Running fully online over Feb. 3-4, the Nordic region’s largest TV market, TV Drama Vision – which is held parallel to Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival – will roll out the red carpet to Danish writer-director Susanne Bier as an honorary guest.
The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning helmer will discuss her 30-year career, ranging from the Danish hits “After the Wedding” and “In a Better World” to the acclaimed English-language series “The Night Manager” and “The Undoing.” She will also share tips on how creators can adapt to the ever-changing content industry while sticking to their vision.
“It’s never easy to get star guests, so we’re thrilled to welcome Susanne Bier,” said Göteborg fest head of industry Cia Edström, who described Bier as “an interesting creator, who has moved elegantly from auteur filmmaking to the mainstream. She is a perfect match for an event like ours,” she added.
Detailing the first glimpse of the virtual program, which was unveiled this Friday morning, Edström sayd that this year’s Nordic TV event will be slimmer yet “comprehensive and relevant right now,” so as to make it worthwhile for people to attend in the crowded digital confab space.
Among the keynotes about the current trends in the TV drama world will be a session about virtual production, featuring panelists Kjartan Thor Thordason of leading Icelandic production house Sagafilm, Patrick Nebout and Henrik Jansson-Schweizer of Beta Film backed and Stockholm-based Dramacorp, in conversation with media analyst Johanna Koljonen.
“Under COVID-19, where many productions have had to cancel or revise their schedule and locations, virtual production is the next big thing,” asserted Edström.
The advantages of virtual production is among the topics that will be picked up by Koljonen in her annual Nostradamus report, to be presented on Feb. 4 exclusively to industry delegates, while the latest trends in global TV drama and how to look beyond COVID-19 will be discussed by Ampere Analysis’ Guy Bisson.
Another keynote speakers set to inspire TV Drama Vision attendees will be Danish writer, futurist and philosopher Lene Rachel Anderson who will analyze Nordic Secrets and Nordic public broadcasters’ ability to “lift our spirits, make us wiser, give us hope and unite us.”
As always, the Göteborg TV drama platform will also be a hot spot for global players hoping to home on the next big Nordic – and European- shows. Two high-end TV dramas unveiled today headline a swathe of works in production progress and development, to be unveiled Jan. 22, with the remaining program.
One, Swedish mini-series “A Royal Secret,” starring Sverrir Gudnason (“Falling,” “Borg vs. McEnroe”), is directed by Lisa James Larsson (“Victoria”, “Britannia”) and based on an original script by Bengt Braskered (“Jordskott”). Set between 1933 and the 1950s and inspired by true events, the story centres on the forbidden love between King Gustav V of Sweden and entrepreneur Kurt Hajby.
REinvent Studios handles global sales on the period drama which is produced by Stellanova Film for Swedish broadcaster SVT. The local premiere is set for Christmas 2021.
Also announced, the Croatian-Icelandic co-producion “The Possibility of an Island,” currently in development, is a dystopian drama written by Mateja Bozicevic (“Carnival Row”). It pictures Icelandics being forced to resettle on Croatian islands in the aftermath of a cataclysmic volcanic eruption. Their attempts to preserve their culture and identity spark clashes with local Croatians, prompting the two nations try to find common grounds to co-exist. The eight-part series is produced by Croatia’s Drugi Plan and Iceland’s Glassriver.