What does it mean to have won Prix Italia?
We competed against 29 programmes from 23 countries so that gives a stronger feeling of YES, we have the skills, the quality and know-how to make something like that.
Some stories are local with a universal perspective. We were worried that the first episode - shot in black and white - would be too ‘arty', and that it would be too local, linked to what happened to Göteborg at that time. But you never really know what makes a local film universal. We did a lot of research, building a structure for it. Upp till kamp takes place from 1966-1976. We tried to find actors that were young and could become ten years older. Also, we found important that two of them were into music, and should have the ability to sing and play. All the music numbers are in fact live action. It gives a feeling of authenticity. That's what Mikael Marcimain, the director wanted: to find the original things that would define the reality. He is convinced that by being concrete and true, it gives a flavour that the audience understands and recognizes.
You're getting ready for the Swedish opening of Everlasting Moments, a film which has both the Swedish and Danish nationality...
Yes, the Danish leading producer Thomas Stenderup (Final Cut) did a few documentaries with Jan. I knew Thomas and he asked me to co-produce it. I looked at the material and thought it was great and suggested to bring in scriptwriter Niklas Rådström. We were active in the creative and financial process, but the production was really made by Thomas. The film was shot in Sweden and Germany. It was a good idea to make the Danish and Swedish film Institutes cooperate around this film on a 50-50-level.
You must be please by the reception of the film in North America...
Jan Troell is probably the most Oscar nominated and famous Swedish director in the US, after Bergman. Of course he's a strong name and I hope he will be officially nominated.
What kind of release is Sandrew Metronome putting together for the film and what do you expect from the audience's response in Sweden?
SM plans to go out with 25 prints this Friday.
As a whole, admission figures are gradually falling in Sweden. Films that used to have an audience of 200.000 to 300.000 now have an audience of only 50-100.000. Only one or two films a year break even. It means that big productions like Everlasting Moments have to go international, get financing from many public sources, because private investors are afraid. You then have to share the rights, spend money, and bring people into the team from different countries. That can work well, but it depends on the subjects. It's both an opportunity and a nightmare.
Could you describe Göta Film today?
We're having a low production year, making mostly short films or minority co-productions. We make on average one feature film and one TV series every other year. But it's hard for a small company like ours to make a profit and to keep the company afloat. We're in the field of making high quality. We don't make commercials, amusement programmes, or crime series. So we have to find ways of adapting to the new situation where cinema admissions are falling. For me, it's very much about doing international films and trying to find low budget solutions. If you make films with average budgets of SEK 15-20 M and have a 50-60 prints release, you have to invest SEK 3-5M in marketing campaigns, which means that you need at least 250.000 tickets to break even; that's the bottom line.
What projects do you have in production and development?
We're preparing a film adapted from a book: Simon & the Oaks directed by Björn Runge. It will be a co-production between Per Holst (DK), Filmkameratene (NO), and Schmidt Katze Produktion (Germany). We're also trying to bring Dutch partners in because the writer Marny Blok is Dutch. She's done a great job with adapting Marianne Fredriksson's best-selling novel which sold 4.5m copies in Europe, including 1.5 in Germany alone. We believe that the book has a great potential to attract a big audience across Europe, which is why we want to have a European cast. The budget will be around 5M€. We're financing now and location scouting and casting.
We also have projects with new directors called "Take Now". It's inspired by Dogma and New Danish Screen. We're presenting this idea to Film i Väst and the SFI which is to develop new talents. Today, upcoming Swedish filmmakers make fewer films; they often wait for long development and financing processes, and end up compromising their projects. There is a risk for those people to loose their originality, which we want to avoid. The projects would be around SEK 5M each.
We're also preparing a ‘Rookie' film with Mårten Klingberg (Offside). The project will be written by talented writer Antonia Pyk.
In terms of international projects, we're planning to co-produce international films with Film i Väst, projects that will shoot in the region, where there is a need for a Swedish co-producer. We're developing for instance an Israeli/Palestine project, and a Scottish/German project from the Scottish producer of Rob Roy.
We're also developing a film concept based on Crime & Punishment. We have 30-40 different gangs in Göteborg and the subject of crime is on everybody's lips here. The moral issues are on the agenda. The idea is to turn this classical story into a contemporary Swedish setting.
On the TV side, we wait for SVT to see if and how our collaboration will continue. We're thinking of making other episodes of Saltön series that had 2.5M viewers in Sweden. To keep the continuity of our company as well as reaching a wide audience, we need TV series.