Jørgen Ramskov calls for the introduction of production incentives in Denmark and sustainable agreements on rights with new streamers like Amazon Prime to get the industry back on track.

As preliminary figures for Danish content productions in 2022 have just been released by the Danish Producers’ Association (Producentforeningen), based on new figures from Statistics Denmark, the head of the trade body highlights diverging trends in the sector.

“The preliminary figures emphasise that 2022 was a record year for the Danish content producers, who achieved impressive growth in revenue, exports and employment,” said Ramskov, who underlines that “Danish content in the form of films, TV, games, advertising and interactive stories have a solid breath and appeal across formats and both at home and abroad”.

Indeed, overall production revenues were up DKK 1 billion to DKK 9.5 billion, exports up DKK 0.5 billion to DKK 3.9 billion in 2022, while full time employment in the sector climbed 8% year on year to 5,321.

The gaming industry was the main driving force for the healthy overall 2022 preliminary results, as the sector registered the largest 18% jump in turnover to DKK 3.6 billion in 2022.

Film ranked second in terms of revenues with just over DKK 2 billion in 2022, (DKK 1.76 billion in 2021), followed by TV with DKK 1.83 billion, slightly down from DKK 1.89 billion in 2021.

Internationally, the Danish gaming business was also by far the biggest pulling force for the production sector in 2022, with exports worth a whopping DKK 2.5 billion, up from DKK 2.21 billion the previous year. This compares to DKK 407 million for film (up from DKK 361 million in 2021) and DKK 280 for television (up from DKK 204 million in 2021).

However, despite record numbers in 2022, Ramskov admitted that future prospects for film and television “are not good”. Without mentioning the 2022 streaming crisis - see story here Danish unions involved in streaming dispute claim mea culpa, as industry is bleeding, the head of the trade body cited “an ugly combination of falling investments from both streaming services and traditional TV, political uncertainty, and not least Viaplay’s pause in fiction acquisition” as key factors for the critical downturn in film and TV.

Positive industry framework conditions agreed in 2023 -such as the Media Agreement - Danish Media Agreement, including min. 2% streamers levy gets overall industry favour signed in June, followed by the Film Agreement - see story Danish industry gets biggest funding in decades with Film Agreement 2024-2027, however, contribute “to ensuring peace and stability around film and TV production in the coming years,” said Ramskov, who still predicts another year of turmoil in 2024.

“It will be a huge task for the entire industry to get investments going again,” he acknowledged. “We have very little influence on the economic conditions and the strategic decisions of the international [streaming] services, but we, on the other hand, have both an obligation and an opportunity to influence the terms of their investments in Denmark,” he said, before pointing to two possible ways “to fill the financial gap left by Viaplay”: introducing production incentives, and negotiating sustainable agreements on rights with new streaming services such as Amazon Prime.

Ramskov who took over the helm of the Danish Producers Association in 2019, also announced he will step down mid-2024.