SF's Ramstad Spreads His Wings Across Scandinavia

Over the last year, Svensk Filmindustri has reinforced its Swedish division with the acquisition of Sonet and the appointment of a new MD, Tobias Lennér. Could you give us an update on SF Sweden?
In Sweden we’re strengthening our position on production and distribution, with Sonet involved in both aspects. The structure will be such that the production department, DVD and theatrical distribution will report to Tobias Lennér. Tobias, our other Nordic offices, SF’s international division and Sonet Film will report to me. But SF and Sonet will be run as two separate companies. Johan Mardell who was our Head of Production has left, so we’re currently looking for a new Head of Production.

So Peter Possne is not going to be SF Sweden’s new head of production…
No, we want to keep two separate labels to give more dynamics internally. It will also be better for the Swedish film community. We’re trying to position Sonet as the Swedish Working Title. They will produce bold commercial films for the Swedish market primarily. SF production department will do more combined film and TV projects -such as the new Wallander series- in addition to feature films.

SF is also currently producing the animated Pettson and Findus 4, Lasse Majas detektivbyrå, Arn (second feature and TV-series) and co-producing Fem I Tolv with Bob Film.

Through Sonet, we have a new relationship with Jonas Frederiksen and Simon Staho (Heaven’s Heart). We took over the distribution of Filmlance International’s entire DVD catalogue and will release their upcoming film Patrick 1.5.

We will also distribute all Memfis Film productions in Sweden. We’ve signed a three year deal with them securing distribution rights of Memfis’ full library, plus their upcoming features such as Lukas Moodysson’s Mammoth.

We have a long term relationship with Colin Nutley’s Sweetwater, and GF Studios. Quite recently, we signed an agreement with Yellow Bird on 13 new Wallander films.

Sonet has just started its first production under our ownership. Vi hade i alla fall tur med vädret-igen!, a sequel to a TV movie that was hugely popular 30 years ago. The company is also producing Kaj Pollack’s sequel to As It is in Heaven and Jägarna 2.

In total, we’re involved in around ten feature films per year in Sweden.

What are your various production partners in the other Nordic countries?
In Norway, we collaborate with Cinenord, Monster Film, Zwart Arbeid, and have a long term relationship with Filmkameratene. We have a new relationship with Babylon Films (headed by Erik Kaasa Eliassen and Knut Inge Solbu) who have just come out from Lillehammer Film School. Just like we did with Cinenord, we try to attract fresh talents to diversify our roster. Then we have closed a distribution deal (including for the international) with Exposed Film Production on their low budget thriller Snarveien.

We also have a relationship with Miso Film. We did the first six Varg Veum films, and will make another six films with them and Cinenord.

In Denmark, we work with Thura Film who has provided us with the two last Ole Bornedal films and will give us his next film for Denmark. We also work with Miso Film whose first film Kandidaten will have its premiere in August.

We own 80% of Tju Bang Film and have a three year DVD contract with Zentropa on all their films that will end in 2010. With Cosmo Film, we’ve had four-five films over the years, including Golden Horns. We will release throughout Scandinavia the animated feature Sunshine Barry & the Disco Worms produced by Nina Crone. With Per Holst, we have his next film Max the movie. With Zeitgeist, we worked on the youth drama Remix. Finally with the new company Nephente headed by Nina Lyng and Eva Hammerich, we hope to develop a similar relationship as with Cinenord in Norway.

In Finland, our own companies FS Film and Juonifilmi make two-three features a year. We have worked with Helsinki Filmi (Aku Louhimies’ Tears of April) over the years, and are releasing Mika Kaurismäki’s upcoming The House of the Branching Love, and JP Siili’s Blackout.

Nordisk Film’s plan is to create a North European Film studio. What is your vision for SF?
We have no wish like that! They invest in production companies. We don’t. We invest in films and relationships. We try to help producers finance and produce the films they want and also encourage their independence. In certain situations, we will definitely look into buying part or 100% of companies. But this is not our main strategy. We try to produce most of the films ourselves and then have relationships with local producers.

What is your theatrical market share in Scandinavia?
It’s between 18 and 25%. 18% in Sweden where we don’t have 20th Century Fox’s products and 25% in the other Nordic countries. In those territories, SF represents around 12-13%, the same for Fox. On the DVD market, our share of the Nordic market is around 25%. We’re stronger in Sweden and Norway and slightly softer in Denmark and Finland.

What deals do you have in place with US studios and how will you replace New Line’s products?
We still have approximately10 films from New Line until the end of 2009, including Sex & the City. We also have four films from Spyglass and keep buying from other independent companies. We just bought from Summit, Terence Malick’s Tree of Life starring Brad Pitt & Sean Penn and the sci-fi thriller Pandorum. We acquired from Focus Features Milk starring Sean Penn, Sam Mendes’ new film, Hamlet 2 and the new Coen brothers’ Burn after Reading with George Clooney and Brad Pitt, as well as their next film, A Serious Man. We pre-bought from Pathe, The Descent 2, Slumdog Millionaire directed by Danny Boyle, as well as Danis Tanovic’s Triage starring Colin Farrell. Brideshead Revisited was bought from Hanway pre-market as well as District 9 (produced by Peter Jackson) from QED. We also bought Michael Moore’s sequel to Fahrenheit 911 from Paramount Vantage together with Humboldt Park. And finally we purchased two films from Mandate; the animated Alfa & Omega and Why did I get married.

There is a lot of product out there, but few titles that we are going for. The market is more and more polarized with bigger films getting bigger. Niche films can work, but the middle films are getting really difficult.

Distribution is evolving with digital distribution offering consumers a quicker and wider film choice. What is SF’s position in this area?
SF Bio a sister company within Bonnier Entertainment is running SF Anytime, one of the first VoD services to launch across Europe in 2001. They have deals with most of the major US studios. Their catalogue includes 1,400 titles that could reach 2,000 by the end of 2008. SF is also exploring other VoD services as well as mobile distribution. We’re experimenting to see how we can use the new technology to either expand our brand or to create new revenues. Last year for instance, we produced the TV series Labyrinth for TV4 and made a separate story only for distribution on mobile phones.

We’re also discussing with several mobile operators to launch a mobile TV channel for kids on a subscription basis. It looks like we will do that this year.