Within this year’s Nordic production quintet, selected by the Nordic film institutes, Silje Hopland Eik (Cinenord) and) Fredrik Heinig (St Paul Film) are probably the most established on the international film scene.
“It will be fun and of course, a good opportunity to meet other producers from Europe and hopefully gain some experience, “commented Heinig. “Personally, I see the promotion as a response to all the energy and spirit that I and my colleagues at St Paul have put into out film projects.”
The young entrepreneurial Heinig has been producing commercials and innovative TV programmes for the last ten years, collecting awards for the TV series Stockholmare and Space both developed with filmmaker Johan Kling. The two went on collaborating on Kling’s short film Jag and its feature film spin off Darling. The stylish drama was selected at world festivals and won two Guldbagge awards in 2007 (Best Actor and Cinematography). Heinig, his long term partners Johannes Åhlund and Kling recently set up the new production outfit St Paul. Two feature films are in development: Kling’s next film Trust Me (supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond) set to start shooting in October, and Kristian Petri’s Bad Faith, scheduled for a February 2009 shoot.
Silje Hopland Eik set up Cinenord in 2004 with production partner and ex colleague from the Norwegian National Film School Tanya Badendyck. Their company now has four distinct production arms: Cinenord Spillefilm in Norway, Cinenord Kidstory, Cinenord Stockholm and CineMiso recently set up with Denmark’s Miso Film to produce six Varg Veum films. Among the four finished films produced by the female duo are the award-winning children’s film Trigger by Gunnar Vikene, and Eva Dahr’s comedy Mars & Venus. Hopland Eik is currently working on Vikene’s new youth film Vegas, supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond, set to start filming in September.
Ulla Simonen graduated from the Lahti Polytechnics Department of Film in 1994. In 1997, she joined Kinotar for whom she produced Virpi Suutari and Susanna Helke’s documentary The Idle Ones, winner of a Nordic Documentary Film Award at Nordisk Panorama 2001, and of a Jussi Award, Best Documentary in 2002. Simomen also co-produced Sweden’s documentary Don’t You Worry, It Will Probably Pass by Cecilia Neant-Falk (2003).
In 2004, Simonen joined AVEK (Finland’s Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture) as Shorts and Documentaries consultant. After a four year contract at the organisation, she is back on the independent production scene with two feature film projects.
Louise Vesth studied economics and business and rapidly turned to film production through a friend, where her ‘business skills where challenged the right way’, she says.
At Zentropa, Vesth has produced “films that challenge the way of telling stories”, such as Anders Rønnow Klarlund’s How to get Rid of Others, as well as Christian E. Christiansen’s Råzone (Life Hits) and his 2008 Oscar nominated short film At Night. Vesth is now producing for Zentropa/Filmfabrikken, You & Me, the feature length version of At Night, as well as a feature film for children, three TV series and a feature film only shot with stills, about civilisation vs nature.
Magnus Vidar Sigurdsson has 20 years experience in TV, film and radio production. During the 1990s, he collaborated mostly with Iceland national broadcaster RUV, heading their production division between 1996 and 1997. Sigurdsson joined the company Storm in 2001, where he supervised the making of commercials, films, music videos, documentaries and TV shows until 2005. In 2006, he was appointed Head of Production at Saga Film, one of Icelandic leading production company. His production credits for Saga include their first feature film Cold Trail (2006) and the TV Drama series The Press (2007-2008). Sigurdsson says his strategy with Saga Film is to increase their involvement in film and to make two feature films per year for the local and European market.