Nordisk Film & TV Fond’s first strategic meetings during the renewed 2025-2029 partnership period

A new 5-year contract between the Nordic Council of Ministers and the media parties of Nordisk Film & TV Fond (NFTVF) was signed in late 2024.

In 2025-2029, NFTVF’s parties are the Nordic Council of Ministers, five Nordic film institutes/foundations/centres (DFI, SFI, NFI, FFF and IFC), eleven Nordic public (DR, NRK, RÚV, SVT and Yle) and private (MTV3, Síminn, TV 2 Denmark, TV 2 Norway, TV4 and VGTV) media companies. It is possible to apply for partnership at NFTVF between 5-year contracts. Quality productions with one of the partners on board and distribution in minimum two Nordic countries can seek top financing from NFTVF.

”During recent years Nordic films have been extremely successful in Cannes, and both fictions and documentaries have received Oscar nominations and even Academy Awards. Nordic drama series collect top European prizes every year. However, we are now witnessing a decline in series volumes and many film budgets. To guarantee a strong Nordic industry at the fierce global market of today, financial and content collaboration is an imperative. NFTVF strongly appreciate the wise investment in the future by the Nordic Council of Ministers and our other parties. Collaboration is not only about the money. It is also a true joy to hear our parties come together to share challenges and solutions to strengthen our industry.” says NFTVF’s CEO Liselott Forsman.

Among the many other benefits offered to our parties are Nordic strategic industry meetings. All discussions stay confidential, but some themes and results are shared in this article.

NFTVF’s parties are summoned to two annual strategic meetings to exchange ideas, tackle challenges, and foster news collaboration models. At the Commissioners’ Meetings, commissioners from the film institutes and media companies share inspirational presentations and participate in think tanks and industry discussions. CEOs and Heads (of Drama, Documentary, Production, Finance, Strategy, International Co-productions) meet at NFTVF’s so-called Family Meetings, which include industry presentations, panels, market surveys, and strategic discussions.

Celebrating the new 5-year contract, a bridge was built for the first time between the two meetings last week in Oslo. The Commissioners’ Meeting was moved from autumn to spring, enabling it to take place one day before the Family Meeting. Thus, conclusions drawn by a wide scale of Nordic commissioners on May 6th could be brought directly to the agenda of the May 7th Family Meeting. Both meetings were moderated by Liselott Forsman.

The new format led to two full days of engaging and thought-provoking discussions, with a clear point repeated across both days: Nordic players are not each other’s main competitors, but rather collaborating partners in a tough market where global players dominate.

At the Commissioners’ Meeting, four think tanks were conducted around films, documentaries, drama series and children’s content. The film group noted that despite existing Nordic collaboration models, there is a lack of a structured network between the Nordic film commissioners, and especially across broadcasters and institutes. Such a networking group was founded.

“We concluded that the organisations funding feature fiction films, both from the institutes and broadcasters, are in need of stronger collaboration and a network at the Nordic level. While documentary commissioners naturally meet at Nordisk Forum, for example, and drama series commissioners through various joint funding initiatives, such a network has not existed for film commissioners. Until now!” says Elina Pohjola, Film Commissioner at Yle, who chaired the film think tank together with Ilkka Mertsola, Film Commissioner from FFF. The newly formed networking group will meet in the course of the year.

Even though Nordic documentary commissioners meet at Nordic events, the documentary group spotted new shared challenges and goals to be dealt with. Anna Weitz, Documentary Film Commissioner at SFI, and Asta Dalman, Commissioning Editor at SVT, led the discussion on the future of the Nordic model of financing. Among themes discussed were the financing of singles vs series, titles that include both formats, and securing broadcaster involvement for singles early enough.

The drama series group led by Janne Vakio, Head of Drama and Development at MTV, and RÚV’s Documentary Commissioner Margrét Jónasdóttir, aimed to improve the collaboration between private and public NFTVF partners. As a result they introduced Nordic Ark – an initiative inviting all broadcasters (private and public) to a new co-financing model.

A recurring theme during the days was Nordic children’s content, aligning well with NFTVF’s animation theme year 2025. At both meetings Morten Skov Hansen, Head of Children & Youth at DR, gave inspiring presentations on DR’s successful animation initiative, FredagsTamtam - a time slot airing every Friday on DR1, dedicated to Nordic animated series for young audiences. Hansen invited all parties to participate, carrying a strong message:

“Animation is a powerful currency in children's culture, and locally rooted stories are key to standing out in a globalised media landscape. The Nordic region must therefore dare to invest in high-quality animation with a strong local identity and original IPs.”

A full story on DR’s animation strategy will be covered in an upcoming newsletter. Inspired by Hansen’s presentation, the Nordic Kids’ think tank group picked up the torch and called for a new Nordic collaboration between the film institutes, focused on developing feature films and animation for children.

The results of the think tanks were presented and further discussed at the Family Meeting the next day. The meeting started with Liselott Forsman’s overview of the past five years, from pandemic challenges and mitigation researches to creative initiatives like Nordic Script (2022-2025), theme year results, reforms like the new application system and news pool, and, not to forget, the 2023 academic study of NFTVF, with very positive response from both producers and parties.

The day was all about building our Nordic future together, but Forsman also introduced new projects already in running, such as the development of NES – the Nordic Ecological Standard (CLICK HERE), the Creative Courage Award introduced in January (CLICK HERE), the Nordic Commissioners Lab in planning, and the upcoming Animation Collaboration theme year efforts (CLICK HERE). NFTVF also made an instant survey during the meeting, checking what pan-Nordic marketing efforts are needed as the Fund’s discussions with international events proceed.

To inspire the discussions on the future, guest speakers with clear visions of the market and of our need to understand the global impact of our Nordic titles joined in. Marie Nilsson, CEO of Mediavision, gave an insightful update on the state of the Nordic market as part of the global one.

Mikko Annala, Managing Director of the international think tank Demos Helsinki, first introduced the project Cassandra Visions at this year's Berlinale. Before heading for Cannes, he stopped by NFTVF's meetings to listen to the Nordic industry’s views on the impact our titles make on the world. Demos Helsinki is a high-level collaboration think tank that works in 40 countries, bridging societal insights. This non-profit organisation is now looking at the film industry’s impact through creative processes.

Annala’s presentation sparked a thoughtful discussion around timing and relevance in a fast changing society, the role of hopeful narratives in a turbulent world, and how to measure societal impact.