Fear and loathing in Scandinavia

Robert Linnell is a production consultant based in London, Eng.

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It was not supposed to be a junket. That has bad connotations. It speaks of people traveling to the exotic places of the world on someone else’s dime (usually the taxpayers’). So it was a mission. That’s a much better name. It has a certain Calvinistic tone, of doing good works, even of conversion.

And perhaps that’s what we were doing: Katka Selucky of Canadian Heritage, Patricia Phillips of Edmonton’s Great North Productions, Kevin Tierney of Montreal’s Productions la Fete and your humble correspondent were on a mission to Sweden and Denmark to sign the new coproduction treaty between Canada and Sweden, and to convert them to the joys of doing business with Canada.

At first glance, the Nordic countries (as they often prefer to be called) seem to be natural partners for Canada. They are developed democracies with similar concerns on political and environmental issues, and share a climate that is best described as ‘challenging.’

Their production costs are close to ours (movies cost $3 million, and a one-hour documentary $200,000). Even with the protection of different languages, the u.s. takes 74% of the box office.

As Tierney said, quoting Peter Ustinov: ‘We are both like people living on the second floor of an apartment over a loud and exciting party where we are not invited. So you should join us, and we can be envious together!’ Ah, if it were only so easy.

The motor for coproduction is financing. We need it from off-shore, but they have almost enough within their own systems. Their government funding is similar to ours, and the five countries, including Norway, Finland and Iceland, all have film funds.

But the fund managements have some differences from Telefilm Canada. Consultants are engaged for short three-year terms, and are singly responsible for the films they choose. They can invest at a much higher level than Telefilm, as much as 75%, and they recoup entirely in second position. This heretical doctrine found a sympathetic response from some Canadians.

As well, their television system is unfragmented. In Sweden there are only four channels, and in Denmark three, with two film channels covering Scandinavia.

Most of their tv programs can be self-financed, with the exception of very expensive dramatic series. A example is the 12-hour series The Carlsbergs, about the brewing family, which is being produced in Denmark by Nordisk, and costs $2 million an hour. It is a coproduction amongst the Nordic broadcasters and funds.

As Ingrid Dahlberg, the head of drama for SVT 1, says: ‘Over one-half of all Swedish drama is coproduced with the other Nordic countries.’

She prebought the Soapbox series Northwood, which ran on the cbc, and was involved with it creatively. But it was not a coproduction. ‘It never did extremely well here, but not badly,’ she says. ‘It was subtitled for our audience, as is all of our foreign-language programming.’

As with most junkets, sorry, missions, there was a seminar to introduce each other’s industries. It was about relationships and trust. Phillips, who had coproduced My Partners, My People with Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavian partners, says: ‘You must trust your partner, and you can only do that by entering the market, and learning to trust, and then hoping that the trust is proven.’

The independent production community in both countries is dominated by two large companies, both parts of larger media conglomerates. In Sweden, Svensk Filmindustri was the home of both Bergmans, Ingrid and Ingmar. It is developing a tv series with Toronto’s Nelvana based on the Pippi Longstocking children’s stories and producing soaps for television. The twinning provisions in the treaty interested sfi, as it realized that most coproduction with Canada would probably be in English or French, and a twinned coproduction may be the best way of making a Swedish-language film under the treaty.

Like sfi, Nordisk in Denmark combines production with distribution and exhibition. It claims to be the oldest film company in continuous operation in the world. While it competes with sfi, Nordisk also coproduces with it. Both companies are reliant on government funding, but invest their own monies as well.

Another company in Sweden has been set up by one of the satellite companies to produce programming for them. It is called Strix Television. It is based in an old warehouse, and exemplifies a new direction in the production industry there.

On the managing director’s door there is a quote which says: ‘The tv business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where crooks and pimps run free and weak men die like dogs.’

We can do business with guys like that.