SF Norge Invests In Espen Sandberg, Joachim Rønning, Harald Zwart

Founded in 2002 as a commercials company active in the Scandinavian and European market, Motion Blur expanded its activities in 2011 by opening the film division Motion Blur Film and the animation and motion graphics Motion Blur Digital. Eleven to twelve in-house directors are attached to the Motion Blur stable headed by Espen Horn.

"We are directors and producers who grew up with Hollywood mainstream films from the 80s-90s, so we love genre films, mainstream films and want to make them for the Norwegian and European market, both in Norwegian and English language " said Horn to nordiskfilmogtvfond.com.

With SF as majority shareholder the Motion Blur films will be able to use the Scandinavian major's distribution network on all media in the Nordic region as well as its international sales expertise.

"SF already distributed Harald Zwart's previous Norwegian films Long Flat Balls and its sequel Long Flat Balls II that were big hits in Norway and internationally, selling to nearly 45 territories. We had a great relationship with SF and look forward to expanding this partnership," continued Horn.

As for SF, the Bonnier-owned film company has a strong foothold in the film production sector in Denmark and Sweden (via its own production arms, part-ownerships or output deals) but had a lower profile in Norway. The group owns a 50% stake in the major production company Filmkameratene (Max Manus, The Troll Hunter), but closed its Norwegian production arm earlier this year.

Asked if the stake in Motion Blur marked a U-turn into the Norwegian film production sector, Rasmus Ramstad, CEO of Svensk Filmindustri said: "The Norwegian market has been very vibrant the last few years and we've always been devoted to the local industry in terms of investments. However, as you mention, we did close our own production arm as we wanted another structure for our engagement in Norway. The acquisition of Motion Blur is therefore not a U-turn, but a result of our strategy to connect with local film-makers in the Norwegian market. I also strongly believe that the individuals who will be our partners (and co-owners in the company) are some of the most talented film-makers in the Nordic region."

According to Horn, a handful of projects are in development - including an animation film and an adaptation from a Swedish novel. The head of Motion Blur also confirmed that Rønning and Sandberg's upcoming Viking project based on Tore Kvæven's novel ‘Hard er mitt land's lov' (‘Harsh Is the Law Of My Land') will be part of the new titles to be handled by SF. Set in 1010 AD, the project is an adventure film about a Viking expedition in the Mediterranean and in Central Africa.

As for Zwart, the director who made the Hollywood productions The Pink Panther 2 and the Will Smith-produced The Karate Kid has just wrapped the shooting of the English language fantasy film The Mortal Instrument: City of Bones starring Lily Collins and Aidan Turner, photographed by the Norwegian award-winning Geir Hartly Andreassen (Kon-Tiki, Darling).