{"id":6770,"date":"2016-10-06T16:40:36","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T20:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/"},"modified":"2016-10-06T16:41:25","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T20:41:25","slug":"nordic-noir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/","title":{"rendered":"Nordic Noir"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"5-Nordic-Noir\"Almost a decade since <\/em>The Killing took the world by storm, Jane Marlow spotlights new developments in Scandinavian drama.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was The Killing<\/em> that started it. Kenneth Branagh\u2019s Wallander <\/em>might have whetted our appetites with a taste of English-language Nordic Noir, but it was S\u00f8ren Sveistrup\u2019s drama that put Scandinavian storytelling at center stage. After airing in 2007 on DR1 (as Forbrydelsen<\/em>), The Killing<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

Peter Bose, producer and partner at Miso Film\u2014which is majority owned by FremantleMedia\u2014describes The Killing<\/em> as a game changer. \u201cWe learned a lot from it,\u201d says Bose, who has Dicte<\/em> and Modus <\/em>on his current slate and who executive produced the Swedish series Wallander<\/em> while he was at Yellow Bird Films. \u201cThe Killing <\/em>showed that it was possible to create original content and stories that cover not only good crime stories but also parts of our society.\u201d He adds that the show\u2019s characters were instrumental in defining Scandi drama\u2019s unique selling point: \u201cLook 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Miso Film\u2019s biggest successes has been the Norwegian hit Acquitted<\/em>, 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.<\/p>\n

NORDIC VISION<\/strong>
\nMiso Film has offices in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, making it a true Nordic production company. Colla\u00adboration between the Scandinavian nations\u2014including Iceland and Finland\u2014has 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cA critical decision was made back in the \u201950s [to have] a cultural exchange between these five countries,\u201d says Wikander. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although there are increasingly more opportunities for collaboration outside the home territories, as a broadcaster, SVT\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

RISING SUN<\/strong>
\nOne such project is Midnight Sun<\/em>, 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started four years ago with a loose idea from Nice Drama and Atlantique in France,\u201d explains Wikander. \u201cWe started to develop around that idea. We had a couple of writers pitching in, and sometimes we weren\u2019t satisfied and sometimes they weren\u2019t satisfied, and we continued until we found this take on the idea with the creators, [M\u00e5ns] M\u00e5rlind and [Bj\u00f6rn] Stein.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

STUDIOCANAL has another foothold in Scandi drama with SAM Productions, which has at its helm Sveistrup, creator of The Killing<\/em>; Adam Price, creator of Borgen<\/em>; and seasoned producer Meta Louise Foldager S\u00f8rensen. That alliance is indicative of just how important co-production has become to the company in what Neylon describes as an \u201cincreasingly risk-averse environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCo-productions have become vital to the scripted business,\u201d Neylon says. \u201cMore 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

ZDF Enterprises was a pioneer in bringing Scandinavian drama to the global market, beginning with The Killing<\/em>, which aired on ZDF and was co-produced with the German pubcaster\u2019s commercial arm. Robert Franke, ZDF Enterprises\u2019 VP of drama, says that the genre continues to be a top performer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d says Franke.<\/p>\n

He adds that Scandinavian broadcasters have a long tradition of collaboration. \u201cTo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federation Entertainment has also entered the Scandi co-pro sphere, signing on as a partner on Fisher King Production\u2019s crime drama Bordertown<\/em> for YLE.<\/p>\n

When describing Federation\u2019s role as the distributor of this single-broadcaster co-production, Lionel Uzan, co-founder and managing director at the company, says, \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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, \u201cYou want [a show] to feel local and authentic, because I think that is why international audiences like those local dramas.\u201d It\u2019s more about fine-tuning than making major changes, he says.<\/p>\n

