{"id":23855,"date":"2025-11-18T09:56:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T14:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/glassrivers-andri-omarsson-on-the-global-appeal-of-icelandic-storytelling\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T13:44:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T18:44:51","slug":"glassrivers-andri-omarsson-on-the-global-appeal-of-icelandic-storytelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/glassrivers-andri-omarsson-on-the-global-appeal-of-icelandic-storytelling\/","title":{"rendered":"Glassriver\u2019s Andri \u00d3marsson on the Global Appeal of Icelandic Storytelling"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an increasingly global world, hyperlocal stories are still finding audiences everywhere. Iceland\u2019s Glassriver has carved out a niche for itself by producing stories that are Icelandic to their core but still appeal to viewers around the globe, like Black Sands<\/em>. CEO Andri \u00d3marsson sat down with\u00a0TV Drama<\/em>\u00a0to discuss the value of hyperlocal projects, balancing a slate of known IP and fresh ideas and the importance of international co-productions in today\u2019s economic climate.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong>\u00a0Glassriver specializes in making localized stories that are able to travel all over the globe. What is it about hyperlocal Icelandic stories that appeals to global audiences?
\n\u00d3MARSSON:<\/strong>\u00a0There\u2019s a tone, there\u2019s something original, there is something true in our stories that just circles back to our DNA. Storytelling has always been rooted in our way of communicating and entertaining ourselves as a nation for decades. When you were building your skyscrapers in Manhattan and when people were building the Eiffel Tower in Paris, we were literally living in caves. We are Vikings that were fighting nature until the \u201970s. We\u2019re an isolated island with not a lot of opportunities to travel internationally. So, we were just fighting the elements and trying to survive. My great-grandfather had his first electricity equipment, which was a radio, in 1962. The mass population did not have a lot of access to entertainment whatsoever. So, what we did is we circled around the bath, in the living room, in the kitchen, and told stories. That has been the coping mechanism in the wintertime when you have no sun, and you\u2019re fighting earthquakes, volcanoes and avalanches basically every winter, every year. We told great, entertaining stories that were close to our nature and close to our culture. Our stories were not infused by the fluff of what was happening elsewhere in the world. I think we have still stayed true to that.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong>\u00a0What do you think it is that global audiences like about these local stories, no matter whether they\u2019re from Iceland or somewhere else?
\n\u00d3MARSSON:<\/strong>\u00a0If you look at how Nordic noir has traveled around the world, especially in Europe, in books and TV and feature films, [we don\u2019t have] that fluff I mentioned earlier or the formulas that have been created around all sorts of entertainment. The Nordics, due to how isolated we were, did not get as infused by those trendy moves. We stayed true to the core of what we felt was the true story\u2014maybe not the crime itself, but why did the crime originate, what was the motive behind things, what was the state of the people that got involved? That stripped-down element of our storytelling has resonated with the world. And especially nowadays, those stories are traveling fairly well. Of course, we also have what we call the \u201cpure entertainment,\u201d that shiny, glossy entertainment, on our plate, but we see it in how well true crime has traveled lately. That\u2019s the same element there. It\u2019s the stripped-down core of human behavior. There\u2019s no glossy element in front of it.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong>\u00a0Glassriver is currently working on an adaptation of\u00a0Elma<\/em>. You\u2019ve also optioned the\u00a0Detective Konrad<\/em>\u00a0book series. How do you decide if a book is worthy of a screen adaptation? What features does a book need to have in order for Glassriver to consider adapting it?
\n\u00d3MARSSON:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s a secret formula! We\u2019ve been around since 2016. We were the first production company here in Iceland that focused on doing our own local content for the international market. I always say, as an Icelandic nation, in terms of our industry, we are a production service first. But through our caretaking of unique ideas and taking them to the international audience, we\u2019ve had the opportunity to meet partners all over Europe and all over the world, and we do so on a really, really regular basis. We attend most of those markets and festivals. And through those dialogues and those trips, we have gained the knowledge and insight into what the market is looking for. That recipe has been laid down and is, of course, constantly being evolved or reconsidered if there is anything happening in the market that needs to change our formula. With that formula in front of us, we look at what writers and IPs are available and see if they fit the formula. Both of those IPs fit it perfectly. They speak to the market and the needs that it\u2019s currently having. And also, those IPs have done well internationally before, so we have a success baseline that we can tap into. We are just super excited about bringing these to the screen. We are now currently halfway through production of\u00a0Elma<\/em>\u00a0and halfway in development on\u00a0Konrad<\/em>. And this is fun. This is what we love to do.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong>\u00a0Whether it\u2019s an adaptation or a completely original idea, what elements does a project need to cut through in what is such a crowded landscape today?
\n\u00d3MARSSON:<\/strong>\u00a0It comes back to what I said before, that we are just telling our stories in a living room with our family. That\u2019s still rooted in our DNA. So, the first criteria that it needs to meet is that we resonate with the story that we\u2019re trying to develop. When people come in with either the books or the screenplay, that\u2019s the first thing: What do we feel about it? Would we tell this story to our kids and friends? And if it passes that threshold, it automatically becomes a passion project for us. We are doing this out of passion, not because we are building an empire. So, that\u2019s the main criteria. We need to like it.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA<\/strong>: How are you balancing broadcasters\u2019 demand for known IP right now with bringing fresh ideas to Icelandic and global audiences?
