Exclusive Report: World buyers praise quality pitches by writers/directors.
Among the 24 premium TV dramas presented at the 4th Scandinavian Screening (June 06-08) set to premiere across the Nordics in 2018-2019, (see full line-up here under) many brand new titles pitched created an immediate buzz and want to see among the 100 delegates – including 70 key international buyers.
Four Icelandic projects commissioned by RUV and pitched passionately by their respective creators/producers–Valhalla Murders, Black Port, The Minister, The Independent People, were among the hottest titles.
Other stand-out projects were NRK’s oil epic drama State of Happiness, real life inspired Atlantic Crossing (picked up by Beta Film), Twin starring Kristofer Hivju, DR Drama’s first book adaptation Liberty, SVT’s The Days When the Flowers Bloom, crime/book adaptation Malin Fors and YLE’s Invisible Heroes set against the 1973 Chilean coup.
Lumiere Group’s co-CEO Marike Muselaers said: “There were many projects at Scandinavian Screening I hadn’t heard before so that was exciting. As co-producers/distributors of State of Happiness, we were very pleased to see the pitch. The Icelandic project Black Port (Verbud) had a similar theme in a way [resources and wealth transforming a nation] - but set against the fishing industry so we liked it a lot. Crime and terrorist-related shows from DR and SVT were not for us as we already have several crime shows for 2018 and looking for lighter material for 2019. Otherwise, it was nice to see that DR Sales is stepping up as a major sales agent for Nordic premium shows.”
DR’s Bertel Kaare Shmidt, TV Drama Director of Acquisitions who closed a deal in Reykjavik on the Icelandic series The Minister said: “What I’m looking for is character-driven quality drama and I ask myself do I believe in the people producing it or not? Presentations are important, but unfortunately some Finnish projects for instance were not pitched effectively. Other pitches were excellent and made me curious.“
French TV executive Charlotte Toledano-Detaille of Lagardère Studios said: “The variety of dramas was impressive and the pitches by the writers themselves truly excellent. It was great to come here to have a wide view of what’s coming from the Nordics.“
Scandinavian Screening was organised by RUV, DR Sales, NRK, YLE, in association with Nordic World, TV2, the Icelandic Film Centre, Norwegian Film Institute, Danish Film Institute, and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
Besides the pitches, around 180 recent Nordic programmes were available for screening on iPads.
Here under is the list of 24 TV drama projects pitched at Scandinavian Screening: