Nordic Noir

Almost a decade since The Killing took the world by storm, Jane Marlow spotlights new developments in Scandinavian drama.

It was The Killing that started it. Kenneth Branagh’s Wallander might have whetted our appetites with a taste of English-language Nordic Noir, but it was Søren Sveistrup’s drama that put Scandinavian storytelling at center stage. After airing in 2007 on DR1 (as Forbrydelsen), The Killing transcended the borders of its native Denmark and became a global phenomenon, sparking a new appetite for Scandi drama. Nine years later, it is an established genre on the drama landscape.

Peter Bose, producer and partner at Miso Film—which is majority owned by FremantleMedia—describes The Killing as a game changer. “We learned a lot from it,” says Bose, who has Dicte and Modus on his current slate and who executive produced the Swedish series Wallander while he was at Yellow Bird Films. “The Killing showed that it was possible to create original content and stories that cover not only good crime stories but also parts of our society.” He adds that the show’s characters were instrumental in defining Scandi drama’s unique selling point: “Look at [the lead character] Sarah Lund. You would never have a U.S. crime detective dress like her and be as introverted as her. The fact that they managed to create such a strong character was impressive. That opened the door for character-driven crime dramas.”

One of Miso Film’s biggest successes has been the Norwegian hit Acquitted, which is in this tradition of character-driven drama. The series follows the story of a man who returns to his hometown in Norway, 20 years after he was acquitted of a murder many think he was guilty of committing.

NORDIC VISION
Miso Film has offices in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, making it a true Nordic production company. Colla­boration between the Scandinavian nations—including Iceland and Finland—has been at the heart of the success of the Scandi drama genre, according to Christian Wikander, the former head of drama at Swedish pubcaster SVT who this month joins Pinewood Television to lead its co-production efforts.

“A critical decision was made back in the ’50s [to have] a cultural exchange between these five countries,” says Wikander. “We have been working together in all genres for years. That is one of the reasons why [Scandinavian drama has] been successful because, in addition to programs, we have been sharing challenges and development and [have been] inspiring each other through the years.”

Although there are increasingly more opportunities for collaboration outside the home territories, as a broadcaster, SVT’s priority is to develop new things that are relevant to the Swedish audience. If it finds something it likes, it will see if it has international potential as well.

RISING SUN
One such project is Midnight Sun, which is set in the remote Sami community in northern Sweden. As an unexplored area in TV, it is a good fit for SVT. The pubcaster’s collaboration with Atlantique Productions in France, Nice Drama in Sweden, Filmpool Nord and co-originating broadcaster Canal+ is described as the first Swedish-French co-production.

“It started four years ago with a loose idea from Nice Drama and Atlantique in France,” explains Wikander. “We started to develop around that idea. We had a couple of writers pitching in, and sometimes we weren’t satisfied and sometimes they weren’t satisfied, and we continued until we found this take on the idea with the creators, [Måns] Mårlind and [Björn] Stein.”

Katrina Neylon, the executive VP of sales and marketing at STUDIOCANAL, which is distributing the series, says the show has a Nordic feel in terms of scenery, scope and story line. But the introduction of a French police officer who travels to Sweden to investigate the central crime gives it a distinctly European feel, too.

STUDIOCANAL has another foothold in Scandi drama with SAM Productions, which has at its helm Sveistrup, creator of The Killing; Adam Price, creator of Borgen; and seasoned producer Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen. That alliance is indicative of just how important co-production has become to the company in what Neylon describes as an “increasingly risk-averse environment.”

“Co-productions have become vital to the scripted business,” Neylon says. “More drama is being produced than ever before, and having more partners is often the only way to finance large-scale productions. The benefit of co-production is that the overall budgets can be increased, often enabling a stronger end product and [garnering] international talent. Spreading the financial burden across multiple partners allows ambitious productions to get made. The opportunities that co-production brings to the financial state of a project are replicated on the creative side, with a widening of ideas, experience and international expertise and collaboration.”

ZDF Enterprises was a pioneer in bringing Scandinavian drama to the global market, beginning with The Killing, which aired on ZDF and was co-produced with the German pubcaster’s commercial arm. Robert Franke, ZDF Enterprises’ VP of drama, says that the genre continues to be a top performer.

“The quality of the storytelling in combination with excellent production values make Scandi drama attractive not only to the viewers on their home turf but also to international buyers who continue to fight for the rights to the top-tier productions,” says Franke.

He adds that Scandinavian broadcasters have a long tradition of collaboration. “To be able to put together budgets that are big enough to ensure high enough production values and narrative quality, co-production is an essential part of their mindset. That makes it easier for broadcasters from other European territories to team up with them.”

Federation Entertainment has also entered the Scandi co-pro sphere, signing on as a partner on Fisher King Production’s crime drama Bordertown for YLE.

