In its October round of support Nordisk Film & TV Fond has allocated a NOK 3 million production grant to the NRK Drama series Monster, (pictured) NOK 1,250,000 to Zentropa’s animated series Vitello and NOK 550,000 to John Webster’s documentary Little Yellow Boots from Millennium Film.

Monster
The award-winning Norwegian director Anne Sewitsky (Homesick) is currently filming the 7x52’ character-driven series Monster written by newcomer Hans Christian Storrøsten. Pål Jackman is directing episodes 5-7. Producer Lasse Greve Alsos describes the series as a thriller/western, set in the exotic northernmost part of Norway. Star actor Jakob Oftebro plays Joel Dreyer, an investigator from Oslo who is sent up north to Finnmark to work on a crime scene. He feels like a fish out of water in the remote community where he has to collaborate with the young local investigator Helle Gilbert (Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes), an old sheriff (Bjørn Sundquist) while dealing with the matriarch Margot van Gemert (Gørild Mauseth), head of a criminal enterprise.

The NOK 73 million series is co-produced by Rein Film, DR and SVT.  DRG handles world distribution. Airing on NRK is set for January 2017. 

Vitello is a 13x8’ 2D animated series for 4-9 years-old, adapted by Kim Fupz Aakeson from his own children book series. The central character, the 8year old boy Vitello has great ideas but they often lead him to unfortunate situations. Eventually he always manages to find his way back home. Illustrator Niels Bo Bojesen is concept designer for the series directed by Dorte Bengtson for producer Charlotte Pedersen. 

In the Finnish documentary Little Yellow Boots, filmmaker John Webster (Recipe for Disaster) sets out on a road-trip with his imaginary great grand-daughter in an attempt to understand the moral and behavioural choices that make tackling climate change so difficult.  A pair of children’s yellow rain boots leads us on a journey to a future shoreline. The Millennium Film project steered by producer Kristiina Pervilä-Andersson is co-produced by Webster’s JW Documentaries in Finland, Sjau in Norway and MA.JA.DE Filmproduktions, BR Arte in Germany. Pre-sales were secured with YLE, NRK, RUV, RTS in Slovenia, VPRO in Netherlands. The film is handled internationally by Deckert Distribution.

The 26X5' series Albi the Snowman directed and produced by well-known Finnish artist Markus Majaluoma for Hima Light was granted NOK 250.000. It was pre-bought by YLE, DR, SVT, NRK, RUV. YLE Sales handles world distribution.