Why did you move to New York and how hard is it for a Danish born producer to establish himself in the US indie filmmaking scene?
Lars Knudsen: I’ve wanted to make films since I was 17 years old but found it difficult to get into the Danish film industry. So after graduating from a Business School in 2001, I moved to New York to try my luck there. Scott Rudin [US mogul/producer of films such as No Country for Old Men and the US version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo] was the reason I decided to go to New York instead of LA. I had admired him for years although it was widely known that he was supposed to be the boss from hell. I wanted to learn from the best and toughest and was somehow able to get my first job there.
I think that in order to make it in the US as a young producer, you have to be willing to throw your ego away, be humble, work hard, really hard (we’d often work 100 hour weeks for Scott), and always want to learn more. Building a company - Parts & Labor - with my partner, Jay Van Hoy, has been extremely rewarding but I’ve also sacrificed a lot – time and a lot of financial uncertainty for years. There just isn’t a safety net of any kind in the US.
What is Parts & Labor’s editorial line, i.e. type of film and/or TV dramas you work on and budget size? Could you cite projects in your line up (Scandi and non-Scandi)?
LK: Today, we work across all genres and budgets, TV and film. We evaluate projects by using three basic criteria: the story, the people involved in the project and the economics (market demand vs risk).
When Jay and I started Parts & Labor some 10 years ago our focus was to work with young writer/directors that had a unique vision and were able to make films on very small budgets. We wanted to make films, not talk about making them. Trust, transparency, collaboration and mentorship have been important to us from the beginning, and still very much are today, and to always innovate, take risks and be creative.
Among our projects are two films set to open in the US early 20216: Robert Eggers’ The Witch (Best Director, Sundance 2015) and Robert Edwards’ When I Live My Life Over Again starring Amber Heard and Christopher Walken.
We are in post-production on Andrea Arnold’s American Honey with Shia LaBeouf (co- produced with Film4 and BFI), Josh Marston’s new project starring Mike Shannon and Rachel Weisz; and Matthew Ross’ Frank & Lola.
On the studio-side, we are producing for Sony with Jeff Robinov’s Studio 8, two films directed by Robert Eggers The Knight and Nosferatu, and we hope to go into production next summer on Madonna’s next film as a director.
In Scandinavia, we are developing the 30 minute Danish language TV series Unik, commissioned by TV2. The comedy is created by Simon Kvamm and to be directed by Magnus Millang. We are also producing Per Fly’s first English language film, the political thriller Backstabbing for Beginners which we aim to shoot in Jordan and Toronto early 2016.
What advice would you give Scandi filmmakers/talents wanting to expand their career internationally?
LK: Scandinavian filmmakers that want to expand internationally seem to try for Hollywood first, which is absolutely fine, but there is another, more creatively fulfilling way to go about it. You can direct films also internationally on your own terms, which is how we set out to develop and produce Per Fly’s film that will be able to compete with the specialty films coming out of the US and UK.
Having had to find a way to produce and survive without public money, I always feel that if we you are passionate about a film, it will get made, not matter what.
How do you collaborate with Nordic Creative Alliance and Platform Start to Finnish on a creative and financial standpoint and what’s your medium-term plan?
LK: Jay and I have decided to set up our own production division Parts & Labor in Denmark by the end of 2015, so we are no longer an official part of Creative Alliance. That said, we are co-producing Backstabbing for Beginners together and will be looking to collaborating on future projects.
I’ve known Platform Start to Finnish’s Andrew (Corkin) and Jesse (Fryckman) for years. We are friends and have a desire and curiosity to find ways to tell Scandinavian stories internationally.
I want to use my US and international experience and resources to develop and produce films and TV in new and exciting ways in Denmark, both financially and creatively. I especially want to work hard on finding ways to tell international stories within Scandinavia.
We also work closely with the Sundance Institute, and have made producer mentorship a priority for our company. I want to create more opportunities for Danish aspiring producers to be part of our internship program in NY. “