Piodor Gustafsson on C More-TV4’s drama staff, strategy and slate

Gustafsson has more than thirty years of experience within film, TV and advertising. Before joining Telia Group’s TV4 Media over a year ago, he had produced around 40 films and TV series such as Tigers by Ronnie Sandahl (Sweden’s Oscar contender) the co-production Lamb by Valdimar Jóhannsson, the TV series STHLM Requiem by Karin Fahlén and Moscow Noir by Mikael Håfström.

He tells us about his commissioning strategy, current and upcoming TV slate.

You’ve been in your job since September 2020. Firstly how have you reorganised your team, notably following the departure of your former Swedish Head of Drama Josefine Tengblad?
Piodor Gustafsson: Yes we have reorganised the department. Now we have a clearer structure, with a separate Development Department, run by Nathalie Drago, a Production Department run by Johanna Lind (replaced by Jon Mardell during her maternity leave), as well as a Business Affairs Department, run by Emil Wiklund and Petra Larsson.

Our team of Executive Producers comprises Lisa Dahlberg, Sonja Hermele, Niva Westlin Dahl, Petra Ahlin and Development EPs are Dunja Vujovic, Helmi Tolonen. The department heads report to me as Director of Scripted Content. I also run the feature film group, together with Niva Westlin Dahl, Jon Mankell and Emil Wiklund.

How many feature projects to do acquire and co-produce each year?
PG: We pre-buy a number of films - usually through local distributors - or co-produce around 6-8 films a year. So far, we’ve co-produced five films this year. But it’s been slower on the feature film side. A lot of producers have turned to TV drama and reduced their film output.

On the TV side, how do you commission programmes across your streaming service C More and the TV station TV4 and in what way has Telia’s take over made an impact?
PG: Basically, regarding TV shows, we have an intake of projects that we feel will fit the needs of TV4 and C More, and we are sometimes pro-active. We regularly meet with C More-TV4 management to discuss our slate and sometimes co-commission shows for C More and TV4 or commission only for C More.

Since Telia’s acquisition of Bonnier Broadcasting and its brands, TV4 and C More, they have separated C More and TV4 more and more. This has allowed us to be more specific and sophisticated in our commissioning strategy. We do several co-productions between C More and TV4, but more and more frequently C More originals. Those can have a small amount of financing from TV4, but are predominantly C More financed.

Originally, when TV4 and C More were more integrated, the core C More subscribers were TV4 fans, who wanted to see the programmes online without advertising. Now the bulk of the audience has naturally shifted towards streaming, but they still come to C More out of loyalty for TV4 or because we have stand out shows, such as Knutby (The Congregation) which is performing really well these days.

Not only is streaming picking up, but AVOD as well is compensating for the linear market’s gradual waning. We believe that the linear will still be there, as a lot of people still enjoy scheduled TV shows, but the market will eventually stabilise at a lower level.

What do C More Originals stand for?
PG: Our DNA is locally or Nordic -driven. We want stories with strong emotions that are interesting, relevant to our local and Nordic audience. Even period pieces like Knutby should be contemporary in feel. High quality is also a must-whatever the budget.

How do you collaborate with your colleague Jani Hartikainen at MTV-C More in Finland?
PG: Jani is the Head of Drama there and runs his department independently, pitching to C More and MTV. We collaborate on a collegiate level, discuss our own slates. We sometimes co-commission or help them find co-financiers.

Do you have a set number of TV shows that you order each year?
PG: We will release 15 series in 2022. The aim is to have about 14-16 TV shows a year. In Finland, their goal is to publish one new series a month in 2022. It’s quite a substantial volume, certainly higher than Nordic shows commissioned by HBO Max, Disney, Amazon, and even more than Viaplay’s Swedish-language output.

The key for us is to have a balance between new shows and keeping the well-known brands, making them relevant to today’s audience. We have Beck, Solsidan, The Sandhamn Murders etc. These still work really well online, on linear and AVOD and we will keep doing these as long as they are popular. All are co-productions between C More and TV4.

Coming up, we also have a second season of Agent Hamilton [Dramacorp/Pampas] and of Bäckström [Yellow Bird]. We balance these with new and returning C More Original series like Knutby (The Congregation), Nattryttarna (Riders in the Night), Fartblinda (Blinded), Headhunters and Gåsmamman.

With your background as a literary agent - on top of producer - you must enjoy hunting for quality IP, next to original stories…
PG: I think we should do more original stories. When you succeed, usually they get a larger footprint than existing IP. IP-based material is easier to finance, and gain from having a pre-existing rich world, developed by an author. But it has limitations, linked to people’s expectations.

