It’s been one year since you’ve taken the leadership of SF Studios. What have been the biggest challenges on a corporate and business standpoint? Helping rebuild the confidence within the group and within the Nordics in the SF brand?
Michael Porseryd: As you say, rebuilding the confidence has been essential, as well as continuing to adapt to the changes in the industry as consumer behaviour changes. This latter challenge however also creates many possibilities. Consumers’ behaviour has changed, they watch more scripted content than ever before, and we’ve had to adapt and focus on the new opportunities in the digital era.

What do you feel are the strengths that you’re bringing, personally to SF Studios?
MP: I think I manage to combine the creative freedom that our company needs and a business focus. Also, I’ve experienced a couple of times when companies have been through major reshuffling and turbulent times, e.g. with Metronome and earlier in the mid-90s, with MTG when we were breaking new ground by launching new channels. There are always opportunities in a changing market or industry. The key is to remain focused, calm and open to changes.

Do you see the new major players Viaplay, Netflix or Amazon as friends or foes?
MP: Actually Netflix, Amazon and Viaplay are looking for content and we can provide them with that content. We’re already collaborating with Viaplay on two series: the crime series Alex starring Dragomir Mrsic, and The Lawyer created by Jens Lapidus, Hans Rosenfeldt and Michael Hjort. I’m quite confident we will also collaborate with Netflix and Amazon in the future, so we’re definitely more friends than foes.

Is your team fully in place now? Are you still looking for a Head of Nordic acquisition and co-production and a new Head of Television following Johan Hedman’s recent departure?
MP: So far Jenny Stjernströmer Björk, our Chief Content Officer has been responsible for all our acquisitions but to strengthen Jenny’s team, we are indeed looking for a Head of Nordic Acquisition as we want to increase our output of local content-both film and drama series, and to do that we need to find and invest in more IP. We are quite far in the recruitment process and will make an announcement soon.

With regards to television, we’re not planning to replace Johan Hedman, but we’re looking at new ways to support our producers working in TV drama. Then we’ve just recruited Annika Sucksdorff as Head of Film in Sweden. This will make us stronger on the film side.

Right now, we have very interesting film projects in our Swedish pipeline, such as the family film Lassemajas detektivbyrå det första mysteriet [new film in the Jerrymaya’s Detective Agency kids franchise] currently filming, and Britt Marie Was Here, a feature adaptation of another best-selling novel by Fredrik Backman, author of A Man Called Ove. We’re going into production in 2018.

Could you explain how your reporting structure is set up on a production standpoint?
MP: Tim King, our Executive Vice President oversees all our production activities and he reports to me. Then our Heads of production in Denmark Lars Bredo Rahbek, in Sweden-Annika Sucksdorff, and our Head of International Production Fredrik Wikström Nicastro report to him. Fredrik works closely with Kate Myers who runs our new office in London.

You have your own in-house production departments in Sweden and Denmark. Do you have plans to be more active in Norway and Finland?
MP: Our ambition for the future is to produce film and drama series in all four territories where we have a presence. In Norway, we do own 50% of Filmkameratene and Motion Blur but we are looking into producing ourselves as well. We don’t know exactly how and when but hopefully that will happen soon, in Finland as well.

In terms of volume, how many Nordic films and TV series do you plan to produce, co-produce or acquire for distribution in the Nordic region?
MP: With our in-house divisions, we’d like to produce 3 to 6 films per year as well as 3 to 6 TV series a year. Overall including co-productions, we’d like to be involved in a total of 17 to 25 films per year.

You just opened a London office, struck a deal with Anton Corp to co-finance English language films and you’re co-producing the English remake of A Man Called Ove with Tom Hanks. Can you outline your international strategy?
MP: We’ve just released Borg vs McEnroe that was partly shot in English. But in the coming years, we’d like to be involved in 1-2 English language feature films targeting the international market. We believe that we have very strong IP properties coming out of the Nordics -  some thanks to our ties to the Bonnier Group- and we want to combine it with our unique wealth of Scandinavian talents-writers, directors, actors.

With the increasing demand for quality content across the globe and golden age of drama series, is SF Studios also shifting its weight from film to TV drama?
MP: Feature film is the core of our business and where we come from. But of course, we want to be part of the drama boom. This year we have produced six TV series: The Lawyer, Alex and The Hunters in Sweden and Rita 4, Norskov 2 and Badehotellet 5 in Denmark. The demand is high and talents continuously move from film to television and vice versa. Eventually we hope to have 50/50 of film and TV drama in our yearly output.

On the distribution side, how is SF Studios adapting to the changes in the industry, as digital distribution has undermined the traditional models of releasing films?
MP: Indeed the physical home entertainment business is more or less disappearing and this has had a major impact on our revenues. In the future, I think distribution will be more about know-how, combining data, research, with positioning of films and TV series, and creative marketing to find the audience. We have to be more aggressive in particular in reaching the younger generation, the millennials and generation Z who are harder to reach and do not consume the traditional media we have relied on in the past.

Do you think windows should be eased and more flexible to allow consumers to view their favourite films or shows legally, when and where they want?
MP: We can discuss this within the industry but ultimately, the consumers will tell us how to adjust. In the mid-term, we will have to adapt.

Piracy remains a key issue and SF Studios has joined ACE (Alliance for Creativity Entertainment) with global players. What actions have you undertaken so far?
MP: We participate in all ACE meetings and seminars and we know we can benefit from their lobbying forces. We are also active with the local anti-piracy organisations and lobbying local politicians.

Within your upcoming film slate, what titles are you looking forward to seeing on the Nordic screens?
MP: Just to cite a few, in Sweden we have Helena Bergström’s new Christmas film Vilken Jävla Cirkus [October 20], Solsidan-the Movie that should be one of the biggest films of the year in Sweden [December 1st], the comedy Tårtgeneralen starring Mikael Persbrandt [January 2018] and Euphoria starring Alicia Vikander and Eva Green [February 2018].

In Denmark, we have our own production QEDA [November 2017], the family film I am William scripted by Kim Fupz Aakeson from his novel [December 21], Backstabbing for Beginners by Per Fly [January 18], and in Norway Espen Sandgren’s Amundsen biopic [late 2018 release].

Internationally, we have two major English language projects in development which both have the potential to go into production in 2018: I am Victor directed by Baltasar Kormákur based on a novel by Jo Nesbø, and Horizon Line, scripted by 10 Cloverfield Lane’s Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken. 

I’m also thrilled about Ingmar Bergman’s 100 years celebration as we handle so many of his films (37 in total). It’s been fascinating to see the request from all over the world and we are working closely with the Ingmar Bergman Foundation, international festivals and organisations to make Bergman’s films available. Then in 2019, it will be SF Studios’ turn to celebrate its centenary! We look forward to this and to bringing to the world films that show our legacy."