In a special year where the venerable Scandinavian film studio is celebrating its centenary, SF Studios, headed by Michael Porseryd, continues to build on its Nordic roots and long-time collaborations across the Nordics to bring strong stories to the local and international audiences. The two senior female executives Yaba Holst (appointed late 2017) and Jenny Stjernströmer Björk tell us about their jobs, SF Studios' content strategy, film projects and challenges ahead.

Could you remind us of your roles within the distribution division at SF Studios?
Jenny Stjernströmer Björk: As Chief Content Officer, I am responsible for all content acquisitions across our distribution department, which includes international acquisitions, headed by Robert Enmark, Nordic acquisitions, headed by Yaba Holst, Kids Acquisitions , headed by Viktoria Johansson, and book rights, headed by Gustaf Bonde. I’m also part of the Nordic management team and report to Michael Porseryd.

Yaba Holst: As Head of Nordic acquisitions, I work with our regional offices in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in building their repertoire with Jenny and Isabel Nylund [Nordic Acquisition Manager]. We act both locally and centrally as we believe we need a strong presence in each country.

Yaba what have you been focusing on since you took on your job?
YH: I’ve focused on working with our existing production partners*, finding new ones and building information and knowledge on what the needs are on the market. Everything is changing fast. It’s been important to find the holes in the market. What do people want to see etc. We have different ways of operating in each Nordic country. A lot of pro-active work has been done to initiate new projects and stories for the future.

Could you detail clearly the types of content you’re focusing on? Michael Porseryd mentioned earlier that the target is to have 17-25 Nordic films a year, including 3-6 in-house prods and 1-2 English language projects each year…
YH: Our target is to have around 20-25 Nordic films and co-productions in our slate each year and to have a strong market share, but we don’t want to be too big. We believe in staying close to the people that we are working with and fighting for each project. In terms of type of content, we work across all genres - from blockbusters to arthouse films and kids movies and want to support young talents who have a close link with the audience.

Do you feel there is a lack of Nordic blockbusters, able to compete with US tentpole films? If so what is your vision to address this issue?
YH: If you look at Solsidan, the Millennium trilogy and A Man Called Ove, they were all anchored in the local markets and became international hits after winning over the local crowds. We are producing films that travel, but feel that the local angle is a priority.

I believe the boom in Nordic TV drama, backed by the likes of Netflix and HBO is a good thing as it is influencing the way Nordic viewers are consuming Nordic content and hopefully it will entice them to see more Nordic films, whatever the platform.

JSB: I would also say that thanks to our great Nordic co-production team, we can go more thoroughly into each project from an early stage. Between Yaba, Isabel and I, we have a great experience in working creatively from the development stage, and we use our knowledge of the market to initiate projects with producers whom we feel are the most experienced to create Nordic blockbusters.

Are you more active today on the development and packaging of projects than ever before?
JSB: Indeed. We are using our knowledge of the market and development and bring it to the table with talented producers that we work with. That allows us to create films with a local DNA, but with universal themes that have a potential to travel.

How do you nurture talents?
YH: It is a challenge. Nordic talents are hot these days, both in film and TV drama. It can be a problem when you’re looking for a great screenwriter or director and you have to wait as he or she is abroad or even working on an exclusive. On the other hand, it’s a great opportunity as it enables us to shift talent across the Nordics, borrow from each other and give a chance to newcomers. I personally see it as an opportunity. It forces us to try to find the best project that will attract top talent.

So do you have a particular strategy to nurture Nordic talents and attract newcomers?
JSB: We try to collaborate with the top talent on more than one project, and on a longer period of time. We find new names and introduce challenging new projects to them. For instance, our Swedish production unit has hired Moa Gammel who will soon direct her first feature film for SF Studios, LasseMajas Detektivbyrå-Tågrånarens hemlighet, part of the celebrated film franchise. In addition to this, we try to create a great workplace where talents can develop and flourish.