\n\u00d3MARSSON:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s a really tough one. We are a tiny market. We have three broadcasters. Most of them are on a really, really limited capacity when it comes to scripted content. Now, due to the recipe we have in Europe of what can travel fairly well and therefore what people are willing to bet on, that formula is really narrow. I would say we are filling most of the local slots with the commissioners with those IPs or content that fits this crime-oriented, straightforward, a little bit blue, not-too-dark genre stories. I feel for our commissioners, but also, I would say they\u2019re really patient. They know they are small players. They need to play with the big players in the European market. So, they cannot be too picky because they know they\u2019re only capable of financing, I would say, from 12 to 25 percent of the total budget. The remaining needs to come from elsewhere. So, they are good to us, but I\u2019ve been warning my friends that we will see a lot of similar crime-oriented stories on Icelandic TV for the next two years or so.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong>\u00a0Well, it\u2019s a good thing they\u2019re excellent series!
\n\u00d3MARSSON:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes, exactly!<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:\u00a0<\/strong>Now, you\u2019ve worked on international co-productions before, like with Romania\u2019s Idea Film and Portugal\u2019s SPi, as well as with international distributors like All3Media International. How do you plan to continue working with international partners to expand your slate, and what are the advantages of having international partners, whether that\u2019s financially or creatively, etc.?
\n\u00d3MARSSON:<\/strong>\u00a0How we approach our storytelling, we are true to our DNA. We are not influenced by the international waves. So, being in a partnership with those international players, we are able to have a healthy collaboration on our content and get their takes and opinions on the material that we are making, strengthening the material to reach the global audience. That has been a challenging but really joyful ride of getting those editorial notes on our content. On the financing side, that\u2019s more straightforward. We have always been forced to be in a European collaboration on our content just to raise the capital, because a nation of 400,000, and also a fairly expensive one, does not raise the capital to make a decent international series or feature film. So, we need partners that can chip in something from their local region, either through soft-fund presales or distribution. That has always been our bread and butter. For many of my friends that come from bigger countries that have had the luxury, I would say, for years or decades, to be fully financed locally, they are now facing a reality that has always been my reality of gaining capital from other countries.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong>\u00a0You leverage local talent as well. Your projects are often Icelandic to their very core. How do you plan to continue utilizing local talent to broaden your offering?
\n\u00d3MARSSON:<\/strong>\u00a0It comes to what I said before: We are making projects that we are passionate about, and we want to try to fight as long as we can to make Icelandic content that fits into the international landscape. We believe we have the talent and the infrastructure and the storytelling that will gain interest internationally. Like we did on\u00a0Cold Haven<\/em>, we managed to create a story where the majority of it took place in Iceland, but due to the structure of the story, we had mixed languages and therefore some English is spoken as well to make it a bit more international, but still it\u2019s true to its core Icelandic storytelling. We can build on the experience that we\u2019ve had in the past and create appealing stories for the international audience and platforms, but still be extremely true to the core of being Icelandic with Icelandic crew, Icelandic talents and Icelandic writers.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA<\/strong>: Lastly, there are plenty of challenges in the industry right now, but with change and challenge also comes opportunity. So, what do you think are the biggest areas of opportunity in the drama business over the next year or two?
\n\u00d3MARSSON:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s the mindset of cross-border collaboration, something that for many was maybe a bad thing in the past. I believe that those who can master that craftsmanship will be extremely successful. That\u2019s not going to be changing anytime soon. Just like we do in general in life, we need to see the beauty of it to make it enjoyable. So, we can thrive in it both professionally and also personally to get something out of it, to keep the energy up and make content that we cherish and care for, but that fits creatively and financially into the market that we are currently living in. For sure, it\u2019s challenging. I can admit that. But it just makes the product more enjoyable when we finally release it to the audience, and we\u2019ve done our part to make cultural content that people will cherish for decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The CEO of Iceland\u2019s Glassriver discusses the value of hyperlocal projects, balancing a slate of known IP and fresh ideas and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1412,"featured_media":23856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,70],"tags":[9984,4842],"class_list":["post-23855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","tag-andri-omarsson","tag-glassriver","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nGlassriver\u2019s Andri \u00d3marsson on the Global Appeal of Icelandic Storytelling - TVDRAMA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/glassrivers-andri-omarsson-on-the-global-appeal-of-icelandic-storytelling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Glassriver\u2019s Andri \u00d3marsson on the Global Appeal of Icelandic Storytelling - TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The CEO of Iceland\u2019s Glassriver discusses the value of hyperlocal projects, balancing a slate of known IP and fresh ideas and more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/glassrivers-andri-omarsson-on-the-global-appeal-of-icelandic-storytelling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-18T14:56:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-24T18:44:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/11\/Glassriver-AndriOmarsson-1125.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/glassrivers-andri-omarsson-on-the-global-appeal-of-icelandic-storytelling\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/glassrivers-andri-omarsson-on-the-global-appeal-of-icelandic-storytelling\/\",\"name\":\"Glassriver\u2019s Andri \u00d3marsson on the Global Appeal of Icelandic Storytelling - TVDRAMA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-18T14:56:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-24T18:44:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/glassrivers-andri-omarsson-on-the-global-appeal-of-icelandic-storytelling\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/glassrivers-andri-omarsson-on-the-global-appeal-of-icelandic-storytelling\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/glassrivers-andri-omarsson-on-the-global-appeal-of-icelandic-storytelling\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Glassriver\u2019s Andri \u00d3marsson on the Global Appeal of Icelandic Storytelling\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\",\"name\":\"TVDRAMA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\",\"name\":\"Jamie Stalcup\",\"description\":\"Jamie Stalcup is the executive editor of World Screen. 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