Launched only two years and a half ago, Motor is driven by the fast-rising Danish duo Christian Torpe and Jesper Morthorst who met two decades ago while studying Film & Media studies at Copenhagen University.

The partners boast an impressive pedigree in both film & TV drama, Denmark, Europe and the US.

Writer/showrunner Torpe is credited for the TV2/Netflix Danish hit series Rita, that he remade for Showtime in the US, with Game of Thrones Lena Headey in the titular role.

The wunderkind writer also penned among others Jesper W. Nielsen’s The Exception, Bille August’s multi-awarded Silent Heart and its English-language version Blackbird directed by Roger Michell. He was showrunner of the US sci-fi horror show The Mist adapted from a Stephen King novella.

Morthorst worked several years at Nimbus Film, Alphaville Picture Copenhagen and SF Studios on a variety of quality arthouse films including Birgitte Stærmose’s Out of Love, Room 304, Bille August’s Silent Heart, the Icelandic film Heartstone by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson, and the TV shows Rita and Norskov2.

Setting up shop together was straightforward. “For years, we’ve discussed doing something ourselves to take full ownership and control of our projects,” says Morthorst. “In late 2017, I was finishing Norskov, a new season of Rita, and some films. Christian had wrapped the show The Mist in the US. We felt-OK, now it’s time!”

For Torpe, the fact that the two friends have different film inclinations makes it a perfect match. “Jesper wrote a thesis about post-revolutionary Iranian cinema, mine was about music in the Disney movies! Now we’ve both moved towards the middle, but I definitely bring the more commercial angle and Jesper the arthouse savoir-faire." 

Asked about Motor’s DNA, Torpe said the company’s strategy is “to make film & TV projects of high quality, accessible to a broad audience."

Torpe and Morthorst’s first Motor production - the DR drama thriller Deliver Us co-created by Torpe and Marie Østerbye, won Best TV drama at the Copenhagen TV Festival. It was broadcast across the Nordics - as part of the Nordic 12 pubcaster alliance - and sold by Dynamic Television to several territories including Germany and Australia.

“Deliver Us helped us platform the company. It brought some money and helped us hire more people,” said Torpe.

Today, Motor boasts a strong in-house workforce of 11 people, including four producers. Although Motor made a successful launch with a TV drama, the company’s current slate is feature film-driven.

Moving against the TV drama stream
“Everyone is moving into TV drama-we’re going against the stream!” Notes Morthorst. Torpe presses on: “The TV market is exploding and many writers are busy developing new shows for various networks and streamers; this has opened up a new window for quality movies like The Exception and Bille August’s upcoming The Pact. From an audience point of view, the market is over-saturated by the TV drama offer and there is perhaps a bit of TV series fatigue. Therefore, finding a good and well-told story that is wrapped in max two hours is very attractive and has become a luxury again,” asserts Torpe, who instantly adds: “We will definitely continue to create premium TV shows at Motor, but right now feature film is our main focus.”

Asked about their editorial strategy, Morthorst said Motor is entirely talent-oriented. “It’s all about finding the right talent and establishing a long-lasting relationship,” he says. “What we do is hand-pick original stories and help unique voices tell them the best way,” adds Torpe.

Current talents attached to Motor’s slate include upcoming filmmakers Martin de Thurah (leading commercials and video director), Anna Emma Haudal (Doggystyle), Tea Lindeburg (Netflix’s upcoming series Equinox) internationally-established names Bille August, Louise Friedberg (Borgen, Deliver Us, House of Cards), and Birgitte Stærmose (Room 304, Norskov) among others.

Leading Motor’s film slate is Bille August’s The Pact, based on Thorkild Bjønvig’s eponymous novel adapted for the screen by Torpe. The untold real life story of the tumultuous relationship between the young poet Thorkild Bjønvig (played by upcoming actor Simon Bennebjerg) and the celebrated Danish author Karen Blixen (Birthe Neumann), twice his age, is in post-production.

“The Pact was one of the first Danish projects that picked up filming after the long coronavirus-lockdown. It was a joy to do the shooting. But of course, we had to abide to strict health and safety protocols,” stresses Morthorst.

Torpe says about his second collaboration with the Palme d’or winning director: “SF Studios bought the rights to the book and Bille asked if I wanted to come on board and write it. I said yes in a heartbeat! It’s a fascinating story and the first fiction film about Karen Blixen, my favourite author. She was so ahead of her time, and an incredibly complex and generous character.”
The film co-produced by SF Studios, with support among others from Nordisk Film & TV Fond will premiere on April 18, 2021. Reinvent Studios handles sales.

Two feature debuts by promising female directors are currently shooting:

-Night of Dying (Høst) is directed by Tea Lindeburg, creator of the Netflix original Equinox, based on her own podcast of the same name. The period drama is based on the Danish literary feminist classic ‘Night of Death’ by Marie Bregendahl. “Think Sofia Coppola meets William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth”, says Morthorst. The low-budget coming-of-age drama is set in one location and takes place over one night, where a young girl becomes an adult as her mother dies while giving birth.

In the title roles are Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl, Stine Fischer Christensen, Thure Lindhardt, Lisbet Dahl and Ida Cæcilie Rasmussen. The release is set for October 2021.

The Venus Effect (Venuseffekten) is directed by Anna Emma Haudal (Doggystyle). “It’s a same-sex female romcom with an edge, which mixes rawness, poetry and reality,” says Torpe. Cast members include Josephine Park, Johanne Milland, Sofie Gråbøl and Lars Mikkelsen. The premiere is set for December 25, 2021.

Both films co-financed by DR, Film Fyn, with support from the Danish Film Institute, will be distributed by Scanbox Entertainment.

Also currently filming is the Icelandic co-production Chicken Boy by Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson (Heartstone). The coming-of-age film about a boy’s troubled relationship with a group of violent friends is produced by Iceland’s Join Motion Pictures.

Two upcoming feature projects are due to start filming next summer:
-The Camino by Birgitte Stærmose is based on a script co-written by the director’s long-time writing partner Kim Fupz Aakeson. It’s a feelgood comedy drama about a father and daughter’s 14-day walk on the celebrated pilgrimage route, trying to sort out their dysfunctional relationship.

-Stranger by Mads Hedegaard, is a suspenseful drama set in the Stone Age, co-written by Jesper Fink (Before the Frost). It’s about a young girl and her brother, forced to live with the tribe that killed their family and to adapt to their traditions in order to survive. The project will be co-produced by Poland’s Opus Film.

TV Drama
On the TV drama side, Torpe is attached as creator of the WW2 drama and love story An Invasion, commissioned by TV2. The ambitious project is based on true events, when Soviet POVs were abandoned by German Nazis on the shores of isolated islands on the southern part of Denmark and rescued by local families. it’s a love story between a Danish woman, trapped in a hostile marriage, and a Russian officer who has lost his faith in humanity.

The project will be available as a feature version and 3-part mini-series.

Motor is also trying to stage an English-language version of Deliver Us, as part of an overall strategy to bring scripted formats to the US.

  “Our plan is to build strategic partnerships with the US and Europe, by finding a duality in original material, so that it can be produced as ready-made for a Danish broadcaster, and format with a strong English-language remake potential in the US. It’s an ambitious strategy and we’ll spend time and money in building a strong portfolio,” says Torpe.

Asked if in the mid-term, Motor would consider a joint-venture with a major distribution group, Torpe said: "We’ll see; if it’s a good match why not. But there is no rush and right now, we’re enjoying our independence.”