The Scandinavian major made two key appointments this month with the hiring of Australian born Tim King (pictured left) as Exec VP President Production and former Nimbus Film producer Lars Bredo Rahbek (pictured right) as head of SF Production in Denmark. King tells us about Svensk’s new production set up and strategy.

Tim King (left) Lars Bredo Rahbek (right)
You have an interesting background mostly in management consultancy and servicing but have no experience in film. How did you get the job at Svensk?
Tim King: A film person brings his/her experience and perhaps would run the department the way things have always been done. As an outsider I look at the business from a different perspective. We are also going through a change within Svensk and I can drive that.  For example when I was working in Tanzania for Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation I was a hands on- manager and brought change. I have also worked in the consulting world which is in many ways similar to how film develops as it is about how people spend their time efficiently to develop a project. Then I worked in the building industry which is about delivering a project, within a fixed budget.
After having been on the job for a month, I can see where I can add value. That’ s not about being the creative force behind SF Production, but to steer the creators and let them do their job the best way possible.

How are SF Production’s various divisions run today both nationally and on a Nordic level and how do you collaborate and greenlight the projects?
TK: I am basically Head of Production, supervising Tre Vänner in Sweden and SF Production in Denmark. Tre Vänner’s Head of Film is Fredrik Wikström Nicastro and the company’s Head of TV is Johan Hedman. Lars Bredo Rahbek is now Head of SF’s Danish Film & TV productions. He will strengthen our film production output in Denmark and continue what we have done on the TV side, with productions such as Rita and Badehotellet.

Jenny Stjernströmer Björk is Chief Content Officer. She is a gatekeeper for our productions, managing our co-productions and rights management. Her role is critical. We have to think much more on a Nordic level to mirror what new SVOD players are after.

In terms of greenlighting a project, we all work together as a team, Jonas Fors [Svensk CEO], Jenny, Fredrik, Johan, Lars, myself and a few other SF execs.

What are your plans for Finland and Norway?
TK: In Norway we are associated to two production companies [via the co-owned Filmkameratene and Motion Blur] but are not active as straight producers as we don’t have an in-house production department. In Finland we don’t have any production going on. However our ambition is to be a Nordic player, so we are looking at those regions as well.

Your biggest competitor Nordisk Films is very involved in those territories as well and attracting a lot of talents…
TK: Yes. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we will go there, but that raises the question of our involvement. 


On a local level, what is your vision and new projects in your pipe line?
TK: Given the success of a film like A Man Called Ove, we are bullish about the potential of local films in Scandinavia that remain our main focus. We have 10-12 films and TV dramas in various stages of development within various genres, - crime, comedy, children films.

We have the Fredrik Bakman follow up to Ove, Britt-Marie Was Here, a new Bamse film, the children’s film Pelle Svanslös and Nelly Rapp and the remake of The Emigrants to be directed by Daniel Espinosa from a script by Petter Skavlan.

In the crime genre we have a couple of best-selling novels that will be made into feature films such as Thomas Quick based on Hannes Råstam’s novel Thomas Quick – The Making of a Serial Killer sold to more than 20 territories, and Älskade Poona based on Norwegian author Karin Fossum’s eponymous novel (The Indian Bride in the US). We have also just acquired the rights to Jesper Stein books to develop as a TV series. The market is competitive but we are focusing on quality.

You have just announced Babak Najafi’s suspense thriller Horizon Line set to start filming in the autumn and you have several other English language films and TV dramas part of a deal with Studiocanal. What’s your strategy on that front and could you give an update on the slate?
TK: We are betting on English language genre films & TV dramas with high level of Scandinavian talent. It is challenging but we are focusing on a specific genre-Nordic suspense and crime- that travels well. We believe we have a great line up that can raise interest on the international market and we are taking our time to develop the scripts to deliver the best quality projects.
Babak Najafi’s Horizon Line [written by Josh Campbell and Matt Stueckem] is not part of the deal with Studiocanal. The projects included are the films The White Island by Jens Jonsson, a remake of Easy Money and the TV dramas Lawyer co-written by Hans Rosenfeldt and The Ambassador based on a story by Henning Mankell. All are in development and moving forward. 

Will you increase your involvement in TV drama?
TK: We hope to make TV drama half of our output in the future, once our international films will be up and going. For the moment we have four exciting projects in late stage of development. We are discussing with traditional broadcasters and new SVOD services.TV drama is enjoying a boom and we want to be part of it.