Yellow Bird’s co-founder Ole Søndberg and former CEO Anni Fernandez (pictured) have joined forces with Danish film mogul Vibeke Windeløv and fast-rising producer Stinna Lassen to launch Copenhagen-based Good Company Films.
Fernandez and Søndberg have collaborated among others on the successful Millennium film franchise and Wallander series. Windeløv was attached to all Lars von Trier films between 1992-2006 and has continued to produce top rank directors such as Susanne Bier (Love is All You Need) parallel to more experimental internet fiction projects with Lassen (Cloud Chamber). The latter graduated from the Danish film school in 2011 and has since had a rocket career, working most recently as producer on the upcoming European crime TV series The Team.
Fernandez who just stepped down from her position as CEO of Yellow Bird on September 1st to lead Good Company Films explained to nordiskfilmogtvfond.com that she will still collaborate with Yellow Bird as executive producer on a number of projects.
She said her new shingle will be talent-led and will target both traditional and digital platforms. “New digital platforms are putting pressure on traditional financial models for film but they also offer great new opportunities. Our goal is to look at all co-financing and distribution possibilities for our projects and to find the talent that can create the content for future generations,” she said, adding that finding and nurturing new talent will be essential to Good Company Films. “Many great books are being adapted but you find a Stieg Larsson novel once in a decade, if you’re lucky. We want to keep talents under the radar and collaborate closely with them, giving them space in our office to work on the development of their projects and discussing distribution strategies with them from script stage”.
In TV drama, Fernandez said she hopes to make one TV series every second year targeting the Danish market, with international TV projects complementing her line up. The company’s current projects in development include a political mini-series based on real events as well as two feature projects:
- Experienced writer Bo Hr Hansen (Speed Walking, Itsi Bitsi) is working on the script of a fantasy family film based on Lene Kaaberbøl’s best-selling book series Vild Heks (Wild Witch). It’s the story of an ordinary school girl, Clara (12) who suddenly realises she is like her aunty Isa, a ‘wild witch’ with special strong powers, including the ability to communicate with animals.
Yellow Bird is attached as co-producer on the feature set to go into production in 2015.
- The Charmer is a psychological thriller directed by Milad Alami (co-director of short film Void presented at Cannes’ Nordic Factory 2014) and writer Christian Gamst Miller-Harris, co-writer of the 2014 Oscar winning short film Helium. The plot centres on an Iranian male escort who charms women, take their money and leave them broken-hearted .One day he falls for the daughter of his prey while another victim’s husband decides to track him down. The project has received backing from the DFI’s New Danish Screen.