“Content London 24”: Co-productions rest on two words, sharing and transparency

In early December, the international TV and film industry gathered in London to meet and greet, and to attend countless sessions at C21Media’s “Content London 2024”. As a conference and marketplace rolled into one, the event explored how AI can enhance business operations, and spotlighted global formats and factual programming. Other issues were investment strategies and content funding opportunities.

Nordic industry profiles, especially the Norwegian delegation, were among hundreds of industry delegates. A recurring theme across three days was “navigating the advantages and pitfalls of co-productions”. One session, “Inside the European and Scandi coproduction alliances”, discussed alliances, such as New8, Nordic12, and the Scandi Alliance.

The latest addition to the group, Scandi Alliance, took the opportunity to deliver breaking news on stage. The alliance is moving ahead with its first project, which is in the early stages of development.

“We received about 75 projects and have selected one, which is now in co-development,” Head of Drama Mette Nelund,TV 2 Denmark, said. According to NFTVF’s sources, the alliance will share more information at Göteborg Film Festival’s TV Drama Vision in late January.

The session explored the question: “What does it take to enter a successful co-production as part of an alliance?” Head of Drama Marianne Furevold-Boland, NRK, declared that all successful co-productions rest on two words, sharing and transparency. NRK’s first New8 project was Holmlia Love (6x45’).

“We share the project in a trustworthy setting, we talk, and reach an understanding of what kind of project it is,” she said.

Yle is part of Nordic12 and New8, and the pubcaster’s upcoming comedy crime show, Queen of Fcking Everything*, is the first Yle series to emerge from the broader New8 alliance. Head of Drama, Jarmo Lampela, Yle, recognised that Nordic collaboration in good faith within Nordic12 was initially very important to counter the streaming platforms, and he suggested that global streamers now appear less of a threat.

Mette Nelund summarised that if a broadcaster wants to be an established player in today’s changing market, it must seek new strategic partners and opportunities. TV 2 can fund many of its shows, but to go bigger, TV 2 will cooperate.

“Ideally, that involves financial cooperation and fruitful collaboration on the editorial decisions,” Nelund said. TV 2 Denmark has co-produced several seasons of cozy crime show The Sommerdahl Murders (Sommerdahl) with German ZDF.

AI model Sora is a gamechanger

Among the general trends emerging from London were the state of affairs in the global TV production industry and the ever-present AI.

ChatGPT owner OpenAI presented a glimpse of the latest capabilities of its soon-to-launch text-to-video AI model Sora, with creative specialist Chad Nelson hinting at its potential to change the “whole economic model” of visual storytelling. The release of Sora was held back until after the recent US election based on its potential to create a realistic video that could be used for disinformation.

Former Criminal Minds showrunner Simon Mirren went on stage and predicted that crews on shows could shrink from around 400 to just 30 with the arrival of AI tools including Sora. Mirren said that the release of Sora would empower creators and have legal ramifications around intellectual property (IP) ownership.

The slump will bottom out

The global commissioning slump that has affected the industry over the past two years will “bottom out” in 2025, with the volume of orders beginning to stabilise after a serious decline since 2022 according to Ampere Analysis.

The research and insights firm said the focus next year will continue to be on content that works globally, with cost-efficient scripted shows – particularly crime dramas and thrillers and titles focused on slightly older demographics – increasingly becoming a priority for buyers.

Production companies will have a place in the new creator economy, according to Helen O’Donnell, director of development at BBC Studios’ TalentWorks initiative. She said there is a role for production companies in the creator industry now and in the future.

High-profile Norwegians in London

This year at Content London, NRK, NFI, and the Norwegian Embassy teamed up to sponsor a separate Norwegian session moderated by Nordisk Film Production’s Marika Muselaers, which introduced six scripted projects to international buyers; some in early development, others in production or recently premiered.

The Norwegian pitch, “From 80s tragedies via crazy satire to realistic Sámi mystery”, presented titles Hellerudsvingen, Still Breathing, Henki, Shut Up (Oro Jaska), The Scarab Flies at Dusk (Tordyveln flyger i skymningen), and Nepo Baby.

NRK brought three upcoming projects to the London stage:

Marike Muselaers interviewed Esben Selvig and Jan Trygve Røyneland on the 1980s series Henki (6 x 45’), which is in early development for NRK, produced by Esben Selvig og Kaare Daniel Steen at production company Klynge. Henki Hauge Karlsen was fired in 1985 when he told his employer that he had tested positive for HIV, but he refused to keep a low profile. He became the face of the "gay plague", and Henki spent the last years of his life fighting for his job and dignity.

Karianne Lund presented Still Breathing (8 x 45’), now in development. The medical drama unfolds in a medium-sized Norwegian city at a worn-down hospital. Petra has started her internship. Together with hopeful interns Joakim, Ashan, and Kissy, she is thrown into a job where the days are long, patients keep coming, and the medical cases are complicated.

Knut Næsheim introduced NRK’s Hellerudsvingen, a crazy, animated satire, which attracted considerable success with younger viewers this autumn and has just been greenlit for a second season.

Projects backed by NFI

The Norwegian Film Institute highlighted three titles in London: Muselaers spoke to Atle Knudsen about the Norwegian-Swedish project The Scarab Flies at Dusk, which is currently in post. It is based on Maria Gripes's classic short stories for children and youth. TV 2 Norway and SVT are the primary broadcasters.

Eldorado Content Club has finished filming Nepo Baby (6 x 30’) for TV 2 Norway. Henriette Steenstrup was on hand to set the scene: One day 25-year-old Emma is an ordinary girl – the next day she is the heir to one of Norway's oldest and wealthiest shipping families. The unknown father has died, and has incorporated her into the will and the family business. Emma learns that losing your head and heart is easy in the face of immense wealth.

Shut up premiered this November on NRK to critical acclaim. Vegard Bjørsmo and Silje Burgin-Borch outlined the story; a group of high school friends in Karasjok, a small town in Northern Norway and the heart of Sápmi, where Eli Anne (17) gets her life turned upside down when she wakes up naked after a party and believes she has been raped.

Other Norwegian projects with NFI backing include the WW2 prison drama Breendonk (6 x 54’), a Norwegian-Dutch co-production scheduled to start filming in 2025. The Norwegian co-producers are Anagram Norway. The series is about idealistic choices that turn out to be wrong, unexpected alliances, and the search for love in war-torn Antwerp.

NRK has commissioned a second season of Easy Peasy (Manndag) (6 x 3’), which received 400,000 kroner from the NFI. Producer is Elisabeth Kvithyll at Fridtjof Josefsen AS. Easy Peasy is a comedy series about the little man’s struggles against himself and his surroundings in the small trials of everyday life.

Facts on the co-production alliances

• Nordic12 includes DR, NRK, RÚV, SVT, and Yle. The goal is to produce twelve new drama series each year, which are shared among the Nordic countries.
• New8 partnership between the eight European public service broadcasters is an extension of “Nordic12”. “New8” includes ZDF, NPO (The Netherlands), VRT (Belgium), SVT, DR, Yle, RÚV, and NRK. The goal is to co-produce eight high-quality drama series annually and share them across territories.
• Scandi Alliance is the latest edition, and was launched in autumn 2023 by commercial pubcasters TV4, TV 2 Denmark, and TV 2 Norway. The three partners will agree on one project at a time that is relevant in all Scandi markets.