You were one of the instigators of the conference ‘A New European Film & TV Culture: Trends and Challenges’, attended on September 9 by more than 200 delegates at the Danish Film Institute. What key trends in film and television did you discuss?
Ib Bondebjerg: There are some positive trends in feature film and TV drama with a broader distribution of content in Europe and increased co-productions.
If you look at the Nordic region, the success that Nordic TV dramas are achieving on the broader EU market is remarkable. As one of the conference’s participants said: ‘TV drama is the new black’, where things are happening. There is stronger pan European distribution of quality TV drama. But the challenge is –as usual- for European content to compete with US content. This is particularly relevant in our digital world as we are trying to understand how to create a common digital market in Europe.
In reality, the single market is already there because the Americans have created it for us. So in a way, we are doomed to create some kind of digital culture to make products available to the audience, otherwise the Americans will do it.
‘Unity in diversity’ was the motto of the EU in 2000. Do you feel this motto will still be valid under the European Commission’s proposed Digital Single Market that will remove geo-blocking, hence reduce the existing financing sources for film and television and the variety of products?
IB: Yes producers and exhibitors in particular are very worried about the Digital Single Market. European producers are used to benefit from rights protection and territoriality. Personally I believe that the money will come in other ways and I’m more positive about it. We do see super European-indies expanding on a pan-national and global level. I also believe that the Digital Single Market will not necessarily create a homogenized market. Diversity on the contrary could be enhanced by a stronger digital presence of our product.
Today European TV drama is enjoying a new golden age. The Euro-pudding model has shown its limits and has been replaced by new collaborations. What are the most successful ones?
IB: Today, there are 3 types of TV co-productions:
- co-financing collaborations where you can’t identify the financing sources behind the project. Co-financiers don’t interfere in the creative side. They just want good local stories that travel.
- Bi-national collaborations such as Bron/Broen, where the focus is on trans-border relationships. That’s a strong concept.
- Multilingual and multi-territory collaborations such as The Team or The Spiral. This is a more difficult concept to apply successfully.
At the end, the key to success is to make a good story and keep it local and authentic.
In the book ‘European Cinema and Television-Cultural Policy and Everyday Life’ published as part of the MeCETES project, you have analyzed with Eva Novrup Redvall the success of DR Fiction that has developed the ‘one vision’ and ‘double dimension narration’. For you why does this recipe cross borders so well?
IB: In many ways, it’s just a way of putting the conditions together to create a good story and to make sure the creator/writer is in charge. This successful model combines authenticity, the local angle with ethical and social elements and it can have an impact on society. It’s almost like the Dogma concept that travelled so well in the 90s.
In the UK the success of The Killing, Borgen or The Bridge has opened up the market to subtitled TV drama and characters such as Sarah Lund or Saga Nóren have earned an iconic status. This is another example of cultural items breaking prejudice ….
IB: Yes we have analyzed the success of The Bridge, Borgen with focus groups. There is actually a cultural negotiation between a receiving culture and sending culture. It creates a cultural encounter that changes people’s perceptions and acceptance of other nations and themselves. A lot of comments on The Killing or Borgen on social media were on the British culture in opposition to Scandinavian culture. People started to question their own habits and culture by watching our TV shows.
Culture is essential in forging individuals’ sense of identity. Are public broadcasters in Europe doing enough to fulfil their remit?
IB: Public service broadcasters in Europe are under attack. When you have conservative governments with strong national focus and a liberal agenda, they want to reduce the reach of public broadcasters and the real threat is if they will remove them from the digital market to make way for commercial groups. This is one of the major threats for Europe.
What’s the next research or think tank that you will oversee for MeCETES?
IB: MeCETES started in 2013 and will end in September 2016. We have one more year and need to do more case studies to understand the inner structure of the film and TV industry. It’s hard to get data but we are working on it.