email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

GÖTEBORG 2020 Göteborg Industry

Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision is ready to unveil current global trends in series

by 

- With an extensive programme, a series of panels and discussions, ten upcoming projects and two case studies, the series platform is still the leading such event in the Nordics

Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision is ready to unveil current global trends in series
Clone by Ole Giæver, which is being presented as one of TV Drama Vision's works in progress (© Mer Film)

Running for two days (29-30 January), the Göteborg Film Festival’s TV Drama Vision is aiming to present the stories and the topics that will shape the global TV industry in the months and years to come. With many questions begging to be answered, from how the multiple options the audience is presented with will affect trends in future dramatic series, to how to make the industry more sustainable, the leading TV gathering will attempt to shed some light on these issues and come up with some initial answers. With more than 60 guests attending and almost 40 upcoming series, TV Drama Vision has become one of the most important such platforms in the Nordic region.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

A series of panels and discussions have been organised, including a special focus on French independent producers Caroline Benjo and Carole Scotta (of Haut et Court), who were recently involved in Paolo Sorrentino’s The Young Pope and The New Pope [+see also:
series review
interview: Paolo Sorrentino
series profile
]
(read the review). Another specialised focus on Germany’s ZDF is planned, along with an open discussion on what the European model actually is, with representatives of various broadcasters attending, as well as a special section dedicated to Nordic broadcasters. Furthermore, film and TV consultant Petri Kemppinen will present the tax incentives that the Nordic and Baltic countries provide, while market analyst Guy Bisson will share his findings on the ten global trends in drama that will shape the future.

Regarding the future of series, four projects that are currently at the work-in-progress stage will be presented in Nordic Drama Series. Norwegian writer-director Ole Giæver (Out of Nature [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ole Giæver
film profile
]
) is presenting his sci-fi series Clone, which follows a couple on a spaceship returning to Earth. When the man discovers he is suffering from a foreign virus, he decides to clone himself, creating a three-way drama with his wife and his clone. Meanwhile, experienced Swedish TV directors Kristina Kjellin (Canine) and Mikael Syrén are co-running the series Dreaming of England, which is set in 1985 in a small Swedish town, where 15-year-old Lena wants to learn English, but her mother Åsa can’t afford it. While Lena gets involved in a scheme selling discarded porn magazines, Åsa is off hitchhiking to Greece, while Lena’s grandmother discovers her talent in writing erotica.

Created by Jón Gunnar Geirdal and directed by Kristófer Dignus, the Icelandic bittersweet dramedy My Funeral follows a man who, on the day he retires, learns that he is suffering from an incurable brain tumour. With only two weeks to go until the risky operation, he decides to make up for lost time by hosting and attending his own funeral ceremony. Finally, the Finnish animated family sitcom Belzebubs, written and illustrated by JP Ahonen, follows the everyday life of your average devil-worshipping family next door, including dad Sløth, his wife Lucyfer, their daughter Lilith and their son Leviathan. The series is narrated through the kids’ process of growing up, their day-to-day errands and Sløth’s black-metal band.

Furthermore, two upcoming series, the Swedish teen drama Beartown, directed by Peter Grönlund (Goliath [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), which will premiere on HBO Nordic this autumn, and the Ukrainian noir series Hide and Seek by Iryna Gromozda, which was broadcast locally last October, will be featured as case studies.

Finally, six projects, the Ukrainian dystopian coming-of-age series Alive, the Bulgarian drama Babyland, the Estonian cyberpunk crime-thriller The Deep (produced by Ivo Felt), the Austrian drama Snow (directed by Barbara Albert and Sandra Wollner), the Finnish thriller The Social Worker and the Norwegian teenage crime-drama Svik, which are all currently in development, will be presented at TV Drama Vision.

Here is the complete selection of projects selected for the 2020 TV Drama Vision:

Works in progress

Belzebubs (Finland)
Screenwriter, illustrator: JP Ahonen
Producer: Terhi Väänänen (Pyjama Films Ltd)
Broadcaster: YLE
Premiere: estimated January 2023

Clone - Ole Giæver (Norway)
Producer: Maria Ekerhovd (Mer Film AS)

Dreaming of England - Kicki Kjellin, Mikael Syrén (Sweden)
Screenwriters: Lisa Ambjörn, Sofie Forsman, Amanda Högberg, Emma Hamberg, Denize Karabuda
Producer: Anette Brantin (Art & Bob)
Broadcasters: SVT (main) NRK, DR, YLE, RUV
Premiere: September 2020

My Funeral - Kristófer Dignus, Jón Gunnar Geirdal (Iceland)
Screenwriters: Baldvin Zophoniasson, Hekla Elisabet Adalsteinsdottir, Jon Gunnar Geirdal, Kristófer Dignus, Ragnar Eythorsson, Solmundur Holm
Producers: Arnbjorg Haflidadottir, Andri Omarsson, Hörður Rúnarsson (Glassriver)
Broadcaster: Siminn Premium S-VoD
Premiere: April 2020

Case studies

Beartown - Peter Grönlund (Sweden)
Screenwriters: Anders Weideman, Antonia Pyk, Linn Gottfridsson
Producers: Bonnie Skoog Feeney, Mattias Arehn (Filmlance International AB)
Broadcaster: HBO Nordic
Premiere: Autumn 2020

Hide and Seek - Iryna Gromozda (Ukraine)
Screenwriter: Simor Glasenko
Producers: Victor Mirsky, Olesya Lukyanenko, Kateryna Vyshnevska (FILM.UA)
Broadcasters: ICTV (Ukraine), Okko (SVoD, Russia)
Premiere: October 2019 (Ukraine)
International sales: ZDF Enterprises

Projects in development

Alive (Ukraine)
Producers: Victor Mirsky, Elena Malkova, Kateryna Vyshnevska (FILM.UA, Premier Studios)

Babyland (Bulgaria)
Screenwriters: Simona Nobile, Dianne Jones, Martichka Bozhilova
Producer: Martichka Bozhilova (Agitprop)

The Deep (Estonia)
Screenwriter: Lauri Lippmaa
Producers: Ivo Felt, Madis Tüür (Allfilm, KickFilm, Bright Pictures)

Snow - Barbara Albert, Sandra Wollner (Austria)
Screenwriter: Michaela Taschek
Producer: Ursula Wolschlager (Witcraft Filmproduktion, SATEL Film Group)

The Social Worker (Finland)
Screenwriter: Timo Varpio
Producers: Roope Lehtinen, Mikko Pöllä, Mari Kinnunen (Fire Monkey, Moskito)

Svik - Ina Lerner Grevstad (Norway)
Screenwriter: Marta Huglen Revheim
Producers: Elisa Fernanda Pirir Ruiz (Mer Film)

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

See also

Privacy Policy