for the series), and now I\u2019m 11,\u201d he noted. \u201cSo I\u2019ve come a long way, and I\u2019m just really excited to let the world see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the hardest things about the show, Ansell quipped, was having to spend entire scenes staring way up at co-star Peter Claffey, who plays Dunk and is 6\u20195\u201d \u2014\u201cactually almost 6\u20196\u201d,\u201d he corrects the height, essentially an entire torso larger than the wee Ansell. \u201cI had to look up so much, I got neck pains,\u201d Ansell said. \u201cI had to go to physio to get it all fixed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tPeter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell, who play Dunk and Egg in HBO Max\u2019s \u2018GoT\u2019 prequel \u2018A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDavid-Jon-Getty-Images-for-HBO-Max<\/p>\n

\n\tThe mood at the Seven Kingdoms premiere was light and slightly silly, appropriate for a series that is a deliberately smaller, more playful take on the GoT universe (there are no dragons, for a start).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is distinct and different to Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, it\u2019s a single POV, it\u2019s a smaller, simpler story,\u201d said series showrunner Ira Parker. \u201cWe\u2019re a little grittier, a little more of the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso, as critics have praised<\/a>, a lot funnier. Humor, particularly of a scatological nature, runs throughout the show.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI joke with my friends that I get paid to write fart and poop jokes,\u201d says Parker. \u201cBut there really aren\u2019t that many. Maybe five. That\u2019s less than one fart joke per episode.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFollowing the Seven Kingdoms red carpet, and across the street, HBO Max staged a public event to celebrate its upcoming Harry Potter series<\/a> (which will bow on HBO Max next year). Berlin\u2019s historic Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, was transformed into a spooky glowing magic castle, with Dementors (cleverly costumed drones) flying through the sky before finally being banned by a bit of white light and Patronus magic.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe German market is crazy for Harry Potter \u2014 the line for personalized Harry Potter wands at the HBO Max party was the longest \u2014 and the streamer is hoping Hogwarts fans will flock to its local service.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlongside the Seven Kingdom\u2018s cast, a gaggle of German celebs lit up the HBO Max party, including Karoline Herfurth, Katharina Stark, Maria Dragus, Nhung Hong, Palina Rojinski, Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht, and Florence Kasumba.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HBO Max went for classy cool in Berlin Tuesday night, celebrating the launch of the streamer in Germany…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[47090,10309,146,56442,463,4302,6729,85,399,46,34014,3707,411],"class_list":{"0":"post-237780","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms","9":"tag-emmy-awards","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-euphoria","12":"tag-game-of-thrones","13":"tag-hbo","14":"tag-hbo-max","15":"tag-il","16":"tag-international","17":"tag-israel","18":"tag-the-last-of-us","19":"tag-the-pitt","20":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}