The Scandinavian film fund’s CEO and Head of Production explain to us how much, why and how they invest in Nordic and international co-productions.

Present in Cannes this year with Turkish Palme d’or winner Nuri Bilge Ceylan in the main competition with his new film About Dry Grasses, and Chile’s Felipe Gálves at Un Certain Regard with The Settlers, the leading Scandinavian Film Fund has since 1996 co-produced more than 1,300 films and drama series, many of them shot in Trollhättan and Studio Fares.

Film i Väst’s post-production facilities are also being honoured in Cannes with three nominations at the new Global Production Awards (for Community Engagement, Film Commission Team Award, Studio of the Year) on top of City of Film for Trollhättan (or Trollywood), to be handed out May 22.

Ahead of the regional fund's annual press event in Cannes May 19, where eight new Swedish and international co-productions will be unveiled, we spoke to Film i Väst’s CEO Mikael Fellenius and Head of Production Kristina Börjeson.

First of all-you have a new location in Cannes - Why?
Mikael Fellenius: For several years we had a spectacular venue just outside Cannes that worked well for various events and arrangements. For shorter meetings and logistics in general, it was less suitable and therefore we now have a new place right opposite the festival palace.

Talking about location - Film i Väst has three nominations for the Global Production Awards - how important is this for you?
MF: Alongside our strategies for production investments, we also work long-term with infrastructure development within our region. Investments in virtual production and studio development for instance, have been the focus during the last year. Even the economic impact of productions coming to Western Sweden, have been successful. It is of course especially honourable that, among other things, these are nominated at the Global Production Awards.

This year you have two international co-productions in Cannes. Naturally everyone wants a film to be selected at a major festival-but your hit rate is impressive. Could you detail your recipe and what are the main criteria that determine your investment in a film or series, or doc, Swedish or international?
Kristina Börjeson: It’s nothing like a secret recipe, but one of the important things for us is to keep the continuity when it comes to relations with talents and production companies, and at the same time be brave enough to look for the new and unknown to be able to build new relations. With an experienced team like ours, this is possible.

Regarding the choice of individual projects, the main criteria are originality, perspective, urgency, and of course, the track record of talents involved. Naturally, we also need to follow the trends at the A-festivals to understand what they are looking for, however this works more like a guideline than leading to a total change of direction for us.

Ruben Östlund is president of the jury in Cannes and you have worked with him since his feature debut Involuntary - and also backed his short film Incident by the bank. Is Ruben the quintessential type of auteur/director with mainstream appeal that defines FiV's support strategy?
KB: Haha, yes in a way he is! His achievements are fantastic and means the world to Film i Väst. But we need a mix, and looking back at Ruben’s films and his development as a director, he has gone through different levels and phases and been successful on each and every one of them. To find projects that are spread out like that, but from a variety of directors is a strategy. To be successful at the festivals we are aiming for, we need the diversity.

What is your co-production budget for 2023? How many projects have you supported, and what was their total budget estimate?
KB: The budget for 2023 is SEK 90 million. Counting the projects that plan to shoot in the region this year makes 14 right now and the total budget is SEK 750 million. However, some shoot a couple of days while others do a hundred percent.

Today, what is the share of films-documentaries, TV series in your annual investment and the share of Swedish majority and minority co-productions?
KB: With a budget of SEK 90 million, we invest approximately SEK 50 million in Swedish features, SEK 15 million in international co-productions, SEK 20 million in drama series and SEK 5 million in documentaries, short formats and talent development. The revenues we get immediately goes back into production, but is a factor that sometimes can be hard to estimate.

During 2021, the last year of Covid, we invested a total of SEK 112 million which was a lot, but quite hard to predict. Money-wise, the share between majority/minority films is 50/15, (SEK million) but counting the number of films it’s almost equal, somewhere between 10-15 for both since the level of investment is much lower for the international co-productions.

What is the maximum sum (or %) that you can invest in a film/doc or TV drama?
KB: We try not to give ourselves limits like that, it’s all a part of the negotiation, on a project by project basis, but of course, we have levels that we try to follow. Regarding drama series, where we invest in 3-5 projects every year, we have some kind of guideline at 10 percent of the total budget. And that is often quite a big amount, considering the projects we join.

Tomas Eskilsson will discuss in Cannes the issue of the polarisation of the market, notably between small arthouse and big blockbusters. In Sweden, local films’ market share has been more than halved since 2014 and this issue is typical to Sweden in the Nordics. What do you as the second biggest investor in Swedish films - besides the SFI - hope to do to reconnect Swedish audiences with local films in cinemas?
KB: We need to be more thorough when evaluating the films aiming for a big audience. The audience is well served with films of all genres through the platforms, so what is it that actually would make someone pay SEK 150, leave the sofa and enter the cinema? I think some genres are dead on the cinema screen, while others should be more developed. It’s our job to make choices, and also, after having made the choices, be a good co-producing partner who is engaged in the project all the way until release.

I also think we need to leave some ”old truths” behind us, both when it comes to numbers, but also in the way we think the audience behaves. We need to get to know the audience better through surveys, and at Film i Väst, we will step by step start offering Audience Design to some of our co-productions. Swedish films have all the possibility to regain market share; I see so many good films and ideas so it’s also about continuity and not giving up!

In today's competitive environment for talents - in front and behind the camera - could you summarise FiV's initiatives to support talent? I believe Five 4 Fiction is one scheme...
KB: We are right now working on a new strategy for talent development which will be ready by the end of this year. The programmes we have right now is Five 4 Fiction aiming for new directors, and Prodda for producers. These we do together with another entity in the region. We also see co-production of short formats as a big part of the talent development. In the future though, we will define talent in a wider sense and also find new inspiring ways of development. Our plan is to do more when it comes to talent.

How high is sustainability (gender/racial/social/green) on your agenda?
KB: One of our four goals from our owner, the Region of Västra Götaland, is about sustainability, so of course it’s high on the agenda. And hopefully its would have been anyway! We have developed a digital tool called Hållbar Film, which is presented and offered for free to all our co-producers. It contains all the aspects you mentioned and can be used as a help. We also think of the aspects when we meet the producers and discuss talent, actors etc, so all in all, it’s a part of the work we do.

After much lobbying, the Swedish government finally introduced in 2022 the much awaited 25% film tax incentives, although with a budget capped at SEK 100 million instead of the SEK 300 million suggested. How has this impacted your ability to attract filming in your region? Are you still lobbying for a bigger annual budget for the film rebates?
MF: With the production incentive implemented, opportunities are created to scale up Swedish film production and in Western Sweden there is a well-built infrastructure that is attractive to the productions that received the incentive.

Along with incentives are our investments and knowledge base. We have managed to attract a couple of productions and look forward to the financial impact. With regard the development of the Swedish production incentives, we continue to work in a smaller group with lobbying work and strategies towards politics and decision-makers for continued expansion.

What are your biggest wishes for 2023/2024?
KB: I really hope that all the great Swedish films that are being released from now on will find an audience. There is something for everyone, and the films show how much talent there is in this country! I also hope to see some great films being shot in the region that will have a given slot in Cannes 2025!