Vesth was also behind the Oscar nominated film A Royal Affair and this year’s top grossing film in Denmark The Keeper of Lost Causes.
Usually Zentropa keeps all elements of a Lars von Trier film very private until the official opening. Can you explain why for once you decided to gradually unveil elements of the film as part of a well-timed and executed marketing campaign?
Louise Vesth: When the project became bigger and bigger during shooting, we soon realised the film would not be ready for Cannes 2013, so we decided to create two different versions of the film and use a more traditional distribution strategy. But the idea to work more thoroughly on the marketing came when we were in Cannes with Melancholia in 2011. I had a drink with the Danish filmmaker and marketing director Philip Einstein Lipski (Einstein Film) with whom I had collaborated on Klown-The Movie. We discussed the possibility of building on and expanding the ‘Lars von Trier’ brand. So Philip and his creative partner Maria Biilmann - known as the ‘Einstein couple’- came on board Nymphomania to work on the poster campaign.
Could you detail the making of the poster campaign that has several catchy visuals?
LV: First of all we worked on an early teaser poster that became the parenthesis. From the beginning that was Lars’ idea to use this in the logo. Then I wanted to have an image which would show the whole cast of Nymphomaniac, to give an idea of what the film was about. We wanted something catchy, humoristic and stylish and created the ensemble poster. It was quite difficult and time consuming to make it. It ended up with a traditional look, but it still had the humour, style and sex elements.
Philip and Maria then decided that the campaign should have many faces and they came up with the idea of the orgasm posters. We loved the idea but thought we wouldn’t have the stars to agree…We approached them and told them as well as we could about our vision. While we were shooting in Cologne, Germany, we set up a parallel room for the photo shoot where actors could come in between takes. They were available only three to five days or a week at a time, so the time slot was really squeezed.
Lars also works with ‘cool’ actors. When they agree to work with him, they are already in a certain frame of mind. The actors flew down and they all gave everything they had for the photo shoot which is why the campaign is so strong.
Who was the photographer, someone you always use on your films or someone hired specifically for this job?
LV: It’s Casper Sejersen. He also worked as photographer on the campaign developed with Philip Lipski for A Royal Affair. Casper is also a huge fan of Lars von Trier, so it made sense to get him closer to the actors and the set.
How did you create the teaser trailers with the different chapters?
LV: We used an in-house creative team for the press content, trailer, clips, homepage etc. What I learnt from A Royal Affair and Clown-The Movie is that awareness is essential. It’s easier with a Lars von Trier film but you can apply this to other titles. You just need to focus on the uniqueness of each film, start early and not be afraid of giving things away, without unveiling too much about the film.
So I thought why not use the structure that Lars had in the script, a volume in eight chapters introduced by a title. It made sense. We could then create the frame for the press campaign which was to have a count down until the release date.
So we used one chapter every month for eight months. We had one still, one headline, the name of the chapter, a short description of the chapter plus a small teaser clip. My intention was to have the official trailer out last, but as we started a bit late with the chapters, I had to release the official trailer in between.
Who was the trailer editor?
LV: Morten Højbjerg who is also editor of the film. I have used him in many other films.
Nymphomaniac is coming out on Christmas day in Denmark and Spain…funny choice for such a theme…
LV: Yes a lot of people have laughed when we announced the date. I said it’s a present for all of you from all of us at ZentropaJ. No the reason for the December 25 release in Denmark is that because of the length of the movie, we wanted people to have time to spend four hours in a cinema and the Christmas holiday is perfect for that.
Having two versions of the film is quite unique, but I guess you had to find compromises to make the film ‘releasable’ in cinemas…
LV: It’s been discussed a lot already. Our intention from the very beginning was to have two versions to combine Lars’ creative freedom and the need for the film to be seen by a large audience. If you have a 5.5 hour film with close up of genitals, it reduces the film’s distribution possibilities. So we said why not have it all? We now also have a 4 hour version that can go out internationally. It’s not that there is no sex in it. It does contain explicit sex scenes, but perhaps less than in the longer version.
How is the shorter version film going to be released?
LV: Lars has created a film in two volumes, with an end roller after each part. In Denmark, the film in two parts will be released at the same time; people can buy the ticket for Nymphomaniac and see the two volumes one after another with a break. In other territories like France, the two volumes will be released at different dates.
How does Nymphomaniac fit in Lars von Trier’s body of work?
LV: I have only produced Melancholia and Nymphomaniac. But in a way it sums up his work as it has many elements typical of his universe such as art, music, relationships, sex…. It’s an amazing film on many levels.
This year was amazing for you as Zentropa producer with A Royal Affair’s Oscar nomination, the making of Nymphomaniac, the release of The Keeper of Lost Causes, top grossing Danish film of 2013. Is this a pivotal year in your career?
LV: Zentropa has had tough years. Three years ago for instance was particularly difficult, with disappointing results. We then sat down with our colleagues such as Sissi Graum Jørgensen. We decided to focus on what we are good at: internationally strong art films.
Earlier this year Sisse Graum and I received a special award from Nordisk Film (the Erik Ballings Reijselegat) and we started to look back at the last three years. We realised that together we have produced 15 films. Nine of them have been released and six are still in production (including Susanne Bier’s A Second Chance). The nine films combined have sold more than nine million tickets worldwide (five million in Denmark). We have had a Silver Bear in Berlin and an Oscar nomination with A Royal Affair. It is incredible but frankly, it doesn’t feel that way. We just get on with our work!
What’s next for you? The new Jussi Adler-Olsen adaptation The Absent One directed again by Mikkel Nørgaard from a script by Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg?
LV: Mikkel, Nikokaj and I went to film school and we always spoke about working together. I have worked with Nikolaj on A Royal Affair and with Mikkel on Klown the TV series and the feature film. We all thought why not make a high concept Nordic crime, for a mainstream audience but with a true artistic twist and strong cast for an international audience. Now that the first film has gone out so strongly in Denmark, it’s fun to be working on the second instalment.
This is a film series, but would TV drama be your next step at Zentropa?
LV: I have already produced 60 episodes of Klown and a Christmas calendar series. Yes, I’d like to continue to produce TV dramas. There is a lot of braveness going on around the world and Nordic fiction series are popular internationally. However for me, nothing is better than a great movie, the experience of going to a cinema and sitting with other people. Let’s see what will happen.