Gothenburg Film Festival’s TV event is bigger and bolder than ever before.

“We are sold out,” Cia Edström, Head of TV Drama Vision, declares of this year’s Nordic TV bazaar held during The Göteborg Film Festival.

700 delegates are expected (last year it was 550 on site). One reason for the boost in numbers is the new venue - Hotel Draken’s Drama Hall, which will be full to capacity. It’s a bigger space than the old Opera House where the event used to take place.

“We are expecting more than 100 people on stage. There are more sessions and more series being presented,” Edström says of a packed programme which includes case studies, AI-oriented sessions, talks by top industry execs and, of course, plenty of new projects.

The event is taking place in the face of a slowdown in Nordic TV commissioning. Many of the sessions will reflect the concerns felt within the industry. There are panels with titles like “Market Changes and Market Challenges in 2024 and Beyond”, “Emerging Stronger – the Upsides of a Crisis”, “Drama Production Mayhem – What is the Next Chapter?”, and “‘Cracking the Code of Gen Z”, in which leading industry figures will discuss both the current challenges and the best ways of reaching new audiences.

“The business models are changing once again, and therefore also the financing.” Edström acknowledges the industry is in a period of flux with production levels going down, AI upending traditional working practices, and audience habits changing.

The aim during TV Drama Vision is “to look for solutions” and to take a long-term view. As the TV Drama Vision boss points out: “This [the recession] will not last forever.”

She also points out that the slowdown can give the producers time to develop projects and the sector a chance to adjust its business models.

“There’s good fishing in stormy waters, and chaos and challenges breed creativity. We all need positive energy, especially during a crisis,” reads the billing for the “Emerging Strong” panel.

Whatever the turbulence in the sector, Edström promises an “uplifting” event. She is heartened by the quality of the projects.

“When it comes to creativity, when you look ahead, you will see there are a lot of good stories coming out.”

Nordic films may struggle to cross borders, but many Nordic series succeed. The Bridge (Bron/Broen) [the cult Nordic crime series developed by SVT and DR] and others around the same time, started it all.”

The New8 initiative, which brings together eight public service broadcasters from North-Western Europe to co-produce and distribute drama series, shows that countries across the region are collaborating more closely than ever before.

Strong international interest is expected in the Nordic series in development strand. These include producer Frida Hallberg’s The Swedish Muse (Sweden), producer Erlingur Jack Gudmundsson’s Haze (Iceland), series creator Emmeline Berglund’s Requiem For Selina (Norway), producer Trin Hjortkjær Thomsen’s Tivoli (Denmark), and producer Sara Norberg’s Hildur (Iceland/Finland).

There will also be a Spotlight on Sweden: Works in Progress, featuring such titles as the new Tomas Alfredson and Sara Johnsen TV version of Faithless (Trolösa) (originally made as a film by Liv Ullmann from an Ingmar Bergman script); Whiskey on the Rocks, written by Henrik Jansson-Schweizer and directed by Björn Stein; and Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter, written by Hans Rosenfeldt, directed by Lisa James Larsson.

Top figures from the streamers (including Jenny Stjernströmmer, Vice President, Netflix, Nordic Content; Håkon Brisheid, Director, Netflix, Nordic Series; and Karin Lindström, Head of Originals, Nordics Amazon, will be in town to explain their current strategies and take us through their slates.

A strong Flemish contingent is also attending, presenting new projects, highlighting co-production opportunities and talking up what they can offer Scandinavian filmmakers. For example, in the “Meet The Masters from Flanders” event, producers can learn about everything from the soft money available through the Belgian tax shelter to the state-of-the-art water tank facilities offered by Belgium’s Lites Water Stage & Film Studios.

“We’ve been talking about doing a collaboration on Flemish talent and the region, and this year the time was simply right,,” Edström says of the Flanders showcase.

On the UK front, much-loved star Sarah Lancashire will take part in a Q&A. Edström notes that the writer/producer of Happy Valley and Last Tango In Halifax (two of Lancashire’s most popular shows) has also been to Göteborg: “We had Sally Wainwright over a few years back. Happy Valley is a very popular series in the Nordics, and personally I think Sarah Lancashire is an amazing actress!”

Meanwhile, from Germany, show running team The HaRiBos (Hanno Hackfort, Richard Kropf, and Bob Konrad) will talk about their work and their latest series, Kleo.

TV Drama Vision will once again end with a future oriented summary of the two conference days by analyst and author of the Nostradamus Report, Johanna Koljonen. As Edström puts it, “we try to look ahead when it comes to content. Our model is to constantly try to renew our content, and to be relevant.”