In terms of genre, on top of the core crime, comedy and family genres, it seems like you will invest much more into young adult content?
PG: Our output is predominantly crime, with cross-over elements, sub-genres. We are also among few streamers very successful with comedies, co-produced by TV4. We will keep churning those out.

Young Adult original content is definitely something I’m super excited to add to our slate.
One upcoming show is a remake from a Norwegian series Heartbeat [Baluba], based on TV2 Norway’s Hjerteslag, directed by Linn Mannheimer, written by Mannheimer and Amy Desimont. We felt we lacked young talent in front of the camera working on TV shows, so this was an opportunity to work with young adults on both sides of the camera, and help them bring to life top-notch shows that they really wanted to make. Heartbeat’s creative team was also able to use the specific production methods used by the Norwegians for lower budget content.

Our exec producers are very committed to making sure the scripts on those shows are good enough before they start shooting and adapted for smaller budgets.

Besides Heartbeat, we have the drama comedy Likea [FLX] written by Felicia Danielsson and Vera Herngren, directed by Eddie Åhgren, and the contemporary drama The Corridor [Nelson & Frank’s] by Molly Nutley, written by Alexander Havelda, Emil Stenberg and Emil Eriksson. They just wrapped production 5 days ago. It’s about a student corridor [i.e. shared student accommodations] in Uppsala. The team used the same tight rules-short schedule, few takes per scene etc-and still the result is amazing. Molly directed earlier for us the series Håll Adan! which was for tweens. It was a great school for her. It was a natural step for her to do The Corridor.

We will release a total of four YA series in 2022 and hopefully 2-3 have returning potential.

How important is it for you to nurture diversity, representation on screen?
PG: It is super important. We are actively looking for stories that offer a better screen representation. We have a couple in development from creators with different ethnic background, but part of the local DNA. We are looking for non-crime related stories, about people’s life experiences.

Tell us about your new step into Norwegian-language with Headhunters, co-produced with TV2. How did the project originate?
PG: It is a prequel to Jo Nesbø’s book and to Morten Tyldum’s film. At the time, when we commissioned the show, we didn’t know how the distribution agreement between Telia and TV2 Norway would evolve. Yellow Bird Norway approached us with the project - we felt it had a great potential for the Nordics and greenlit it. Eventually Telia and TV2 agreed on a long-term distribution agreement and now TV2 is a full-partner in Headhunters.

We will collaborate much closer on our respective series at an earlier stage. It’s a good example of cross-fertilisation of content with Telia’s partners and brands. TV2 Norway seems to have a bigger appetite for TV drama. This fits us really well, as Norwegian series are working better and better in Sweden.

Will Danish-language content be the next step?
PG: That’s my ambition. We already collaborate with both TV2 Denmark and DR.

You haven’t done any collaboration with global streamers. But would you envisage co-commissioning with them in the future?
PG: Not really, as in Sweden, we want exclusivity on three windows and I don’t think global streamers would want to be number 4. That said, I’m sure that on certain projects, with a strong international appeal, we could collaborate. And I see no reason why we couldn’t collaborate with SVT on bigger shows.

Pan-Nordic or European partnerships are crucial to secure a stronger foothold on the market in the streaming era. You recently closed a deal with Walter Presents to offer quality curated foreign language shows to your customers…What else can you do to counter global streamers’ aggressive expansion in the Nordics?
PG: We have to accept that global streamers have bigger pockets and that we simply can’t compete with them financially. Fully-financing prestigious shows isn’t a viable model for us. But we will continue to build relationships with sales agents, local and European platforms/broadcasters in similar situations. Those relationships are getting stronger as we need each other to keep creating outstanding content, that is grounded in local storytelling.

As a former indie producer, I can’t judge anyone who jumps on the opportunity to get a project fully-financed upfront by a US streamer, with a premium on top. At the same time, if you really want to create your dream project and keep control of your IP, it’s a better choice to come to us or SVT.

On a personal level, what TV show are you particularly proud to have greenlit?
PG: At the end of the day, we’re not creating the shows. It’s the production companies - producers, writers/directors. Our role is to find the projects that we feel can go all the way. Today, the stakes in risk taking are higher in our hyper-competitive market. My job is to sell our slate internally so that C More-TV4 have the guts to take the risks, and to push my team to inspire, support the production companies so that they will do their outmost to deliver the quality we need to stand out and secure customers.