Part 1: Nordic Film ‘Producers on the Move’ 2020

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the annual European Film Promotion’s initiative originally set to unfold May 11-15 during the Cannes Film Festival, will move online, with the 20 selected European producers set to present their projects in speed meetings and roundtable sessions. A case study and talks with experts will round out the digital programme.

The ‘Producers on the Move’ initiative has become a calling card for European producers and facilitated co-productions between participants since the Creative Europe-Media Programme initiative was set up 21 years ago.

This year’s Nordic production movers and shakers are 

• Monica Hellström from Denmark’s leading documentary outfit Final Cut for Real, 
• Norway’s Alan R. Milligan (Tannhauser Gate/Film Farms/White Rabbit), indie producer and tech entrepreneur, specialised in online distribution, 
• Sweden’s Marie Kjellson (Kjellson & Wik), formerly at Plattform Production, 
• genre specialist from Finland Aleksi Hyvärinen (Donfilms). 

In our first of 2 part interviews, Hellström and Milligan outline their vision and projects for us. Interviews with Marie Kjellson and Aleksi Hyvärinen will run on Tuesday 12 May.

Monica Hellström - Denmark - Final Cut for Real
Monica Hellström is part of Final Cut for Real’s dynamic team of in-house producers since 2010. Previously she worked for Upfront Films and the Danish Film Institute's Film Workshop.

Her production credit includes Daniel Dencik’s Moon Rider, Simon Lereng Wilmont's 2013 short Chikara - The Sumo Wrestler's Son, and the director’s multi-awarded documentary The Distant Barking of Dogs.

She has also co-produced Sebastien Lifshitz’s French Little Girl selected at this year’s Berlinale, Tarik Saleh’s award-winning thriller The Nile Hilton Incident and Rebecca Daly’s Irish film Good Favour.

What does it mean for you to be selected for the 2020 Producers on the Move and to attend the event online?
MH: Being part of Producers on the Move is a great opportunity to expand my network and to get a better insight into the industry. It would of course have been great to be able to meet people in real life, but hopefully it will be possible soon again. Until then zoom is a good option.

What projects will you discuss with your European colleagues? MH: I will bring two projects:

• FLEE, an animated documentary film directed by Jones Poher Rasmussen that we’re co-producing with Suncreature Studio, Vivement Lundi! in France, Mostfilm in Sweden and Mer Film in Norway. The film is about Amin (34) who has never shared his real life story about how he arrived in Denmark from Afghanistan alone, only 16 years old, after having been on the run for 5 years.
• I will also bring Cille Hannibal´s documentary film I See for You (co-directed by Christine Hanberg) that I am still financing. The film is about a family whose oldest son Peter (30) lost both his sight and hearing as a newborn. His family must therefore see and hear the world for him.

What drives you as a producer?
MH: I am driven by telling stories about complex, problematic or impossible relationships between people. I get a lot of energy from working closely with my colleagues, my directors and the creative team around the films I produce. I get blown away by their talent and their creativity and high ambition.

In today’s market, what do you feel are the essential skills needed to make your project (film or TV drama) stand out?
MH: I think it’s important to stay true to the story, to create a trusting and safe creative space - and to always challenge each other within the creative team, in order to strengthen the story.

Working closely with your sales agent and PR team from early stage is also essential to stand out.

Alan R. Milligan - Norway - Tannhauser Gate/Film Farms/White Rabbit
Alan R. Milligan is both a film producer and a software entrepreneur.

For his production companies Tannhauser, Gate and Film Farms, he has produced, exec produced and co-produced the award-winning films Letter to the King by Hisham Zaman, Valley of Shadows by Jonas Matzow Guldbransen, the Vietnamese film Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere, Canadian film The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open and Icelandic film Rams

Through his software company White Rabbit, Milligan has created a browser plug-in that identifies content streamed peer-to-peer allowing audiences to pay rights-holders directly.

What does it mean for you to be selected for the 2020 Producers on the Move and to attend the event online?
AM: It's a great honour to be chosen at an interesting time to attend Producer's on the Move. I won't lie - I do love Cannes for all its hustle and bustle, glitz and glamour - but mostly its conversation with colleagues over a glass of rosé and a gentle sea breeze with palm trees swaying in the background that I'll miss from the online event.

Our work is a business though so, we must keep on trucking, but still... it’s a more personal business than most. So that magnetism or spark that comes with meeting people who you might work with might differ. That makes the online event an entirely new vantage point to find partners to work with - that's something I look forward to discovering how it plays out.

What projects will you discuss with your European colleagues?
AM: Into the Grey, a mini-series about the 1999 whale hunt in Washington State, USA, is in early stage of financing. Then the film Dawg Fight that I wrote, is set during the 2017 Trump election in a small town in the Appalachian Mountains. It’s in development. Finally The Sky is Mine by Nepalese director Deepak Rauniyar recently won the €50,000 Torino Film Lab Co-production Award.

What drives you as a producer?
AM: A producer's job is to love a film into existence. Simply told I work with people and projects I am passionate about. I didn't start in the film industry, it was a choice I made because I love watching and discussing films and the themes they address. So passion and love for people and films are the drivers.

In today’s market, what do you feel are the essential skills needed to make your project (film or TV drama) stand out?
AM: We have to be bold in every way, from the content we make to the deals we enter to distribute that content. I am an entrepreneur, I value that freedom and I believe in the value of owning and maximising IP. Maximising IP value is part of the job and more producer's in European cinema need to take hold of that part of the job. Public financiers need to remind themselves also that producers are a key component of ensuring diversity in European culture.