The birth of a new Swedish film region – Blekinge introduces groundbreaking new production incentive

“At the very first edition of the forum, in 2017, our main focus theme was the vision of the birth of a new film region.”

“This year, this eighth edition of the forum is named exactly that: “The Birth of a New Film Region”. As a signal, that we made it, the journey, full circle – and are ready for the next step.”

The forum in question is the Carl Film Forum, taking place in the Blekinge province in the southernmost part Sweden and its city of residence, Karlskrona. The event is more or less the result of the efforts of local native Henrik JP Åkesson Ruben, who got the film bug early on and started shooting around his home area. As the calling got more serious and regular, he went up to the municipal council office in order to investigate his possibilities as a filmmaker in the region.

“The answer I got was ‘no possibilities what so ever – we would advise you to move to a larger city’. They probably said it with kind concern for my well-being in pursuing my fortunes, but still, this reply regarding the state of things provoked me immensely, and I decided to prove them wrong, regarding the state of things! I made a couple of shorts and then a feature, all shot in the region and largely privately funded.”

In the mid-2010s, he decided to shift his focus, moving from the shooting set and into the business sector of film production, with the aim of establishing a regional film fund right where he lived and worked. “My line of reasoning was that it would serve the development of a region like Blekinge well. No one had ever made the attempt before, so I just had to start working along the old lines of ‘If you want something done, you gotta do it yourself’. I started out by doing a pilot study on regional film funding in this part of Sweden, which was presented in 2017.”

Which is also when the Carl Film Forum was born. Åkesson Ruben was instrumental in founding the event, at first consisting both of an audience festival as well as an industry forum, but gradually pausing the former (quite naturally due to the pandemic) and putting all energy into the latter. In 2021, he became part of the three-year Film Node Blekinge initiative, a regional-political project aiming to strengthen the film industry in the province. Again, the Carl Film Forum proved a force within this operation.

Eight editions on, the forum is preparing for its busiest days ever, by the look of things. Kicking off October 14, the event will also co-host the international European AudioVisual Entrepreneurs – EAVE – Producers Workshop, where 56 producers from 39 countries and over 60 European decision-makers, a total of around 130 film delegates, will participate on-site in Karlskrona during the week. Himself an EAVE 2017 alumnus, Åkesson Ruben embraced the opportunity offered to him and his operation.

“As we work so close together for a whole year at the workshop, we get to be a little like a family, and almost every time in Cannes or Berlin, we get together and hang out. In Berlin in 2020, I was approached by Kristina Trapp and Satu Elofrom EAVE’s main team, and they enquired on my interest in co-hosting in Karlskrona. Then the pandemic came and put a stop to things, but afterwards we picked up the ball again. And I was adamant in co-hosting the third workshop, the one focusing on the Future Partners participation, which sits perfectly with what I’m developing with the film node project.”

Other special events of the year are Blue Science Park’s Tech-Art-Business (TAB) project, and the inauguration of the Triple Helix initiative at the Virtual Production Studio Lab in partnership with Blekinge Institute of Technology. Around at least 200 participants are expected, assorted players from the Nordic and international film industry, roughly 40 countries, including producers, commissioning editors, national and regional media fund representatives, financiers and sales agents. Programme highlights include talks by Todd Brown, Head of International Acquisitions at XYZ Films, Los Angeles, and Fanny Heinonen, Programme Director at Film Tampere, on some “Lessons for Sweden in Attracting Global Film and TV Production” from the viewpoint on Finland’s success in the same area, and an analysis on the future of public audiovisual policy, “Public Film Funding at a Crossroads”, presented by founder and Head of Analysis at Film I Väst, Tomas Eskilsson.

Eskilsson will also participate in an “all-star” panel of film production experts together with Paul Blomgren DoVan, Christian Wikander, Madeleine Ekman, Lisa Boldt-Christmas, Andrea Nordwall, Charlotte Gimfalk, Georgios Dimitropoulos and others, who will dive deep into “Exploring the Future of Film in Blekinge”. Ralf Ivarsson, CEO of Film i Skåne, presents “An Overview of Recent Developments and Initiatives” and Olle Tholén, producer and co-founder of the film collective Crazy Pictures in Norrköping, will share the group’s journey from independent filmmakers to a leading force in Swedish cinema. From the local corner, Sophia Ahlin, Regional Finance Councillor of Region Blekinge, and Bengt Jönsson, Municipal Councillor of Karlskrona Municipality will share their vision for Blekinge following the conclusion of the Filmnod Blekinge project at the end of the year.

To extensive information and detailed schedule on the Carl Film Forum and EAVE Producer’s Workshop 3: CLICK HERE.

There’s also an announcement to make, a rather large and groundbreaking one, on a development indeed closely connected to Sweden’s attraction to film and TV production, one that even the seemingly unstoppable Henrik JP Åkesson Ruben might have hesitated in hoping for, at least at this point.

Because very soon, the province of Blekinge will have its very own production incentive, the only regional one of its kind in Sweden and together with Finland* the only one in the Nordic region – in addition to the national incentive of 25%.

“Traditionally, Sweden has had regional film funds that require ownership stakes in the projects they invest in. However, we do not require any ownership; instead, we hope that producers will seize this opportunity to retain a larger ownership share of their IP rights.

Our approach is founded on the belief that continuity of production builds the capacity of crew and infrastructure. Blekinge, as a production hub, is still in its early stages, and its capacity needs to be developed over time. Productions that receive support will play a crucial role in these capacity-building efforts, enhancing opportunities for the film industry in Blekinge to grow. We also believe that the impact of a production in a region should contribute to fostering local pride and engagement.

The incentive will offer a production rebate of 10% with an annual budget of 5 million SEK.

“The process will be straightforward: if we issue a Letter of Commitment for 1 million SEK, we expect a minimum spend of 10 million SEK in our region. Once the demonstrated spend is verified and approved, the support will be disbursed. By combining both national and regional support, producers can receive a total incentive of 35%, which is quite competitive," concludes Åkesson Ruben.

More is to come next week in Karlskrona, a residential city in the south of Sweden that’s about to make its mark on the map of all things film. To Henrik JP Åkesson Ruben, an eight-year-long chapter is at its end.

“It’s been the first chapter of a very exciting story, a very exciting journey. Here and now, we turn the page over to chapter two. This chapter has a production incentive, and also a studio with virtual production facilities, and the involvement of the university, the business sector, the politicians, international industry participants who are increasing in numbers, and of course the Swedish film industry, who looks and listens. Many times through the years, I’ve gotten the question on what we’re doing in Blekinge and especially whether there is any money. And this year we can finally say: ‘Yes, now there’s money.’ We’ll start the operation next year, but we’re happy to talk about it from now on, and talk a lot about it next week. I’d say it’s a very good idea to join us in Karlskrona, for some very good networking.”

To read more about the regional incentives in Finland: CLICK HERE.