The heavyweight Danish film & TV executive Lone Korslund has served most recently as Vice President Acquisitions, Co-productions and Creative Partnerships for Nordisk Film, where she has worked for the past 18 years.

Holding senior positions on a Nordic level as co-producer or executive producer, she has been associated with some of the Nordic region’s most ambitious productions, from the Millennium film trilogy, Kon-Tiki, A Man Called Ove, to the TV series Beck.

“I’m looking forward to becoming a part of the Scanbox team,” said Korslund. “The company has an attractive profile, and I know there is a great passion for the creative forces and for quality film and series. I hope I can support the vision of Scanbox Entertainment with my experience and proven results,” she said.

For Scanbox which earlier this year changed ownership in a management buyout (see separate story: CLICK HERE), the hiring of Korslund sits within its strategy initiated in 2020, which is to ramp up its productions under its own brand, and to strengthen its position as key provider of film & TV series for theatrical and streaming distribution in the Nordics.

“We are very happy that Lone has decided to continue her impressive career with us,” said Scanbox Entertainment COO Kim William Beich, who underlined his group’s ambitions to be an important player internationally. “With her extensive network and strong eye for commercially successful films, Lone is the perfect person in our setup,” he noted.

According to Beich, Scanbox aims to produce an average of two features and one TV series a year across the Nordics, but “this could increase, as we intensify development,” he told nordicfilmandtvnews.com.

Scanbox Entertainment Productions will initially centralize its in-house development and production drive from its Danish offices, although “this might change,” says Beich. “We are a strong believer in relationships and would love to team up with friends of the company in the other [Nordic] countries, if it makes sense for both them and us,” he said.

So far, Scanbox has distribution deals in Denmark with fast-rising Motor (As in Heaven) (see story: CLICK HERE), recently launched Writers Room (see story: CLICK HERE), Deluca Film (Hold My Hand) and Toolbox (Shorta). The Scandinavian group headed by CEO Thor Sigurjonsson, also holds a majority stake in Iceland’s ZikZak Filmworks (And Breathe Normally).

Among Scanbox’s most recent productions, the Norwegian comedy Full Dekning by Arild Andresen, remake of the Italian hit Perfect Strangers, opened domestically in February, and an Icelandic version Wild Game (Villibráð) directed by Elsa María Jakobsdóttir for ZikZak, is due to open in January 2023.

The integrated group has several projects in development, including three titles in late development: the Danish WW2 action-drama Folkestrejken (lit’ The People’s Strike’), family film Børste and crime title For Barnets Bedste (Four our Sins), part of a franchise. Published in 2020, the best-selling eponymous book by writing duo Line Holm and Stine Bolther is the first in a crime series featuring criminal historian Maria Just.

On the distribution side, Scanbox will continue to release around 50 titles a year in the Nordics, a mix of commercial and auteur-driven titles, both international and Nordic.

Upcoming releases in Denmark include the Spanish satire Official Competition, British sex comedy Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, and Hlynur Pálmason’s Godland, vying for the Nordic Council Film Prize.

Commenting on the current state of the theatrical market post-Covid, Beich said: “We firmly believe that there is, and will be, a solid theatrical market, both short and long term. You could argue that too many movies are being released which should instead go straight to a streaming platform or home entertainment, but I think this will be adjusted automatically. The market is still adjusting itself from a couple of weird years, the audience has evolved and is more discerning in taste, but the market will find its form again.”