The first edition of Nordic Series Days/Nordiske seriedager (September 28-29) organised by NRK, TV2 and Aftenposten was attended by a mix of professionals and ordinary series maniacs.

”They will be a bit overweight, tired - as it is an exhausting job – and mostly men” – concluded Oslo panel when asked yesterday by the organisers of Nordiske Seriedager  (Nordic Series Days) what would be the characteristics of a Head of Drama at a Nordic broadcaster. The reality proved somewhat different as seven Heads of drama stepped on stage, for the most part -  fit, energetic and female.  

The event comprised of various panels and more than 20 screenings of drama premieres but it was less than its name as Iceland and Finland were not represented.  

Moderator Guri Heftye initiated the discussion by asking what was everyone´s top TV drama of all time. Many could not stick to one but Amazon comedy Transparent was the only one with two mentions, from DR´s Piv Bernth and TV4’s Josefine Tengblad. 

Bernth immediately took up the issue of copyright and negotiations with rights societies, when panellists were asked to name their biggest challenges. NRK’s Ivar Køhn was worried if the viewer would still favour Norwegian drama amongst the multiple options. ”Our aim is to engage Norwegians, to create common topics for discussion”, he said. 

Many mentioned the problem of financing, including TV2’ Norway’s Christopher Haug, who felt the lack of money is taking too much attention away from content debate. 

As a new player, HBO Nordic´s Hanne Palmquist refused to talk budget :”As the Americans always say it is not an issue.” She said that as part of HBO’s DNA, her focus was on content that should have passion, edge, be thought-provoking and maybe not politically correct. 

What is in the air then? SVT’s Kristian Hoberstorfer said he looks for identification and fascination. As SVT has many different drama slots he was slightly worried about creators´ lack of understanding genres. The Danes - TV2 Denmark’s Katrine Vogelsang, Bernth and Palmquist all joined the choir of broadcasters that love life in all its complexity. Vogelsang said: ”The world today is so polarised, and figures like Rita or Dicte make it possible for us to navigate through more complexities.” Bernth felt the viewer should not be given an easy ride and needs to be challenged. 

Nordic cooperation is positive, even if The Bridge-as Bernth mentioned- is still the only show that has concretely dealt with the Nordic cultural differences. Palmquist took up the concept of Nordic togetherness as being behind the success story of Nordic TV-dramas. ”We ain´t seen nothing yet, other new players will be involved, but what makes us strong is that even if we are competitors we talk to each other and sometimes there may be an opening for co-operation,” she said. 

Final words for producers in the audience were given the following advice. ”In the past, we looked at the financing options first. Now we look at the story first and how we can co-operate around it, how we can cast it right”, said Tengblad, meaning cast and crew. ”Remember that what we are thinking today will be possible tomorrow”, concluded Haug.

The first Nordic Series Days' award winners were:

  • Best Nordic comedy series: Dag produced by Viafilm for TV2, sold by Nordic World. 

  • Best Nordic TV drama : Skam (Shame) produced by NRK Super, sold by Beta Film. 

Nominated series were Nordskov and Splitting Up Together from Denmark and the latest seasons of The Bridge and Solsidan.

The jury was headed by Asbørn Slettemark (Aftenposten) comprised Steffen A. Jensen Stø (Serienytt) and Marte Hedenstad (NRK Filmpolitiet) from Norway, Daniel Åberg (TVDags), Sandra Weibro (Aftonbladet) and Ida Kjellin (TVDags) from Sweden, and Henrik Palle (Politiken), Kristian Lindberg (Berlingske) and Nanna Frank Rasmussen (Jyllands-Posten) from Denmark.