When describing Federation’s role as the distributor of this single-broadcaster co-production, Lionel Uzan, co-founder and managing director at the company, says, “We offer our input and expertise to the project but, in terms of the creative, the final say is with the producer and the original broadcaster. We try to provide opportunities, but we are not trying to mix up with the creative.”

Uzan and his team offer feedback about the look of the actors and the production values and provide insight into scripts by highlighting elements that might not be understood by international audiences. Uzan explains, “You want [a show] to feel local and authentic, because I think that is why international audiences like those local dramas.” It’s more about fine-tuning than making major changes, he says.

FINNISH-ED PRODUCT
Eccho Rights represents the Finnish drama Nurses, from Yellow Film & TV, and is launching the Swedish remake, Syrror (Sisters), at MIPCOM. In addition to the territories that are known for having an appetite for Scandi drama—Germany, the U.K., France and Benelux—there are new markets looking to acquire ready-made shows from the region, according to Fredrik af Malmborg, managing director at Eccho Rights. He says that Eccho Rights plans to dub Syrror into Spanish to target Latin America, and he is also hoping for deals in Western and Eastern Europe. Af Malmborg suggests that American drama is not as dominant among European broadcasters as it once was and that Turkish and Scandi series can provide alternatives.

“There are more and more buyers who are interested in buying drama,” says af Malmborg. “Instead of the traditional model, whereby the distributor was deficit financing by paying a minimum guarantee for a production, we now see more and more presales. We have presold Sisters to DR in Denmark and TV2 in Norway, because they intend to launch at the same time.”

Af Malmborg also says that Scandi drama is no longer consigned to public broadcasters when it is licensed outside of the region. The Finnish version of Nurses was the first Nordic project to air on a commercial broadcaster in Germany. He adds that territories are becoming more open-minded as surprise hits emerge in unlikely markets.

Wikander has seen this too. “Brazil has had telenovelas for many decades, but two years ago, for the first time, a Turkish format was developed and was among the top three most-viewed series in Brazil. That was something they could never have foreseen. I think all good stories have the potential to travel; and the country of origin does not matter.”

Federation’s Uzan also reports that the company is breaking into new territories with Bordertown. He credits the appetite fueled by digital platforms, which are showing increased interest in European local-language drama. “That is a fascinating trend,” he says. “It is giving new opportunities to distribution companies like ours.” Although presales to these platforms are not common, Uzan sees a time in the near future when they will become part of the co-production jigsaw puzzle.

“On the international market, [Scandi drama] continues to be very much in demand, and the growth in both channels and streaming services increases the competition among broadcasters to obtain these series,” says STUDIOCANAL’s Neylon. “It used to be that BBC Four was the home of foreign-language [shows in the U.K.] Now it is ITV, Sky, Netflix, Amazon.”

Miso Film’s Bose is optimistic about the changing landscape. “The SVOD platforms can target their shows, and their content can be more niche,” he says. “It will open up new opportunities and new kinds of shows.” He thinks it will not be long before we see the first original shows commissioned for streaming platforms in Scandinavia.

NOIR AND BEYOND
As the strength of the genre is consolidated by higher production values that give these shows more clout internationally, there are also signs that the themes are diverging from the Nordic Noir crime that has characterized the genre.

“Scandi Noir is still the most popular genre, but producers and broadcasters are starting to add other subgenres,” says ZDFE.drama’s Franke. “Our show Thicker than Water is a good example. It is a family drama with a dash of crime and mystery. This mix is extremely attractive to buyers around the world because it taps into a broader audience than standard crime stories.”

Federation’s Uzan considers “Scandi crime” as a genre in itself. “The Scandi crime label is in itself a tool that allows you to sell and distribute internationally, and to get interest from broadcasters and platforms,” explains Uzan. Scandi crime tends to have a murder investigation at its core, but Uzan says producers are seeking to broaden the genre by incorporating the heist thriller, the political thriller and the mystery while keeping the trademark strong-willed Nordic characters.

STUDIOCANAL’s Neylon is confident about the appeal of the core crime proposition, but she predicts a move away from the dark stories that are the genre’s stock-in-trade.

“Overall, there is a move toward lighter productions and a lightness of touch, which has developed along with the confidence of Scandinavian writers and producers,” she says, adding that STUDIOCANAL is developing series that push the boundaries of the traditional genre markings.

Eccho Rights’ af Malmborg says the Nordic way of telling stories is game-changing in other scripted genres, such as medical drama. It is the mix of procedural stories and social issues in Nurses that appeals to af Malmborg. When asked what characterizes Nurses as a Scandinavian product, he offers, “If you see the characters in an American medical drama, you would not believe that they exist in real life. The way of storytelling in the Nordics is closer to reality.”

Pictured: ZDF Enterprises’ The Fourth Man.