Christian Aune Falch of UpNorth Film is urging Nordic institutes to join forces to support the development of major Nordic co-productions.

Falk is the third documentary expert that we invite to expand on issues touched on at a CPH:DOX Conference (see our story - CLICK HERE - ), held under Nordisk Film & TV Fond’s ‘Audiovisual Collaboration 2021’ industry meet up.

The next Town Hall session part of Audiovisual Collaborations 2021, will be held in Malmö, September 19 (17.30-19.00 CET) during Nordisk Panorama.

Falch is a partner and producer at the prominent Norwegian documentary house UpNorth Film. He has produced and co-produced nearly 20 documentary features such as Håvard Bustnes’ Golden Dawn Girls, Two Raging Grannies, iHumans.

His most recent feature Oh It Hertz! by Gunnar Hall Jensen world premiered at CPH:DOX’s Nordic competition and had its Norwegian premiere at the recent Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund.

Falch's interview follows a talk with Axel Arnö, SVT's Commissioning Editor (CLICK HERE) and Signe Byrge Sørensen, (CLICK HERE) producer and co-founder of Denmark’s Final Cut for Real.

Firstly, how have you been experiencing the pandemic at UpNorth? What have been the direct effects on your productions and release schedule?
Christian Aune Falch: 2020 was supposed to be our big year, but due to the pandemic only three out of five films were released. So we decided to go with the flow and to premiere some titles online at festivals such as Oh It Hertz! at CPH:DOX. Festivals need to survive and so do we!

Among our films released, Audun Amundsen’s Newtopia, screened on NHK and Arte on top of festival screenings, meanwhile Tonje Hessen Schei‘s iHuman had a hectic launch. The night of the theatrical premiere, 700 people were seated when we heard that the Norwegian government was closing down the country due to Covid. Our brilliant distributor Euforia immediately reacted and contacted local VOD platforms from Altibox, Telenor etc. We had done a big theatrical campaign and the VOD release benefitted from it. Awareness was huge. But this was exceptional.

How would you define the type of films you produce and how do you typically raise the financing?
CAF: We are driven by passion and our films have a wide international reach. We are fortunate to have two amazing award-winning directors as partners -Tonje [Hesssen Schei] and Håvard [Bustnes] and work with other strong voices, include Gunnar Hall Jensen behind Oh-it Hertz!.

In terms of financing, like most documentary people in Europe, we rely on public funding, broadcasters, co-producers; we use the very traditional model, although the audience has moved online. We do try to do business with global platforms, but getting an answer from them can take quite some time, which is often nerve-wracking.

How do you navigate through the myriad of smaller and niche platforms? Do you use aggregators?
CAF: It is a full-time job in itself. You have to find the platforms, pitch, wait, and there is no guarantee you will see any money back. We have looked into using aggregators, but so far contract terms haven’t convinced me.

At the last CPH:DOX panel, you mentioned a VOD survey-what findings came out it?
CAF: We got funding from Creative Norway, available to people who want to improve their business skills. We ordered case studies on three of our films to evaluate VOD revenues versus time and energy spent on putting the titles online. The result showed that it didn’t pay off.

So now we’re just very cautious about how much time we spend, and we certainly don’t rely on VOD sales to finance our films. That said with global platforms it’s a totally different ball game.

In Norway you also have VG.TV…
CAF: They are impressive and have great taste. We do work with them. They might pay half of what some broadcasters offer, but they make it easy to pitch, to sign the deal and to deliver. I’d rather take a bit less money upfront sometimes, then go for bigger sum and spend days trying to finalise a deal.

For you what are the biggest challenges post-pandemic?
CAF: The effort spent in getting a deal to finalise in the first place is time consuming and slightly nerve wrecking. More and more decision makers and financiers are very cautious and risk averse. Having great ideas doesn’t mean you will get your project financed. We do have long-time filmmakers in our company, so it would be nice to get a bit more trust based on our vision, than what application forms say.

On the ‘good side’ of the post-pandemic, all our partners have been very supportive. Public bodies and broadcasters, showed a human face, and we have built good dialogues. Communication is key, especially in today’s challenging times. If we can hang on to this human connection that came out of this crisis, I’d be very happy.

Norway is experiencing a creative golden age. How can this be sustained?
CAF: Norwegian documentaries in particular are exploding worldwide and at festivals. Most recently in Haugesund, the small Norwegian documentary Nattebarn [Young and Afraid] won the audience award and Gunda is nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize. This success brushes off on the entire sector. The “branding” is good for us all.

The Norwegian Film Institute (NFI)’s strategy to give substantial support to less producers to make a difference has been very positive. To sustain this level of success, we simply need the continued support from the NFI and regional funds. It guarantees us some stability in development, until we can reach out to top financiers.

Ideally what would help in this limbo state of financing?
CAF: If Nordic film institutes could start funding co-productions at development stage, that would open a lot of doors for all co-producers. At the moment, you can only apply at a later stage, which means you have little time to gather money for your coproduction. It would enable all co-producers to be involved creatively at an earlier stage to make important decisions that would be reflected on the final film.

Fritt Ord in Norway seems to be a key partner, providing support at development level as well…
CAF: Unlike most public funders where there is a lot of red tape, they get in at any given time, make it easy to apply and to report, which means we can concentrate on what we’re good at - making films. They trust us, evaluate the essence and strength of the project, which creates great working conditions. They are absolutely key partners.

What’s on your slate right now?
CAF: We’ve just premiered Oh It Hertz! in Haugesund. Syndicado Film Sales handles festivals and global distribution. In Norway, the film won’t go the theatrical route but will use festivals and local streamers.

At Nordisk Panorama Forum Observers+, we will pitch Gunnar Hall Jensen‘s next film Gunnar Goes Daddy’o. We also have major projects by Tonje Hessen Schei and Håvard Bustnes to be released probably next year. So a lot is going on.

How essential is Nordisk Panorama to you?
CAF: I am such a fan. They are essential for all Nordic producers. They are just part of our lives, who we are. A lot of people talk global but the core for us is still the Nordic region and Nordisk Panorama is a representation of this unique Nordic collaboration. They are vital for us.