You are the instigator of this year’s Focus on the Nordics at MIPTV. Can you tell us how and why you came up with this idea?
Annie Wegelius: I’ve always been Nordic-centric, ever since I did commercials in the early 80s. My production company had a Nordic base. I’m half Finnish/half Swedish, I was Chairman of Nordvision for a couple of years, so the Nordic perspective has always been important to me from a business and cultural standpoint.
Secondly as I have been in the TV and media businesses for more than 25 years, I have seen how the interest from the market in the Nordic region has gone from ‘no interest at all’ to the current crave for Nordic noir and fascination for our early linear to digital shift. I felt it was the good timing.
Thirdly last year I saw that Israel was all over the place at MIPTV. I understood that it was something they had planned. So I contacted the CEO of Reed Midem Paul Zilk. We continued discussing the possibility of doing a Focus on the Nordics in November and then worked very fast to make it happen. My partner in this is Thomas Hedberg (founder of Titan TV) and a small group of dedicated and experienced people who have done a great job. The Focus sponsors have also been very active.
I was so pleased that everybody in the Nordic region was very positive and willing to take quick decisions to make it happen.
How did you design the programme?
A.W: The Focus on the Nordics was naturally going to be based on a formula that Reed Midem had used before. We also knew we wanted a big pavilion where the producers without a stand could still find a home and where we could have small events. We also knew we wanted to have the maximum of conferences. Finally, we heard that what really worked with Israel was the closing party! So we decided to organise the biggest party ever!
We have put a lot of work into the conference schedule and trying to represent four countries and so many companies and perspectives was the toughest casting job ever. But we did manage to combine senior executives with new faces and covered most areas-doc, broadcasting, drama, new technologies etc. The whole point of Focus on the Nordics is really for people to be more curious about us and understand the circumstances that we operate under.
One of the sessions you are monitoring is called ‘Reinventing Broadcasting’. You’ve been the ‘Queen’ of Swedish television for more than 25 years and at the forefront of innovative programming. What is your personal take on how Nordic broadcasters could and should reinvent themselves in today’s changing market?
A.W.: That’s a big question! I think that the interesting thing about Nordic broadcasters is that they have gone from answering the question WHY, and WHAT, to HOW do we execute the change. Broadcasters have different funding, larger territories than others, some have started their digital transformation earlier than others. I think that what all have in common is the challenge of operating in a territory that is experiencing extreme changes in consumer behaviour and huge competition from major players like YouTube and Netflix.
The question is while traditional TV is quite resilient, how much money should people spend and how? It’s clear that everybody is more or less going for an OTT model. The challenge for the Nordic region is the economy of scale. How do you continue to put as much as money as possible on content, invest in new technologies while evolving in a very small country? Basically, it’s a question of knowing how to manage change.
Nordic TV drama is enjoying a golden age and Nordic talents are being courted by broadcasters and leading media players from Europe and the US. How do you think this momentum can be sustained?
A.W: That’s a very good question. I guess the short answer is to maintain quality. The risk is that too many people jump on the TV production wagon on the back of Nordic noir, while neglecting good storytelling. By going mainstream and filming in the English language, you take the risk of diluting the originality of the shows and quality values.
You will receive the International Formats Gold Award tomorrow in Cannes. What does this award mean to you?
A.W.: I was very surprised because unlike the previous award recipients, I’m not a format creator. I’m on the business side. In my various incarnations I have been very active on the international formats market. Maybe even the first one to introduce formats in a big way in the Nordics. During my time as Head of Programmes at SVT I drastically increased the commissioning of programming from independent producers that obviously also increased the volume of the formats business. But it’s wonderful to be recognised and Formats in particular has a big role to play in the success of my production company, Wegelius TV that I ran in the 90s.