This is Music produced by Oslo Pictures, is one the Co-Pro Series’ most high-profile TV projects to be pitched on March 2. The music anthology project is created by screenwriter/author Bjørn Olaf Johannessen, who collaborated earlier with Wim Wenders on the film Every Thing Will be Fine and docu series Cathedrals of Culture.

Speaking to the Norwegian media VG, Johannessen said the anthology format will be quite similar in structure to the Netflix show Black Mirror, with stories not connected in plot but all linked through the overriding theme of music. It will deal with “what music is and what it means in our lives,” said the Norwegian writer.

Joachim Trier who is currently editing Oslo Pictures’ The Worst Person in the World, told VG he is thrilled to be associated notably with singer/songwriter David Byrne. “I’ve been a big fan of Talking Heads for a long time,” he told the Norwegian tabloid.

Skam creator Julie Andem is also attached to the project, to be co-produced by Wenders’ Road Movies, according to Variety. So far, the series has received development funding from NRK and support from the Norwegian Film Institute, and Creative Europe. Producer Thomas Robsahm was not available for further comment.

Speed is the latest TV project from Ape & Bjørn’s producer Ruben Thorkildsen, director Martin Lund and writer Thorkild Schrumpf after Match and The Games. Ape & Bjørn’s latest show was the comedy Walk Like a Queen (Stolthet og Forfall) commissioned by NRK.

Switching for the first time to crime drama, the creative trio have set Speed in southern Norway, described by Ape & Bjørn as a “land of contrasts”, rarely shown on screens, where “conservative forces are stronger than in any other place in Norway”.

The character-driven drama is set in a cozy little town, suddenly struck by tragedy when five youngsters are found dead, due to an overdose. Headstrong police officer Katrine is devastated as her son is one of them. When Hanna, a desperate mum is stopped at the border, carrying a bag full of drugs, Katrine sees it as a chance to get revenge and strikes a deal with Hanna: either she helps her to infiltrate the drug network to bring it down, or she will loser custody of her children.

Thorkildsen said he has received development funding from the Norwegian Film Institute and MEDIA slate support and hopes to start production in the summer 2022. He will use Co-Pro Series to look for co-producers, broadcasters and financiers.

Two other Norwegian shows are part of the new label ‘Berlinale Series’ Market Selects’ for ‘extraordinary series of high commercial potential’.

• the crime thriller Outlier set in the Sami community in northern Norway, was co-created by Arne Berggren and Kristine Berg (The River) for their company Shuuto Arctic. It premiered last December on the Norwegian media group Amedia’s Nettavisen. The show was sold by REinvent Studios to HBO Nordic among others.
• The drama-comedy Suck it Up (Pørni) was created and written by actress Henriette Steenstrup for Monster Scripted. NENT Group’s Viaplay will launch it later this year.

Berlinale Co-Pro Series runs March 2-5, 2021.