The new mystery thriller series Jordskott -The Tales of Silverhöjd (working title) produced by Sweden’s Palladium Fiction for Swedish pubcaster SVT has been pre-bought by YLE for Finland, TV2 for Norway and RUV for Iceland. World distribution rights are handled by ITV Studios Global Entertainment. Finland’s Kinoproduktion is co-producer.
The 10 part TV drama is the first fiction project for the established commercials outfit Palladium Film which has set up a dedicated division – Palladium Fiction for the project, run by producer Filip Hammarström. Together with Henrik Björn, writer/director and co-founder of Palladium Film, the producer has been working for the last four years on the project. They were joined by co-writers Alexander Kantsjö, Fredrik T Olsson and Dennis Magnusson. The experienced TV drama specialist Anders Engström (Wallander, Thicker than Water) is directing some episodes. “With Jordskott, we’re taking Scandinavian crime to another level, adding mystery to the whodunit central plot,” says Hammarström. “The successful series Top of the Lake and True Detective have similar moods and feel and I believe we will hit a sweet spot where Scandi crime is hitting new ground” he continues.
With the Swedish dark forest as a backdrop, Jordskott tells the story of detective Eva Thörnblad (Moa Gammel) who returns to her small town ten years after the disappearance of her daughter. She is working on the case of a missing boy and is trying to establish a connection between the two mysterious incidents. For Hammarström, the overall theme of the TV drama is more existential and very topical. “With Jordskott we ask the question ‘How hard are we going to push nature before it pushes back”.
Other key cast members include Ann Petrén, Peter Andersson, Ville Virtanen, Hans Mosesson and Göran Ragnerstam. Currently filming in Sala, Central Sweden, the crime drama with a twist has a tentative premiere date set for February 2015. The first show-reel and images will be unveiled at MIPCOM in Cannes.