As of January 1st 2021, film sequels or follow-up seasons of TV series will no longer be eligible for production support.

Nordisk Film & TV Fond has announced today some adjustments to its funding of feature films and TV series, as well as a clarification of its guidelines.

Starting January 1st, 2021, it will no longer be possible to apply for production funding of follow-up fiction or documentary series, or film sequels.

This consideration will as always, be subject to an overall assessment of the artistic contribution and unique viewpoint of a project. Productions that stand out as independent works will still be considered, even if they are inspired by earlier works.

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The Fund’s recent enlargement of its group of partners [CLICK HERE] with additional partners NENT Group, C More Entertainment and VGTV, has triggered a surge in series applications. It was therefore necessary to revise existing guidelines to secure enough funding for new titles.

Simultaneously, on a distribution standpoint, the Fund is looking into new ways to help Nordic films and TV series reach wider audiences within the Nordic region and internationally, through promotion of Nordic brands.

Liselott Forsman, CEO of Nordisk Film & TV Fond said: “We surely welcome a growing number of series applications. That said, in the evaluation of a project, one important factor is its uniqueness. Decisions on new titles go by different logics than those on top-up financing of continuation of successful series or feature films. Today both types of applications compete for the same funding. Our means do not allow a parallel support for second seasons or film sequels, and we need to guarantee enough support for all future new series and feature films.

“As part of our overall remit is to help Nordic productions reach wider audiences on a Nordic and global level, we are therefore currently looking into how to best help the branding of multiple season titles together with the industry. The discussion is connected to our future distribution boosts of feature films, a theme next discussed on stage during Helsinki’s Finnish Film Affair - September 23-25." 

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The clarification of the Fund’s guidelines regards the application process.
The principle that each project can only apply once will, from now on, become a rule.

Liselott Forsman said: “The fast changes in the film and TV industry’s international financing models have called for a clarification of some of the Fund’s guidelines, notably the principle that each project can only apply once. Hitherto, this has caused a lot of discussions, though exceptions to this point have been extremely rare. By clarifying the principle into the rule, we also want to make sure applications are submitted only when the best possible distribution is in place, and before shooting starts.”