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Finland’s leading commercial broadcaster MTV, commissioner of TV hits “Conflict” (sold by Keshet Intl.) and “Helsinki Crimes” (distributed by Oble Ent.), is betting on fewer but bigger dramas and ramping up its international co-productions within the Nordics and beyond

Its revamped strategy should not be affected by its upcoming change of ownership – from Telia to Schibsted Media – according to CEO Johannes Leppänen: “MTV has a strong position in the Finnish market and Schibsted Media is looking forward to supporting MTV’s leading position also within drama into the future,” he told Variety.

The Finnish broadcaster’s revamped drama order and outward push was initiated a year and a half ago, but will be gearing up to a new level in 2025. “We have around 10 co-production projects in our pipeline and hope to greenlight some of them before the summer, then the next stop is New Year,” said Janne Vakio, MTV commissions and content development manager.

The Creatives, the alliance of nine international production companies, has unveiled the 10 writers participating in the second edition of its workshop series The Creative Connection.

Among those selected is Hungarian-Israeli writer Michal Vinik whose previous features include 2022’s Valeria Getting Married and 2015’s San Sebastian title Blush.

The first workshop is taking place in Brussels, to be followed by one in Portugal in March and a residency in Mallorca over the summer.

The member companies comprise Haut Et Court (France), Lemming Film (Netherlands), Maipo Film (Norway), Razor Film (Germany), Spiro (Israel), Unité (France), Good Chaos (UK), Masha (US) and Komplizen Film...

The three Scandinavian broadcasting partners in the Scandi Alliance – TV4 Sweden, TV2 Denmark and TV2 Norway – have announced their first joint drama bet “Royal Blood” (“Blått Blod”), currently in early development at Miso Film Norway, part of Miso Film, a Fremantle company.

Head-writers of the mega-historical project are the multi-awarded Stephen Uhlander and Emma Broström (“Sthlm Blackout,” “Knocking”) who serve as co-creators alongside Monica Boracco (“Mars & Venus”) and Katarina Launing (“Battle”). A director has yet to be attached.

Picked among 75 Scandinavian series submissions, the project was unveiled today Jan. 28 by drama honchos Alice Sommer from TV2 Norway, Mette Nelund from TV2 Denmark and Johanna Lind from TV4 Sweden. The announcement was made at a Scandi Alliance panel, staged at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision.

The shoe is set in Scandinavia, 1807. “As Europe’s great powers clash, a fierce struggle for power and control erupts in Denmark-Norway and Sweden. Royal families...

The latest European commissioning club, Scandi Alliance, has named its first high-end TV drama.

Fremantle-owned Miso Film has beaten off competition in a 75-strong pitching process to land a series order for Royal Blood (Blått Blod), with the series set to transmit on TV2 in Norway, TV2 in Denmark and TV4 in Sweden.

Royal Blood will run to six parts as an epic miniseries that unravels the dramatic power struggles between the Nordic royal houses between 1807 and 1814, a period of geopolitical change as Europe’s great powers collided. The series will follows ambitious players from Denmark, Norway and Sweden as they seek to leverage power using any means necessary in their quests for supremacy.

Stephen Uhlander and Emma Broström are the writers. They co-created Royal Blood with Monica Boracco and Katarina Launing. Kristin Ulseth and Are Heidenstrøm are producing for Miso Film Norway in co-production with the Scandi Alliance.

Writers Johan Fasting, Silje Storstein, and Kristin Grue are the recipients of the 2024 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for their political drama Power Play (Makta).

The trio were awarded the prize Tuesday evening during a ceremony on the first day of the Göteborg Film Festival’s series focused sidebar TV Drama Vision.

As part of the award, they will share a Nok 200 000 (approx € 20 000) award, funded by the Nordisk Film & TV fund. This is the eighth year Göteborg has been the home of the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize. This year’s jury included Vinca Wiedemann, editor, producer, and screenwriter (Denmark); Joel Spira, actor, (Sweden); Kateryna Vyshnevska, producer (Ukraine); and Charlotte Winberg, journalist and critic (Finland).

Announcing this evening’s win, the jury said: “Choosing a winner from a diverse array of such high-quality drama has been both a privilege and a pleasure for us, the jury. The nominees have...

“Power Play” – a scathing, scabrous chronicle of Gro Harlem Brundtland unlikely climb to power as Norway and Scandinavia’s first woman prime minister – won the 2024 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for best drama series screenwriting at Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival Tuesday night.

Awarded at the fest’s TV Drama Vision, the prize went to the satirical series’ main writers Johan Fasting, Silje Storstein and Kristin Grue. The Nordic drama series screenwriting award carries a cash prize of €20,000.

With the Nftfp win, “Power Play,” like “Blackport” before it, completes a double of winning a top TV fest in Europe – it walked off with best series at Canneseries last year – and then the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize.

While Nordic Noir exposed human evil festering below Scandinavia’s acclaimed social democracy, “Power Play” underscores a more recent TV phenomenon of exposing the myth to that model and its decline via comedy and farce.

Hanne Palmquist talks plans for HBO Nordic and Sherlock Holmes heads to Finland.

Goteborg Film Festival’s first Nordic award for Best TV Drama Script, worth $23,000 (Sek 200,000) and funded by the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, has been presented to Nobel screenwriters Mette M Bolstad and Stephen Uhlander.

Nrk’s Nobel is a Homeland-style drama about a Norwegian Lieutenant returning home from duty in Afghanistan who discovers a political conspiracy.

The prize’s jury included Lars Blomgren of Filmlance, producer Gudrun Giddings, consultant Isabelle Pechcou and critic Leena Virtanen.

They said of Nobel: “The script was precise, well-structured and solid. This is a strong, unpredictable drama with a sense of fresh realism. The story was thrilling and worked well also as a metaphor of the global instability between war and peace…This TV series has an impressive complexity in the scriptwriting, no loose ends and no inconsistency. There is no filter to the truth. It is so transparent...

World premieres include Fanny Ardant’s Stalin’s Couch [pictured], Elisabeth E. Schuch’s The Book Of Birdie, Erlingur Ottar Thoroddsen’s Rift, and Manuel Concha’s Blind Alley.

Goteborg Film Festival has announced its programme of nearly 450 films from 84 countries to screen during the festival’s 40th anniversary edition (Jan 27-Feb 6).

As reported earlier, the festival will kick off with Dome Karukoski’s Tom Of Finland.

The eight films (all world premieres) competing for the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film – with a prize of $110,500 (Sek 1m) — are as follows:

Tom Of Finland by Dome Karukoski (Finland/Sweden/Denmark/Germany/Us)Beyond Dreams by Rojda Sekersöz (Sweden)The Ex-wife by Katja Wik (Sweden)Heartstone by Gudmundur A. Gudmundsson (Iceland/Denmark)Sámi Blood by Amanda Kernell (Sweden/Denmark/Norway)Little Wing bySelma Vilhunen (Finland)The Man by Charlotte Sieling (Denmark)Handle With Care by Arild Andresen (Norway)

The Nordic documentary competition includes:

Citizen Schein by Maud Nycander, [link...