TrustNordisk, LevelK, New Europe Film Sales, Yellow Affair and newcomer in film REinvent Studios reported a busy market and viral deal-making with Chinese buyers. 

While the talk of the European Film Market was the impact of the coronavirus on the business - with a noticeable absence of Chinese buyers - and continued changes in distribution and rights management, Nordic sales agents at Berlin’s European Film Market were satisfied with the level of activity, despite the slow closing process. Companies combining film and TV drama sales -REinvent Studios and The Yellow Affair - enjoyed the extra attention and buzz. 

Commenting on the EFM from her stand at Martin Gropius Bau’s Scandinavian stand, the centre for Nordic networking, TrustNordisk’s CEO Susan Wendt said that although fewer Asiatic buyers were around and distribution companies tend to send less representatives, her company didn’t miss out on any meetings. “The important people were here, and we had a full schedule until Wednesday,” she said. Probed about streamers’ behaviour, Wendt said “both global giants and local VOD players were more active than usual."  "Ultimately," she continued, “business always comes down to one thing: do you have the right film?”

For Wendt the biggest issue is still the problem of the polarised market and difficulty for middle films to find buyers. You can still pre-sell and sell genre films and titles with acclaimed directors like Thomas Vinterberg, but other than that, if a film doesn’t have that extra spark or quirkiness, it’s hard to sell,” she acknowledged.  Wendt also pointed out that key territories such as Germany, France and the US where buyers are choosy and less risk-savvy. “In Germany, arthouse distributors say that if they cannot anticipate to have 100,000 admissions on a foreign language film, they won’t touch it and with TV not backing them the way they used and the cost of dubbing and overall P&A, it’s too risky,” explained Wendt.

Regarding the US, the veteran sales executive hoped that the success of Parasite would entice distributors to get back on the foreign lingo buying spree.  Looking at her current film slate, Wendt was particularly confident with several titles that raised a lot of interest such as Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round, Christoffer Boe’s A Taste of Hunger starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Anders Thomas Jensen’s Riders of Justice starring Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas, John Andreas Andersen’s new disaster film The North Sea, Martin Zandvliet’s The Marco Effect and the quirky and fresh Ninjababy by Yngvild Sve Flikke. 

The following TrustNordisk deals on Nordic films were reported during the EFM:

  • The Tunnel, thriller by Norway’s Pål Øie, sold to Benelux (September Films), Italy, Italian speaking Switzerland/Monaco (Koch Media GmbH), Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia & Montenegro, Bosnia–Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia (Cinemania Group), the Baltics (Capella Film), Taiwan (CatchPlay), Singapore and Indonesia (Passion Entertainment). Earlier sales were closed with more than 20 territories including German-speaking territories (SquareOne), France (Mediawan) and Russia (Capella).
  • The Crossing (Norway), by Johanne Helgeland, sold to the US (Menemsha Entertainment) and former Yugoslavia (Cinemania group). 
  • Breaking Surface, thriller by Sweden’s Joachim Hedén, sold to France (AB Droits); Spain (Youplanet); German-speaking territories (Koch); Mexico, Latin America, Caribbean (California Filmes); Russia, Ukraine, Baltics (Russian World Vision); Italy (Minerva); Czech Republic and Slovakia (Foxx New Media); Korea (Film Company Challan), and the Balkans (Discovery).

Wendt was also pleased to report the positive media attention in Berlin on Maria Sødahl’s Panorama selected film Hope and was waiting to confirm further deals to the ones announced earlier including Benelux (Cineart), Hungary (ADS), Spain/Andorra (ADSO).

LevelK’s CEO Tine Klint said the EFM was "an extremely good market this year.”  “In terms of sales, it feels like previous uncertainty between distributors, streamers and world sales has worn off and balance is back,” she claimed, mentioning the healthy deals closed across her company’s back catalogue, current films and even pre-sales. “It is a mix of traditional distribution and digital. There are so many possibilities today, it is about finding the platform that can help you reach the films audience,” she noted.

Among LevelK’ current titles that attracted most interest are the Finnish relationship comedy drama Games People Play by Jenny Toivoniemi, with several deals pending. The major Finnish biopic Tove by Zaida Bergroth was another buzzy title, with several offers emerging on the pre-sales market.

New Europe Film Sales’ MD Jan Naszewski reported an overall positive market with meetings with all key buyers, and online deals with Chinese delegates. Asked if he felt more streamers were present, he said: “I did not see a rise in streaming buyers. Theatrical is our key market and those buyers were available and interested in good films.”

Naszewski closed new deals on the Rotterdam competition entry and critically-acclaimed A Perfectly Normal Family by debut director Malou Reymann, and the hard-hitting drama Sons of Denmark by Ulaa Salim. 

The upcoming Icelandic supernatural drama Lamb starring Noomi Rapace was another hot item, described by buyers as “distinctive and beautiful film based on the promo”, said Naszewski. “We already have many offers on the table but we're expecting it to be even more popular once the film is ready and we can fully prove the concept with the VFX in place,” he added. 

The Yellow Affair’s CEO Karoliina Dwyer said ‘foot traffic was as usual”, and screenings were all busy, especially for the Norwegian series Between Us (Anagram Norway) and Swedish sci-fi thriller The Chosen Ones. Dwyer was pleased with the critical response from the German pick Kids Run, selected at Perspektive Deutsches kino, and was expected to close deals on the Finnish film Ladies of Steel by Pamela Tola. 

Based for the first time at the MGB Scandinavian Stand, REInvent Studios’ Helene Aurø, director of sales and marketing, stressed her company’s high visibility, and buyers’ interest on major upcoming films including Ole Christian Madsen’s The Day We Died, Charlotte Sieling’s Margrete-Queen of the North, Bille August’s The Pact and Antti Jokinen’s Omerta 6/12-Omerta 7/12. 

Aurø said she received good feedback following the screenings of Christina Rosendahl’s The Good Traitor and the animated kids’ movie Pelle No Tail.  On the TV drama side, the Danish short format SEX made a splash at the Berlinale Series red carpet premiere, and Aurø said she would announce first deals on the Finnish drama series Peacemaker, which premiered at the market. 

 REInvent Studios also announced that ZDF/Arte had boarded the Faroese crime drama Trom, introduced at last year’s Berlinale Series Pitching Forum.