Writers in focus - Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize - Norway

The winner of the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for outstanding writing of a Nordic drama series will be announced February 1^st during Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision conference.

Karlstad works across music videos, commercials films and series.

His debut short film The Hunger (Gutten er sulten) won the Film Critics Award at Grimstad’s Norwegian Short Film Festival.

His debut series Kids in Crime (8x22’) co-written with Audun Fagervold Hansen, is a raw and realistic coming-of-age story about friendship, pushing boundaries, but also about toxic masculinity, drug addiction, wrapped in humour and violence.

The year is 2001, and when Tommy (17) breaks his knee, his soccer career stops and his focus shifts to the only other thing that interests him: violence.

His accident leads him to reconnect with his old childhood friend Pål Pot, a teenager with ADHD who sells Rohypnol pills, and hangs out with drug king Freddy Hell.

As living under your parents’ roof while selling drugs can be tricky, Tommy and Pål move into a house together with the speed-addicted Monica, who happens to be Freddy Hell’s ex-girlfriend.

Soon, Tommy will be forced to choose between his friends and his new career in crime.

In the starring roles are Kristian Repshus, Martin Øvrevik, Jakob Oftebro and Lea Myren.

The series was produced by Brede Hovland, Teodor Sven Bø and Pål Kruke Kristiansen premiered November 25 on TV 2 Norway.

What does it mean for you to be nominated for Best Nordic Screenplay with Kids in Crime, your first drama series?
Kenneth Karlstad: It’s the biggest nomination of my career, first of all. Second it means that I’ve done enough homework so that I can finally call myself a screenwriter, as well as a director. So I’m utterly proud. Hopefully I can do whatever I want now.

When and how did you get into screenwriting?
KK: I started my education in film and television in 2010. But I regret not focusing more on the technical sides of it from the start. I was one of those idiots who thought text books on structure was bullshit. That’s one of the reasons why it took such a long time to get kickstarted… haha!

In 2019 I started reading a lot on screenwriting, and slaving to the formulas. That worked for me. I want to challenge the formulas in directing, rather than screenwriting. I love those three acts.

Also, I've had struggles finding a script-collaboration that have worked for any of my projects. But for Kids in Crime, Audun F. Hansen was a perfect. Audun is a carpenter so that’s fun.

Generally speaking, what type of stories and genres are you drawn to?
KK: I’m drawn towards stories that focus on the darker, and more sinister, side of the human experience. No matter which genre. Although I’m mostly drawn towards horror and drama. I’ve also put up a rule that guides the stories I wanna tell - it has to be rooted in Scandinavia. I’m frustrated over how bad we are at fostering our own culture, stories and myths. Especially in Norway. So I’m claiming that task.

Could you tell us about the genesis of Kids in Crime, which I understand is loosely inspired by your own experience. Why did you feel the urge to tell this personal coming of age story for your first long form fiction?
KK: Kids in Crime is for ‘shit’ kids, by ‘shit’ kids. It’s something for the restless and immoral. In our own language. That was the urge. Content for the people who could relate to what we’ve experienced, at a certain period of time, when Rohypnol flooded the streets. It was so crazy!

I also caught myself sitting at countless after parties telling the same old crazy stories from my youth. So, sick of being that wacko uncle, I decided that these stories needed to hit the screen, because the kids apparently loved listening to them!

I wouldn’t have done it five years ago, cause back then, I was still sick of having that background, and wouldn’t dream of making hardcore realism out of it. But now it’s 20 years ago, so I had the distance I needed to have, in order to touch upon it. I think that goes for many in our audience as well, especially those who lived that same life, 20 years ago. I’ve had old friends telling me that they haven’t manage to watch it through yet, cause it’s too traumatic in a way, for them. I have the deepest respect and understanding for that. And I hope that, in the end, they’ll be happy they watched it through. It’s important that the troubled connect with it.

What were the biggest challenges while writing this series, both in tone, character and plot development, and how did you collaborate with Audun Fagervold Hansen?
KK: I wrote the synopsises, then, going hands-on screenwriting, I told Audun what scene I needed from him, he wrote completely freely in Microsoft Word, sent me the document, which usually was a 10-pager, with no space lining, but lots of fun, haha. Then I filtered it, added stuff, and…voilà. Audun did a great job making the scripts characteristic, both in dialogue and details from that time and environment.

The biggest challenge was writing in long form, with all the plot points and everything. I had text books beside my Mac all the time when writing. We also watched a lot of YouTube videos on writing.

Had you locked the scripts before turning to directing, or did you let the magic on set nurture the screenplay?
KK: The scripts were locked, yes. That was really important to me, as I was facing the enormous challenge of directing my debut series, with lots of amateur actors, within a tiny budget. But we worked freely within the frame of the scripts. So there’s lots of lines and actions the actors improvised. Especially Jakob Oftebro. It’s important to play within a box, or else the sand will spill, and then no one is having any fun.

Could you expand on your work with the key cast? How did you select Kristian Repshus for his first major screen role and on this breakthrough performance? And how was it to cast against type Jakob Oftebro who plays the psychotic Freddy Hælvette?
KK: Kristian had such a strong show-reel, which consisted of short films he’d written, directed and starred in himself. Which is very impressive, so he was cast pretty fast. He’s such a technical talent, plus he has a charming face, and both friendly and sinister eyes.

Jakob was cast even before I started writing. He wanted the Freddy part. I was a bit sceptical since it’s so different from anything he’s done so far. But with Jakob’s talent and enthusiasm, I thought it just had to work. And gosh-how he delivered! It’s his best performance ever they say :)) Jakob and Kristian are very much alike in terms of acting style. They’re the technical kind. Put them in the right costume and the transformation is stunning. I could see Kristian grow by every scene he did with Jakob.

Jakob is also very caring and giving towards his fellow actors. Especially the young ones. He took good care of them.

As a director, can you expand on your fractured and naturalistic visual style, and inspirations? It’s hard not to think of British films by Danny Boyle, Guy Ritchie…
KK: Hm, where shall I start. It’s also a product of circumstances, you know. Like budget and time. We knew we had to run and gun to make it. We shot 5 pages on an 8-hour a day schedule - I would be an idiot if I tried making cinema. So it was much about owning those circumstances, and do it even shittier than we had to, referring to the VHS cam style.

I was mainly inspired by Danish realism from the 90s, like Lars von Triers The Kingdom, the general dogma movement, Nic Refn’s Pusher and Bleeder, Lukas Moodysson’s Lilja 4 Ever and A Hole in My Heart. And of course, Trainspotting by Danny Boyle. We even called it Norway’s Trainspotting when pitching, haha. Guy Ritchie - yes, but also no. Cause we had to keep the Gangster film genre at an arm’s length, otherwise we’d loose. Guy Ritchie-inspired films are such a cliché now. I researched Japanese films on youth crime, great films like Destruction Babies and Blue Spring.

Ultimately, what do you hope viewers will take away from the show?
KK: I hope they have fun! And I hope it’ll change their perspective on people who don’t act according to standards. No one is born a shit kid. We cannot choose our external circumstances, whether good, ok, or bad. No matter which one you come from, you can fall into crime. And the system, our community, the caretakers, must try and see each person as they truly are, rather than pushing them into a formula that don’t work for them. Put your prejudices aside and dig to understand what’s really going on with this kid.

What's next for you?
KK: Hollywood!!

Could you cite two of the best shows you've watched in 2022?
KK: Euphoria and Sharp Objects -I saw it for the third time last year.