Scandi distribs survive with pacts, local fare
H'wood studios dominate market
The Hollywood studios in one way or another take the lion's share of box office receipts, with Nordic homegrown players Egmont, Svensk Filmindustri (SF) and Sandrew Metronome (SM), and midsize and small indies scrambling for the rest.
SF, SM and Egmont, in fact, are the strongest indies in the territories and are considered majors in their own region. The three survive through a combo of distribbing their own local product in tandem with alliances with major Hollywood studios. SM has a pact with Warner Bros.; Egmont is in an alliance with Columbia TriStar that stretches across Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland; and SF has a deal with Fox in Finland and Denmark.
The companies have struck up significant deals with international indies on their own, and all have made a significant commitment to local product. Egmont subsid Nordisk Film Biografdistribution's "Help I'm a Fish" and SM's "Italian for Beginners," which opened last year in Denmark, are expected to be among the top 10 films in the territory, while SF's "Health Farm" was expected to be among the top five in Sweden. (Official box office stats have not been released in any territory except Norway.)
Scanbox and UIP are working in tandem to deliver local pics, with "Flickering Lights" pulling in over 400,000 admissions in Denmark since it was released late last year.
When it comes to local product in Scandi, all eyes are on Sonet, a company that has been around for 16 years, but several years ago moved from international arthouse fare to local fare.
Recently acquired by Modern Times Group (MTG), Sonet has become the talk of the distrib world in Sweden, where its managing director and founder Peter Possne is being credited with having the magic touch with pic pickups.
Since its switch to local titles, Sonet in 1999 took 8.5% of the admissions and became the seventh-largest distrib in the territory. In 2000, Sonet's "Together" took the top slot in admissions (through November) and its latest film, December opener "Jalla Jalla," has racked up more than 350,000 admissions in a territory where 500,000 for a local film is unusual.
Possne puts his magic touch down to a belief that the values that govern production and distribution are intertwined, and he has plans to expand his production and distrib outfits to other Nordic territories.
Europa, one of Norway's oldest indies, has a buying alliance with Sweden's Triangle Films, the latter one of the top 10 distribs in Sweden in 1999. Out of 14 films this year made by Norwegian producers, Europa is repping seven.
Like Possne, Europa's Aage Hoffart, head of acquisitions and marketing, says the magic formula is to work hand in hand with local producers.
The distrib also allies itself with companies like Cinema Mondo in Finland, one of that territory's biggest and oldest indie distributors, and with Danish indie Camera Film. Cinema Mondo and Camera survive mainly with a menu of European quality and arthouse films. Among the latest out of the Cinema Mondo fold is Katherine Breilat's "Romance" from Canal Plus.
TITLES FROM NORDIC TERRITORIES
"EVA & ADAM: FOUR BIRTHDAYS AND A FIASCO"
Longtime Svensk Filmindustri producer Waldemar Bergendahl and director Catti Edtfeldt team up to bring this zany comedy to the screen; admissions in Sweden were climbing over 200,000 after just a few weeks.
This family pic follows two 14-year-old teens through a romance. Title gives the obvious nod to "Four Weddings and a Funeral" but this is the latest in the highly popular series of books and TV series offering several different award-winning adaptations of the Eva & Adam story.
Pic is distribbed by SF.
"DETECTOR"
Film follows two men who share the same hobby -- metal detecting. The feel-good pic is the feature directing debut for Pal Jackson and was the biggest-grossing domestic box office pic in Norway in 2000.
Hot Danish outfit Trust Film Sales is bringing "Detector" to AFM.
"SOUND OF A SCOOP"
Thomas Rydberger's directorial debut is a comedy about old-time gangsters who decide to go straight, only to be entangled in unplanned and nefarious dealings when a shady old lady hires them to keep tabs on the comings and goings at the Royal Opera in Stockholm -- all is not what it seems backstage.
Pic is produced by Borje Hansson ("A Witch in the Family," "In Bed With Santa") and stars Ulf Brunnberg and Bjorn Gustafson.
