The director of Flame & Citron and the US series Banshee was at the two-day closed Nordic TV market (June 4-6) where he pitched his upcoming gangster drama 5 From Hell. Madsen will act as show-runner on the 10x45’ series co-written with Norwegian screenwriter Bjørn Ekeberg.

Denmark’s Creative Alliance is producing, in co-production with REInvent Studios, responsible for world distribution. NENT Group’s Viaplay will launch it in the Nordic region.

Inspired by true events, the story is set in the early 1980s. We follow a group of five middle-class teenagers who form a gang that will go on to become one of the biggest organisations of fraudsters in the world.

How long have you been working on this project and how would you describe it?
OCM: I started working on the show in 2016. It’s a huge epic story about teenagers who very early on, turn to organised crime, succeed in climbing in the hierarchy and become absolutely ruthless. When it happened in Sweden the early 1980s, this was something never seen before in Scandinavia. The group of youngsters grew up out of the welfare state, coming from ordinary families. What I’m interested in telling is the clash between youth and crime. You come of age and you become a criminal at the same time. Crime gets into your DNA when you’re the most vulnerable. These people were sucked into the crime machine. You would never know that when meeting them. They were crooks in suits, very smart.

You said during your pitch that there is the potential to make multiple seasons…
OCM: When we first pitched the show to broadcasters, the project attracted a lot of attention and we went with Viaplay. One of the main reasons for going with them is that the series will be rooted in Scandinavia but we’ll go out in the world as well as the crime gang travelled from Sweden to London, L.A., Singapore. The international potential of the story made the series particularly attractive to Viaplay.

This will be your first Scandi TV drama in many years after doing Banshee in the US. What do you think you will bring from your experience there?
OCM: We have a fantastic tradition of high quality TV drama in the Nordic region, but perhaps we could try to do a bit more elevated and thrilling stories. I’m interested in building universes that are more than just describing it as it is. Although 5 From Hell will be based on real events, I will still elevate the story and create a unique world for it. Some Nordic producers/filmmakers have the courage to do it, but there should be more of it.

What I’ve learnt with Banshee when I worked as a show-runner, was to control bigger productions, how to work closely with writers, directors, producers. I really learnt how to have different balls in the air.

Also, I’ve seen how all people involved try to introduce something new. Now the competition is so fierce in TV drama that you have to find a new take on stuff.

Are you 100% back in Scandinavia?
OCM: I gave up my house in L.A. and am fully based in Copenhagen. We need to get our company Creative Alliance going. We have a good slate coming, including my film Notat, now in post-production and a TV project from Lone Scherfig. We can’t say more right now.