Johan Mardell (photo) who has been head of production for Svensk Filmindustri since 2003 will step down from his position on April 1, 2008 to work as an independent producer.
Mardell whose idea it was to bring Jan Guillou's best-selling crusade trilogy Arn to the screen will finish supervising post-production of the sequel to Arn - The Knight Templar - before leaving the Scandinavian major. At SF, Mardell was executive producer on several feature films and TV series such as Reza Bagher's Popular Music, Martin Asphaug's Kim Novak Never Swam in Genesaret's Lake, the Van Veeteren crime series and the TV series The Crown Princess.
"Johan Mardell has played a most important part in the development and increased production activities the last few years," commented Rasmus Ramstad, president and CEO of SF. "As he now chooses to leave the company and play an independent roll as producer, we wish him the best of luck. We will of course try to find ways of co-operating with him in the future." The company owned by the Bonnier Group is now looking for a new head of production.
SF ‘s in-house productions scheduled for a 2008 Swedish release include the family film LasseMaja's Detective Agency, and two animation films, one based on the popular Pettson & Findus characters, and the 2D cell animation film Mommy Moo and Crow.
The first Arn-The Knight Templar has sold over one million tickets in Sweden since late December, making it one of SF's biggest theatrical successes since Lords of the Rings. Its sequel will open in August 2008.