YH: It’s also about becoming a better co-producer, having a good understanding of the rules of Nordic financing, sharing the same language with those creative talents, and offering them a home that goes back 100 years in film history. That makes us unique.

What is your strategy to bring in the younger audience who tends to buy cinema tickets only for event movies?
YH: In Sweden, young audiences often feel local films are not very exciting and that we in Sweden don’t have the savoir-faire to create the genres or Hollywood style blockbusters that they want to see. Our task is to identity those projects and produce them with our savoir-faire. In our Nordic acquisition division, we constantly discuss consumer behaviour, the local demographics. What is the local context that defines a nationality? What are the actual dreams and habits of people living for instance in Northern Finland? Monitoring consumer behaviour is very much a local matter, and it is crucial to understand who the audience is.

What are the major challenges looking ahead?
JSB: It’s finding those projects that the audience is ‘waiting’ for, that our distribution arms are passionate about and that we feel we can acquire for the right sum of money.

Since the theatrical market is not behaving the way it used to, it is harder to figure out what works with the audience. This is where the collaboration between acquisition and distribution is crucial to find the projects that the market really wants.

YH: The financial environment is changing with online viewing disrupting the traditional distribution model and gaining in popularity. We simply have to adapt and make sure each financier in the film and TV drama chain remains strong to avoid having one provider pay for everything. However, we have to be flexible and consider the best financing and creative solution for each project.

Can you cite a few major films that we can look forward to seeing on silver screens in 2019-2020?
YH: In Sweden this autumn, SF Studios will bring FLX and Tomas Alfredson’s take on the all-time favourite Swedish comedy Jönssonligan to the audience as well as Miso Film’s 438 Days and Ella Lemhagen and Peter Jöback’s I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Rojda Sekersöz returns with her second feature My Life as a Comedian produced by Anagram.

In 2020 there will be many strong children’s titles coming out from SF Studios Production like the animated film Pelle Svanslös (Pelle no-Tail), Moa Gammel’s take on next LasseMaja (JerryMaya Detective Agency) and other commercial children’s IPs from co-production partners. The big national epic The Emigrants will be ready late 2020.

We’re also involved in Plattform Produktion’s edgy film Jessica by Ninja Thyberg and Lisa Aschan’s promising female-led comedy Call Mum!

In Denmark, this year we have Wikke & Rasmussen ‘s adaptation of the local family pic Gooseboy, Jesper W Nielsen’s The Exception with a stellar female cast, and Frederikke Aspöck’s Out of Tune.

Strong titles for 2020 include Charlotte Sieling's biopic Margaret-The Queen of the North about Queen Mararet I of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, as well as the next films by Ole Bornedal, Ole Christian Madsen, Lone Scherfig and Christina Rosendahl.

In Finland, this autumn we will release Mika Kaurismäki’s dramedy Master Cheng and top producer Jesse Fryckman returns with the local Christmas comedy Perfect Christmas. Pamela Tola will direct for Helsinki Filmi her second feature, the comedy Iron Ladies while Yellow Film will also bring strong local comedy and family titles.

In Norway, this year we will have Maria Sødahl’s drama Hope starring Stellan Skarsgård and Andrea Braein Hovig, a new version of the classic 1958 chiller De dødes tjern (Lake of the Dead) as well as Filmkameratene’s Operation Mummy in the kids’ franchise Detektivbyrå nr 2. Our 2020 slate includes Børning 3 and we hope to bring at least two new edgy young adult titles from emerging female directors.

*SF Studios has formal output agreements with the following companies: Miso Film (Denmark, Sweden, Norway), Meta Film, Fridthjof Film, Creative Alliance in Denmark, Helsinki Filmi in Finland, FLX in Sweden (in which SF Studios just acquired a majority stake), Oslo Pictures, Cinenord, co-owned Filmkameratene, Motion Blur, and fully-owned Paradox in Norway.