After crime (The Killing) and politics (Borgen), family is at the heart of your new prime time drama series The Legacy. Could you remind us how the project landed on your desk and what convinced you to green-light it?
Nadia Kløvedal Reich: Maya Ilsøe started out as a great writer on our two Christmas calendars Absalon’s Secret and The Pact. It was a natural part of her journey to become a main writer on one of our prime time series. At DR Fiction we have a tradition of character-driven dramas featuring families. Maya has excellent skills in writing about the complexity of families and relations; it was obvious we would green-light The Legacy. It’s also part of our brief to switch from character-driven to theme or more plot-driven TV series.
In what way is the family in The Legacy typical of our times?
NKR: In our Western world individualism is very important as well as self-fulfilment. People are often full of contradictions, wanting freedom but also to live in a faithful relationship. Today there are different ways to live together as a family. Many people live alone, are divorced, then they create new families, new constellations. The Legacy explores all those themes.
What does Pernilla August’s touch bring to the series?
NKR: Pernilla has a strong sensibility and she knows what acting is all about. It shows in The Legacy. She is a fantastic actor-director.
The series was pre-bought by several foreign territories quite early on. What was the share of pre-sales on the overall budget and is co-financing more common now as your dramas are on the radar of many world buyers after the success of The Killing, The Bridge and Borgen?
NKR: Around 5% of our overall budget came from pre-buys. What’s important to point out though is that Piv Bernth [DR Head of Drama] and I, we do not push for co-productions. We are very aware that as public service broadcaster, our mandate is to choose stories that reflect Danish people’s everyday life. Besides that, we feel it’s important to give writers the free space for development so that they can create the best stories, without pressure or interference from too many financiers. This is a privilege that we value.
Are you going to do a second season of The Legacy?
NKR: Yes, it in development. Maya Ilsøe is show runner again. It’s been green-lit.
Could you detail the other shows coming up and for what drama slots? I think that you have several projects lined up with male protagonists in the lead, to change from the strong women Sarah Lund and Birgitte Nyborg …
NKR: Besides Season 2 of The Legacy that has actually two strong female characters, we have Ole Bornedal’s 1864, a historical drama about brothers in war and love. It’s a co-production between DR and Miso Film. It will air in the autumn. Then we have Restaurant, a new half hour dramedy in 18 episodes for the Tuesday or Wednesday slot, about two men’s journeys to get their lives back on track, it does not go as expected, so there will be lying, ratting, hiding and cheating. We’re happy to have a different slot on DR1 than the usual Sunday 20hr00 because not having the pressure of prime time will allow us to go a bit further. This new weekday series that will start production in January is written by Kim Fupz Aakeson [A Somewhat Gentle Man] and directed by Henrik Ruben Genz [Terribly Happy]. Martin Buck and Esben Dagaard Andersen are in the lead. It should go on air in September 2014.
Do you have any new shows coming up from the creators of The Killing and Borgen, Søren Sveistrup and Adam Price?
NKR: We’re actually working on a new crime series for our prime time Sunday slot written by Jeppe Gjervig Gram who wrote Borgen with Adam Price. It has the working title Follow the Money. The series in 20 episodes deals with financial crime, greed and morality, and again there is a male character in the lead. It goes in production in April 2014.
For the moment Adam Price is working for the BBC on a political drama but he will return to DR in 2015 where he will develop a new TV series about faith. Then Søren Sveistrup is also developing a story for us.
Any plan to do another Scandinavian collaboration like The Bridge?
NRK: Not at the moment. We have some ideas but it’s too early to talk about it.
Christian Rank who produced The Legacy has left DR to join TV2. How do you feel about competition heating up with your commercial rival?
NRK: We welcome TV2’s plans to upscale their TV Drama production because hopefully this will lead to more high quality TV drama in Denmark. There are many talents working for film and television here and besides DR, many other companies or organisations capable of nurturing and supporting them.
Are you interested in developing English language or bilingual co-productions with new players such as Netflix, the way NRK did with Lilyhammer?
NRK: At the moment we don’t work in the perspective of making co-productions with the likes of Netflix or English language TV drama. As public service broadcaster, it’s important for us to create shows that are deeply rooted in Danish culture, shows in the Danish language that reflect our everyday life. But of course, things are changing and we will see what 2014 will bring.