FINNISH-ED PRODUCT<\/strong>
\nEccho Rights represents the Finnish drama Nurses<\/em>, from Yellow Film & TV, and is launching the Swedish remake, Syrror <\/em>(Sisters<\/em>), at MIPCOM. In addition to the territories that are known for having an appetite for Scandi drama\u2014Germany, the U.K., France and Benelux\u2014there 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<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are more and more buyers who are interested in buying drama,\u201d says af Malmborg. \u201cInstead 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<\/em> to DR in Denmark and TV2 in Norway, because they intend to launch at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 <\/em>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.<\/p>\n

Wikander has seen this too. \u201cBrazil 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federation\u2019s Uzan also reports that the company is breaking into new territories with Bordertown. <\/em>He credits the appetite fueled by digital platforms, which are showing increased interest in European local-language drama. \u201cThat is a fascinating trend,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is giving new opportunities to distribution companies like ours.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn 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,\u201d says STUDIOCANAL\u2019s Neylon. \u201cIt used to be that BBC Four was the home of foreign-language [shows in the U.K.] Now it is ITV, Sky, Netflix, Amazon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miso Film\u2019s Bose is optimistic about the changing landscape. \u201cThe SVOD platforms can target their shows, and their content can be more niche,\u201d he says. \u201cIt will open up new opportunities and new kinds of shows.\u201d He thinks it will not be long before we see the first original shows commissioned for streaming platforms in Scandinavia.<\/p>\n

NOIR AND BEYOND<\/strong>
\nAs 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cScandi Noir is still the most popular genre, but producers and broadcasters are starting to add other subgenres,\u201d says ZDFE.drama\u2019s Franke. \u201cOur show Thicker than Water<\/em> 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federation\u2019s Uzan considers \u201cScandi crime\u201d as a genre in itself. \u201cThe Scandi crime label is in itself a tool that allows you to sell and distribute internationally, and to get interest from broadcasters and platforms,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

STUDIOCANAL\u2019s 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\u2019s stock-in-trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, there is a move toward lighter productions and a lightness of touch, which has developed along with the confidence of Scandinavian writers and producers,\u201d she says, adding that STUDIOCANAL is developing series that push the boundaries of the traditional genre markings.<\/p>\n

Eccho Rights\u2019 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<\/em> that appeals to af Malmborg. When asked what characterizes Nurses<\/em> as a Scandinavian product, he offers, \u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pictured: ZDF Enterprises\u2019 <\/em>The Fourth Man.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Almost a decade since The Killing took the world by storm, Jane Marlow spotlights new developments in Scandinavian drama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nNordic Noir - 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\/nordic-noir\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nordic Noir - TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Almost a decade since The Killing took the world by storm, Jane Marlow spotlights new developments in Scandinavian drama.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-06T20:40:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-10-06T20:41:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2015\/09\/5-Nordic-Noir.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"World Screen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"World Screen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/\",\"name\":\"Nordic Noir - TVDRAMA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-06T20:40:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-10-06T20:41:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/48d5d8caeca98083bf34512b4ce8c4c7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nordic Noir\"}]},{\"@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\/48d5d8caeca98083bf34512b4ce8c4c7\",\"name\":\"World Screen\",\"description\":\"The leading source of information for the international media business.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nordic Noir - TVDRAMA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nordic Noir - TVDRAMA","og_description":"Almost a decade since The Killing took the world by storm, Jane Marlow spotlights new developments in Scandinavian drama.","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/","og_site_name":"TVDRAMA","article_published_time":"2016-10-06T20:40:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-10-06T20:41:25+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2015\/09\/5-Nordic-Noir.jpg","width":1,"height":1,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"World Screen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"World Screen","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/","name":"Nordic Noir - TVDRAMA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-10-06T20:40:36+00:00","dateModified":"2016-10-06T20:41:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/48d5d8caeca98083bf34512b4ce8c4c7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/nordic-noir\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nordic Noir"}]},{"@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\/48d5d8caeca98083bf34512b4ce8c4c7","name":"World Screen","description":"The leading source of information for the international media business.","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}