In this exclusive interview, Nordisk Film Production’s CEO details the group’s new film and drama series strategy for Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

The hiring of Lumiere Group’s Marike Muselaers as Head of International Financing and Co-production announced on Friday is part of Nordisk Film Production’s strategy rejig to strengthen the financing and development of its scripted content on a five-year perspective.

You’ve joined Nordisk Film less than a year ago. On a personal level, how has been your learning curve - coming from television and adapting to one of Scandinavia’s leading film groups?
Katrine Vogelsang: I’ve been here nine months. The most striking thing coming from television is that my job there was to have a pipeline, all the time, while here the focus is working on a project by project basis.

What have been your priorities and how have these been impacted by the rapid changes in the global distribution landscape and challenging micro-economic context?
KV: Because of the current market, the overall content production that was planned across the Nordics had to be slowed down, and I’ve had to focus on cost cutting and setting up a more agile organisation. We have to adapt our working methods to market changes and the streaming era. Therefore, the initial plan which was to take things slowly with the company’s reshuffling, had to be accelerated.

Can you detail your structural changes?
KV: Nordisk Film has for years been best in class at producing feature films in Scandinavia, so we will naturally maintain this tradition at the same level, while boosting in parallel drama series development and production.

One of the structural changes, is that we will focus more on development and financing, as part of the new strategy to think pipeline rather than single projects. This is to make sure we have projects continuously, for the next couple of years and not just for the coming year, to keep up with the market, especially when streamers tend to change strategy quite regularly. This structure will nurture more co-operation within the company.

The second major structural change is that Marike Muselaers is joining us, in the newly created position of Head of International Financing and Co-Production.

Before, co-production was very much part of the distribution side. It makes more sense to have it within our production department, and we will reinforce this activity to feed our distribution set up.

We will also increase co-productions with associated production brands at Nordisk Film or other companies, to bring in the right competence for the right project. Henrik Zein, COO, has taken this challenge as part of his portfolio, to make sure, that we are the best partner for external production partners.

Does that mean you will take away some responsibility from the producers and centralise the decision-making process?
KV: No, I am working on the opposite - to give the producers the responsibility for the greenlight, and the process leading to it. But formally, I will be in charge, together with Henrik Zein in Denmark, with Head of Production Sveinung Golimo in Norway and Head of Production Calle Marthin in Sweden.

And with Marike, local producers will have common resources and high qualified professionals to support them through development, financing and co-production. We had noticed for instance that the bigger co-productions could prevent producers from focusing on their own slate in development and production.

Nordisk Film is in a unique position with its wealth of talented producers across Denmark, Norway and Sweden. We want to break down the silos between them, let the information flow and improve knowledge sharing. We have already started doing this, and producers seem to appreciate the feeling of us all moving in the same direction. It is stimulating for everyone.

What is the ideal volume of annual scripted content that you’re aiming for?
KV: We’re moving slowly towards achieving our objectives over a five-year plan. Regarding films -and these include originals for straight to streaming-we’d like to keep the same level, which is approximately 5 films in Denmark, 4 in Norway and 2-3 in Sweden, where the market is much tougher.

It will be new for Nordisk Film Production to create originals for the streamers…
KV: It’s another way to tell stories you might not be able to do for theatrical. The demand from streamers is there, so we should be part of it. It involves a very different business model, quite new for us. But it’s a real opportunity which also benefits talents who can create content for whatever platform.

How many series a year do you want to produce?
KV: By 2027, our goal is to have at least 5 series in Denmark, and around 3 in Norway and 3-4 in Sweden.

At the moment, Nordisk Film Series in Denmark, which was initiated in 2020 by producers Trin Hjortkjær Thomsen and Camilla Hammerich, is the most advanced writer - dedicated department at Nordisk Film Production. With producers like Vibeke Ringen in Norway and Johanne Bergenstråhle in Sweden, I see a great potential to make more pan-Scandinavian knowledge sharing, and building a stronger long-running series pipeline. I have to mention, that we have delivered excellent one-offs, but our next move will be to add return long-runners.

How do you feel streamers are behaving in the Nordics?
KV: They are moving back to what traditional broadcasters did a couple of years ago. I actually expected that to happen. They have tried to create upmarket film and series and it works brilliant to build a brand, but not necessarily to catch a broad audience. And as soon as you move towards a broad audience, you shift towards what traditional broadcasters are doing.

After having privileged mini-series, which is a great arena for feature film writer/directors, streamers are coming back to long-running series where you have fantastic opportunities.


Is YA content with shorter formats as hot as ever or losing its appeal?
KV: I feel the demand is going down. But from my experience at TV2, it’s better to do a broad show and get characters and dilemma that YA audience can identify with, rather than creating pure YA shows. This is what nearly all streamers seem to be asking for at the moment.

Supporting new talent is high on your agenda and you have Nordisk Film Spring that has successfully brought to the screens Gustav Möller’s The Guilty for example. Are you planning to widen this Danish scheme to the rest of Scandinavia?
KV: Yes. This is the plan, but we will make it differently. So far, the brand was associated to one person. Going forward, I’d like to broaden it to meet the diversity of the talent and their way of working. But we will continue to focus on lower budget, innovative projects, created in a smart way, to make sure we have a solid talent base.

My wish is also to establish mentorship programmes and incentivise the numerous experienced people at Nordisk Film to pass their knowledge to the next generation. We will work on it this fall 2023.

Thomas Robsahm is also involved in the ‘Filmmakers (Filmskapere) talent development programme which would be very interesting to expand. So out talent strategy will be much bigger in scope to what it is right now.

Any plan to set up a production base in Finland?
KV: Finland is one of the best places for creativity, but we have other priorities right now.

What about international productions in English language? Your biggest rival SF Studios has clear ambitions in that area…
KV: No. This is not in our strategy. Competition is too hard. We might act as a minor in a big co-production, but I don’t believe in producing in English-language. Why go into a tough market when you can do so much better at home?

Could you cite some exciting films and series lined up for later this year and 2024?
KV: On the film side in Norway, we were very pleased with Narvik by Erik Skoldbjærg that has passed 500,000 admissions. Coming up, are two super charming family films - Lars is LOL directed by Erik Sætter Stordahl and Christmas in Cobbler Street directed by Mikael Hovland.

In Sweden, our stable franchise with the world's strongest bear, Bamse, directed by Christian Ryltenius, continues. We are also starting a new movie universe for the whole family with the animated Super-Charlie, directed by Jon Holmberg.

In Denmark, we have Ole Bornedal’s Nightwatch-Demons are Forever, the new Department Q film Boundless by director Ole Christian Madsen, the next Gustav Möller film Vogter (Prison) starring Sidse Babette Knudsen, and Martin Zandvliet’s Tove’s Room. We will have 14 premieres in Denmark in 2023, so they have been producing like hell, post-Covid.

For the series, it is the streamer or broadcaster who will announce our up-coming series, so for now it is a secret.