Norwegian drama success decoded and celebrated at TV Drama Vision

Norwegian drama has enjoyed a phenomenal rise and success in the last decade with series such as Lilyhammer, SKAM, Exit, reaching out to millions of viewers both at home and globally and other shows collecting major distinctions such as Atlantic Crossing (Int’l Emmy 2021), Countrymen (Canneseries 2021 Special Prize - High School Prize Best Series), Afterglow (Prix Europa 2022).

Norway is also the country which has earned the most accolades at the annual Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize since its inception in 2017, with Norwegian writers being distinguished for very different shows.

Kenneth Karlstad with his raw Kids in Crime this year, followed in the footsteps of Sara Johnsen’s win in 2020 for the drama about the terror attack 22 July, and Mette. M. Bølstad & Stephen Uhlander's own win in 2017 for the political war drama Nobel.

At this year’s TV Drama Vision, Norwegian media commentators and drama commissioners offered their take on ‘How a Small Industry is Making a Big Impact”.

First up was Cecilie Asker, Culture Editor, Aftenposten and co-founder of Oslo Seriedagene who discussed ‘Cracking the code to Norwegian Drama, Seven Series, Seven Signs of Success’.

After the niche web series SKAM, which became a cult series worldwide for young audiences and “gave Norwegian drama a new confidence”, Asker cited seven other Norwegian shows that have scored for distinct reasons:

1/Viaplay’s Pørni.
Beyond the great story from creator/actor Henriette Steenstrup, Asker says its success was mostly due to “the everyday conversations with no filter, the cheeky, sometimes rude, even nasty but always authentic dialogue”. “We will see more of this in Scandi drama in the years to come”, she predicted.

2/NRK’s Exit.
Season 1 was sold to over 50 countries and watched by 3.5 million people in the Nordics (including an average 2.1 million in Norway), and season 2 by a whopping 3.8 million Nordic viewers, with season 3 lined up for a premiere March 3 on NRK. Why such success for a story headlining four super rich narcissist guys, asked Asker? Because of its escapism and element of voyeurism, breaking away from the gloom and doom of the real world, she argued.

3/NRK/Netflix’s Norsemen (Vikingane).
The show has "the ability to make fun of our proud cultural heritage”, she said. “It's a source of never-ending laughter, with topical issues like mental health, gender equality, fair remuneration, cleverly inserted in the storyline.

4/ TV 2 Norway’s Witch Hunt (Heksejakt).
Its success stems from“its moral and ethical dilemmas in the grey zone”. The crime show from co-creators Siv Rajendram and Anna Bache-Wiig also offers great characters, served by a brilliant actress in the lead - Ingrid Bolsø Berdal as whistleblower Ida Waage, said Asker.

5/ NRK’s Rod Knock (Rådebank).
A show which could "treat the local scenery as the main character”. According to Asker the youth drama is one of the first Norwegian series that reached its full potential by telling story though a particular town and culture.

6/ NRK’s Afterglow (Etterglød).
The show celebrating life through the portrait of a woman suffering from cervical cancer, has the ability “to tap into debates on values in times of cultural war”, a narrative which “could become a goldmine for producers, “Asker.

7/ HBO Max’s Beforeigners.
A successful show which could “take the creativity to the next level”.

Key commissioners of Norwegian drama also gave their views on the Nordic nation’s drama success.

NRK Head of Drama Marianne Furevold-Boland said Skam which she produced, paved the way by showing Norway’s ability with its scripted content to steer societal discussions and connect with audiences worldwide. "Drama offers good life lessons that the audience wants. We take risks to tell stories we really want to tell and we can also thank our public service which enables this to happen,” she said.

Her counterpart at TV 2 Norway’, Alice Sommer said other keys to the Norwegian drama success are “talents, execution, timing, market positioning, fan base and clever publishers, curating drama”.

Camilla Rydbacken, SVP Scripted Content at Viaplay who has a Nordic perspective, said Norwegian drama stands out for its broad diversity and wealth of talent. “Norwegians have the same pride in creating high-quality adult drama, crime or period pieces. I sit on a lot of pitches across the world, and I see that there are always surprises coming from Norway," she said.

Julie Andem, the celebrated Norwegian creator and director of Skam who gave a keynote on Thursday, compared her experience of working in Norway and in the US, where she directed the US remake Skam Austin.

She said the key as a showrunner is “to have a very strong vision that everyone else -associated to the project-has to sticks to. Staying true to that is key,” she said.
For her the US system is good in that it rewards talent in need of recognition, which motivates them, unlike in Norway -and Scandinavia- practising janteloven. “NRK is not so good at making sure unique talents are being seen", she observed.

However Andem denounced the climate of fear in the US, where people not only work longer hours, but are sometimes afraid to take decisions, in case they would be blamed, lose their job and find themselves in a very vulnerable situation. “When something bad happens [on a show], people point fingers. It's fear-driven. Here [in Europe] it’s different. If you lose your job, you can still get paid”, she said.

“I think creators work better in joy. Fear simply restricts you,” added Andem who is now working on a new project.​