The Architect’s Kerren Lumer-Klabbers on creating a heightened sci-fi world within set boundaries

Three years after she scooped a Nordic Talents Special Mention for her project Woman Walking and a Student Oscar selection for her Norwegian Film School graduation film Papapa (see our story - Oscar student finalist Kerren Lumer-Klabbers on Papapa CLICK HERE) Kerren Lumer-Klabbers proves again that she is one of Scandinavian’s rising voices to watch.

Spotted by Nordisk Film who had seen her short film Papapa - also set in a dystopian universe - Lumer-Klabbers joined writers Nora Landsrød, Kristian Kilde for their debut series The Architect, winner of a Viaplay Original Talent Award.

As she tells us, the project in which she displays again a strong actor-directing talent, was an ideal creative ground for her to further explore her vision for relevant stories told with a quirky sense of humour.

Set in a not so distant future, in a grey, cold and alienating Oslo, the series follows Julie an aspiring architect, who lands a job as an intern in a major architect firm, and a room in an underground parking lot-turned housing space for people unable to afford normal accommodations. There she develops friendships - notably with the young activist Kaja - whose day job is as a live model on a shop’s display.

Filled with humorous and relevant points about the heated housing market in major cities, the 4x18 minute series stars Eili Harboe, Fredrik Stenberg D-S, Ingrid Unnur Giæver, Alexandra Gjerpen and Petronella Barker. Øyvind Lierhagen Eriksen, Caroline Hitland are producing for Nordisk Film. The series is due to premiere on Viaplay later this spring.

How did you get involved in the series?
Kerren Lumer Klabbers: Nordisk film who is producing the show for Viaplay, contacted me, mainly because of my graduation film Papapa which is also set in a sci-fi universe. I didn’t know the scriptwriters Nora [Landsrød] and Kristian [Kilde] but they had seen Papapa and felt there were overlaps with their project. They had the first draft of one episode which is quite different from where we are. But it had the same tempo, tone and funny little ideas that I loved.

The series was developed by Landsrød and Kilde as part of the Viaplay Original Talents Awards. How much were you able to contribute to the story?
KLK: They had an early idea about the dystopian universe, the theme about the housing crisis. They got the idea when they were looking for a flat to buy and it turned out that the only thing they could afford was a parking lot! This inspired their story in the first place. It was so absurd.

So when I came on board, they hadn’t yet developed the main story. They were very generous and invited me to their writers’ room, so we developed the story together. We also invited early on the production designer Signe Krab Nymann, as we were working on a low budget sci fi, which is a contradiction in itself!
So early on, we had to incorporate the production design, to see how we wanted to create the universe, to make it realistic and doable within our budget range. We threw ideas back and forth. Actually, working with limitations triggered creativity and inspired us to find alternative, more original ideas. Not every small-budget movie or series has the potential for that but here, it was possible because of the universe.

The series deals with the over-heated housing market in Oslo - common in most major cities around the world - that enhances inequality. Tell us about how you dived into the dystopian universe to push the situations to the extreme?
KLK: I enjoy working on subjects that are pressing, that people can discuss. But I like to add some humour. It makes it entertaining while still important and relevant. We did spend a lot of time on the script to find the right tone and to write the quirky scenes and dialogue. We wrote, and wrote and wrote again, until we felt it was right. Spending the right amount of time on the script is necessary in order to lift the material.

You depict the world of architecture - the ruthless tender process to win projects, hierarchy within the profession. Did you do a lot of research to familiarise yourself with this environment?
KLK: Yes. We spoke to architects and went to architect firms to see how their workplace looks like. It was very interesting to compare the Norwegian and Danish industries. There is a lot of people working for free or low salary in Denmark, whereas in Norway, there are strong unions. So we decided that in the future, unions had collapsed, and our main character Julie is still an intern. We could make things more extreme than it is in reality.

We also had an architect at a test screening during the editing and it was interesting to hear her talk about some aspects of our series that actually mirror reality. It’s often difficult and exciting to work on an un-familiar environment, so I’m curious to see how architects will react to our series.

How did you cast the main actors Eili Harboe, Fredrik Stenberg Ditlev-Simonsen and Alexandra Gjerpen?
KLK: The actors are used to working with self-tapes. But I prefer to meet actors in person to get a feeling from them, if there is chemistry between them. I had worked with Fredrik on a few short films. We were super lucky that Eili and the other actors agreed to join our show. Eili is super talented and brave. She came up with great ideas for her role.

The visual style is very distinctive. Can you discuss this and your cold colour scheme?
KLK: With each project, when I start I sit down, and talk a lot with the cinematographer - here it was David Bauer with whom I had worked before on short films.

We figure out how to tell the story in the best way. We were both attracted by the zoom lens concept which none of us had tried before but it felt right here. The characters are a bit awkward, uncomfortable. If you have a camera that puts focus on this it felt real. You can emphasise the characters’ weaknesses. It felt like the camera has a personality, like another character commenting on what happens in the city, which was fun to work with. It felt very alive. David was able to make a kind of dance with the actors - going back and forth with them.

Regarding the colour scheme, green was a no-go colour, as it is a dystopian sci fi set in an urban environment. As it is low budget, to create a universe, colour is a good way to constrict it. We wanted the world to be hostile. We also discussed the most appropriate material to use in this hard and cold universe-stone, glass and iron.

WATCH THE TRAILER

The format 4x18’ is very usual…
KLK: That was part of Viaplay’s original talent award competition. But I actually felt it was a nice format to work with. It was almost the length of a long feature, but not really. We had a lot to tell and really filled a lot of material into a very short script. That worked because it gives the series a tempo. I was surprised how much you can tell in such a short and weird format.

How was your collaboration with Viaplay?
KLK: I was positively surprised. Our Viaplay exec producer [Isak Eymundsson] gave us clever advice, suggestions from script to editing, always trusting that we could do what we wanted to do. It was a great collaboration. It’s not easy, coming out of film school and they gave us this unique opportunity.

Do you have a second season in the works?
KLK: You’re not the first one to ask, but I don’t know yet. The way the Viaplay Original Talent Award is conceived is that you create four episodes. It’s not up to me but I’d love to continue.

Are you working on something else?
KLK: Yes. I have several projects in Denmark and Norway, notably the film Woman Talking which won a Special Mention Prize at Nordic Talents. It was on hold, but now Emil [Wahl, screenwriter] and I are in early stage of financing. We have not decided yet who will produce it. We want first to go further with the idea.