Liselott Forsman on Helsinki Script event, and Nordic - EU pubcasters’ priorities

Thanks to her wide network in international TV drama, Forsman and her team at Helsinki Script have put the one-day conference in the Finnish capital on the map as one of the top drama industry conferences in Europe.

More than 500 delegates and 28 keynote speakers are expected for the 4^th edition held on Friday September 6 at Helsinki’s Savoy Theatre. 

The seasoned Finnish TV executive who will leave her current position as Executive Producer, International Drama at Yle, to run Nordisk Film & TV Fond from October 7, spoke to us on the eve of Helsinki Script.

TO SEE THE FULL PROGRAMME FOR HELSINKI SCRIPT: CLICK HERE. 

How many attendees do you expect at this year’s Helsinki Script?
Liselott Forsman: Usually we end up having around 500+ delegates and we have interesting speakers from 10 European countries.  Several companies registered, will also join Thursday’s ‘Masterclass on international contracts’, which we arrange in partnership with APFI (Audiovisual Producers Finland). 

This year we also welcome a new evening event called SEAN's Amazing Travelling Pitch Circus arranged by European series writers who come to Helsinki September 5 to combine networking in a bar with pitching crazy ideas that seldom reach big stages.

What are the highlights of this year’s Helsinki Script?
LF: Among the themes, I could mention ‘going deep in complex stories’, ‘finding the unique by bravely mixing genres’ and ‘fictionalizing real events’.

I am thrilled that Swedish stand-up artist and writer Jonas Gardell [Don’t Ever Wipe Tears without Gloves, The Days the Flowers Bloom] will start the main event. His miniseries truly go deep and his non-linear narration combines structure and intuition in a very organic way. Polish producer Dariusz Jablonski, is another wonderful expert on ‘depth’. He learnt the trade working with Krzysztof Kieslowski and today he co-produces all over. Another angle to the theme of complexity is the presentation of the intelligent French spy thriller Le Bureau des Légendes by its producer Alex Berger.

This year brave and unpredictable new formats will come from Norway, Belgium and Finland. Norwegian Anne Bjørnstad has created one unique concept after another, from Lilyhammer (NRK) to Beforeigners (HBO). Belgian Sanne Nuyens’ international break-through series Hotel Beau Séjour combined an authentic Belgian crime arena with a ghost story, creating a new unreal crime genre. Finnish Hyppe Salmi will discuss how the intimacy of the cell phone creates new forms of narration.

From Finland we'll also meet the winners of the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize-Best Nordic Script, Mika Ronkainen and Merja Aakko [All the Sins], and the talents behind the Finnish series Invisible Heroes that just won the Seoul Drama Award-best mini-series. They will touch upon a third theme that also Jonas Gardell has a lot to say about: turning real life events into fiction. 

The European Script Awards is another highlight. What can you tell us about this year’s ceremony?
LF: This year we have announced the winners beforehand, as the competition does not have a nominee ceremony. The 2019 series winners are Stéphane Bergmans, Benjamin d'Aoust and Matthieu Donck for La Trêve Season 2 (RTBE). The show come from French-speaking Belgium, which is especially nice as we happen to have a bilingual Belgian theme, with commissioners and writers from both the Flemish and the French side.

The winner of the TV film script is Germany’s Nora Fingscheidt for System Crasher, just elected German candidate for the International Feature Film Award at the 92^nd Oscars ceremony.

Since last year, what do you feel have been the major shifts in TV drama creation in the Nordics?
LF: Within the public service sector, the Nordvision N12 drama work is changing a lot. Until 2018 we mostly dealt with Nordic proposals as individual deals. Now five countries co-finance each year a repertoire of 12 drama series, which then is available for every Nordic citizen for 12 months. Visibility and long licenses are a must in today's VOD world. Tele-operators, VOD services and other new players produce interesting series today also in the Nordics. The increased working opportunities keep our industries vital. The great thing on the content side is a variety of brave concepts.

As president of the EBU Fiction expert group, could you summarise what are the top priorities for EU pubcasters today, tools and strategies they use to face the fierce competition from streaming giants?
LF: Co-working is a key word everywhere today. Inspired by N12, RAI, ZDF and France Télévision formed their alliance in 2018. This year EBU's mid-sized countries are structuring their own alliance. At all stages of the creation process there will be a flexible way to co-create, co-finance or pre-buy other public dramas in 2020. At the end of 2019 our EBU group will launch a Fiction Catalogue as a tool for drama international co-work. Some big festivals are already interested in hosting catalogue pitches. According to EBU's media research MIS, EBU members still invest a lot more in content than any of the global giants. Joining forces makes sense. Simultaneously no-one is locking the giants totally out. A streaming giant offers feared competition, but often also welcomed co-financing.

As exec producer of international projects at Yle, can you underline the new international alliances that Yle has developed the last few years and internationally-oriented TV dramas that will premiere on Yle in 2019-2020?
LF: There is an increase in international partners, but they are always connected to the story in an organic way. Next in line is the thriller The Paradise, which combines Finnish and Spanish cultures and is co-produced with Spanish Mediapro. Around 15,000 Finns live in the Spanish holiday resort Fuengirola and when bodies start appearing, a Finnish and a Spanish cop join forces. Other truly international concepts are the series Peacemaker focusing on the fragile world of diplomats negotiating for peace and the harsh world of arm trades that enables partnerships all over. I also look very much forward to the series Transport which already has attracted mid-European partners thanks to it multi-country story that combines economic crime, international food fraud and animal welfare.