Marianne Furevold-Boland on her vision for NRK Drama and 2023 slate

2022 was another glorious year for the Norwegian pubcaster NRK which picked up new international awards for the series Afterglow (Prix Europa), Countrymen (Best Nordic Series, Aarhus, Best Comedy-non-English Language at Banff World Media) and a national Gullruten award (Best Supporting Role-Pia Tjelta) for State of Happiness season 2.

Audio drama also being a vital part of NRK Drama, the public broadcaster also scored with a Best Radio Drama Award at Prix Italia, with Room 803.

In 2023, the first full year under the leadership of Head of Drama Marianne Furevold-Boland who took over from Ivar Køhn last September, NRK Drama will continue to prioritise scripted content - 50% in-house and 50% externally produced - across a variety of genres, carefully curated to attract in priority NRK’s streaming viewers.

“Under Ivar’s rein, since 2016, NRK Drama has been focusing on creating content - not based on slots - but on what we feel is most appropriate for our viewers, ie bold, surprising and engaging stories, relevant to Norwegians and hopefully global viewers as well. We will therefore continue with this strategy, while keeping our eyes on changes in the industry,” said Furevold-Boland who goes on:

“Our mandate is to strengthen and develop our democracy and unite and engage everyone living in Norway. To achieve this, we aim for content that mirrors our multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society in Norway. We are therefore totally open-minded when people approach us with a story, not to miss anything. We want to mirror the entire population.”

Furevold-Boland says producing with the streaming audience in mind has allowed NRK to take more risks, with shows not ‘typical public service’ such as the adrenaline-driven financial drama Exit from Fremantle (NRK’s biggest online success since Skam, which she produced) or the rapsical drama I am Earth produced by Monday Media. “I am Earth is an out-of-the-box TV show from the amazing talent Amy Black Ndiaye which allowed us to stir debates, something we strive for with all our shows”, Furevold-Boland added.

Thanks to an annual budget of approximately NOK 350 million, (approx €32M), NRK’s drama department is able to commission 3-4 high end/high budget dramas a year, on top of 18-20 medium budget shows across comedy, young adult and kids content.

Furevold-Boland’s close allies in the drama department are executive producer Elisabeth Tangen, in charge of international co-productions, and the two exec producers working on in-house and external productions, Alec Thom and the recently appointed Ales Ree. The latter will join NRK in February from Maipo Film where she produced State of Happiness among others.

Then Per Berge Engebretsen is responsible for in-house productions and Gunhild Nynomen, Head of Audio Drama. NRK Drama also has its own innovation and development producer in Jan Strande Ødegaardsstuen.

“At NRK Drama, we spend a lot of time and money in development as we want to make sure we make the right editorial decisions for our audience, working in tight collaboration with producers and talents”, Furevold-Boland continues, praising her team of “highly skilled professionals who take storytelling and drama production very seriously”. ”We have an open-door policy, so anyone can approach us. We try to make speedy decisions, and support and nurture new talent, making sure as well they can evolve at NRK.”

The biggest challenges ahead of the head of drama will be to keep the NRK brand and TV shows at the highest level of international recognition, at a time when the pubcaster has decided to slash its 2023 overall budget by 5% (or approximately NOK 300 million) - see our separate story, CLICK HERE - while fierce competition in the streaming space keeps pushing costs and quality-levels up. “But the main focus must to be the best partner for the talents, regardless the current situation,” insisted Furevold-Boland.

BOOSTING CO-PRODUCTIONS
In the high-end serialized space requiring international co-financing to offset 30-50% of costs, Furevold-Boland said she will boost European co-productions outside the Nordics, citing two recent co-productions with Germany: the Norwegian political drama Power Play (Makten), co-produced by NDR (on top of SVT, Yle, DR and RÚV), set to air this winter, and the English-language eco-thriller The Seed, led by co-producer ARD Degeto. The drama starring Ingrid Bolsø Berdal and Heinon Ferch started filming in May 2022, between Splitsbergen, Norway, Munich and Prague. It will premiere in the fall 2023.

Another major upcoming international co-production is So Long Marianne about Leonard Cohen’s relationship with his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen, produced by Norway’s Redpoint Productions and lined up for a premiere in 2024.

NRK is also co-producer of the Germany series The Informer, written and directed by Matthias Glasner for NDR, and Danish drama Families Like Ours directed and co-written by Thomas Vinterberg for Zentropa, TV2 Danmark, StudioCanal and Canal+.

Furevold-Boland says having Hans-Jørgen Osnes as Head of Finance Drama for in-house and external productions at NRK since 2021 has been of paramount importance. “With the rising production costs and the position that the global streaming services take, Hans Jørgen does an important job in further strengthening and establishing new financing opportunities for us as a public broadcaster, but not least for the independent producers,” she pointed out.

On a Nordic level, Furevold-Boland is looking forward to continuing her fruitful collaboration within the Nordic 12 public service alliance (backers of So Long Marianne, State of Happiness among others) and developing equal partnerships with her Nordic counterparts, such as Emergency Unit, co-commissioned with Yle. The hospital drama set in the midst of a disaster, explores moral and ethical dilemmas in a foreign culture, as both aid workers and victims fight against time to save lives.

Asked what her wishes are for 2023, Furevold-Boland said: “I’m hoping that people will come to us and show us their vision, skills and stories they believe will engage and entertain, stories that will open hearts and minds and create conversations. And hopefully, we can be the best partner for them and their projects.”

List of NRK series set to premiere in 2023:

Drama series

• Exit season 3, dark financial drama created/written/directed by Øystein Karlsen (Fremantle)
• Power Play (Makta), political drama created/written by Johan Fasting, Silje Storstein and Kristin Grue (Motlys/November Film)
• Norwegian-ish season 2 (Norsk-ish) drama about identity, created and written by Melike Leblebicioğlu Kaveh and Bahareh Badavi (NRK Drama)

Young Adult

• Beast, football series created by Mads Stegger and Ernst De Geer (NRK P3)
• O.R.I.O.N, sci-fi comedy created/written by Henrik Farley and Terje Solli (Spark)
• Saving the Fucking Planet (Vi lover et helvete) created/written by Kristin Vestreim, Karina Lystad and Rebecca Wirkola Kjellmann (Fenomen/Rein Film)

Comedy drama/Comedy

• Dumbsday (Dummedag), comedy playing on the conventions of post-apocalyptic series, created by Christopher Pahle and Marit Støre Valeur (NRK Entertainment)
• Cammo about two female influencers at opposite ends, who still share a lot (NRK Comedy)
• Forever and Ever (Evy & alltid), dramedy about marriage, created/written by Miriam Larsen, Julie Skaufel with co-writer Arild  Østin Ommundsen (Einar Film)
• What Happened to Solveig (Hva skjedde med Solveig), created/written by Kevin Vågenes and Martin Zimmer (Seefood)

Kids and Youth

• Like Me (Lik meg), created/written by Anne Wisløff (NRK Super)
• Rumours (Rykter) about friendship and bullying, created/written by Christoffer Ebbesen and Sigrid Kolbjørnsen (Mothership Entertainment)
• Snowfall season 2 (Snøfall), Christmas show created and written by Hanne, Hilde and Klaus Hagerup and Synne Teksum
• VGS, high-school TV series created by Caroline Svartdahl and Benedikte Minos, co-written by Mari Ørstavik, Jesper Breen Frilseth, Emilie Beck (STV Productions).