Sagafilm Nordic, the Icelandic banner behind Cineflix’s hit show “The Minister,” is set to produce another politics-themed series, “President Salka.”
The six-episode comedy series is penned by Jóhann Ævar Grímsson, the talent behind the critically acclaimed series “Stella Blómkvist.” It has been commissioned by leading Icelandic streamer Siminn, and is expected to go into production this year for a delivery during the second quarter of 2024. An up-and-coming stand-up comedian is in negotiations to take on the lead role.
“President Salka” follows the adventures of a vivacious and prominent influencer, Salka Guðrúnar Eddudóttir, who gets elected as the president of Iceland in a stunning nationwide upset. The unexpected news throws the government into a state of emergency, leading to an intense all-night crisis meeting. Meanwhile, Salka moves into the luxurious presidential residence at Bessastaðir and captivates the whole country with her charisma. However, her unconventional methods put Iceland’s independence and sovereignty at risk,...
The six-episode comedy series is penned by Jóhann Ævar Grímsson, the talent behind the critically acclaimed series “Stella Blómkvist.” It has been commissioned by leading Icelandic streamer Siminn, and is expected to go into production this year for a delivery during the second quarter of 2024. An up-and-coming stand-up comedian is in negotiations to take on the lead role.
“President Salka” follows the adventures of a vivacious and prominent influencer, Salka Guðrúnar Eddudóttir, who gets elected as the president of Iceland in a stunning nationwide upset. The unexpected news throws the government into a state of emergency, leading to an intense all-night crisis meeting. Meanwhile, Salka moves into the luxurious presidential residence at Bessastaðir and captivates the whole country with her charisma. However, her unconventional methods put Iceland’s independence and sovereignty at risk,...
- 3/30/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
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“Gun on set! Gun on set! Everyone, gun on set!”
It’s April, 2022 and we’re in Mmc Studios in Cologne for the shooting of European conspiracy thriller Operation Napoleon. It’s 5,000 miles and six months distant from the events of Oct. 2021 on the New Mexico set of Rust, when Alec Baldwin, discharged a live round from a revolver used as a prop gun killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. But the warning still chills.
Not that anyone here seems bothered.
Director Óskar Þór Axelsson is too busy setting up what will be the climax of Operation Napoleon: as a team of investigators prepare to board an old German World War II plane that has recently emerged from one of Iceland’s largest glaciers. The plane is at the center of the film, and the best-selling novel it’s based on, by Icelandic writer Arnaldur Indriðason.
“Gun on set! Gun on set! Everyone, gun on set!”
It’s April, 2022 and we’re in Mmc Studios in Cologne for the shooting of European conspiracy thriller Operation Napoleon. It’s 5,000 miles and six months distant from the events of Oct. 2021 on the New Mexico set of Rust, when Alec Baldwin, discharged a live round from a revolver used as a prop gun killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. But the warning still chills.
Not that anyone here seems bothered.
Director Óskar Þór Axelsson is too busy setting up what will be the climax of Operation Napoleon: as a team of investigators prepare to board an old German World War II plane that has recently emerged from one of Iceland’s largest glaciers. The plane is at the center of the film, and the best-selling novel it’s based on, by Icelandic writer Arnaldur Indriðason.
- 11/3/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Italy’s “The Impossible She,” Spain’s “Detective Touré,” South Africa’s “Paradys” and France’s “Hormones” feature among 15 drama series projects selected for the Series Mania Forum’s 2022 Co-Pro Pitching Sessions.
One of Europe’s most prestigious TV competitions, with titles competing for a €50,000 grand prize, this year’s Sessions form part of the Forum, which runs March 22-24.
The lineup is rich in projects backed by top-tier producers and sales forces, while sluiced by large themes, such as racial and gender equality.
The latest from top Italian company Fandango, producer of “Gomorrah” and “My Brilliant Friend,” “The Impossible She” turns on young Neapolitan aristocrat Maria Teresa de Filippis, the first female Formula 1 driver.
Co-produced by Academy Award winner Tornasol (“The Secret in My Eyes”), “Detective Touré” features Touré a sub-Saharan immigrant settled in Bilbao who will become the best detective of the city, despite no badge, nor papers.
One of Europe’s most prestigious TV competitions, with titles competing for a €50,000 grand prize, this year’s Sessions form part of the Forum, which runs March 22-24.
The lineup is rich in projects backed by top-tier producers and sales forces, while sluiced by large themes, such as racial and gender equality.
The latest from top Italian company Fandango, producer of “Gomorrah” and “My Brilliant Friend,” “The Impossible She” turns on young Neapolitan aristocrat Maria Teresa de Filippis, the first female Formula 1 driver.
Co-produced by Academy Award winner Tornasol (“The Secret in My Eyes”), “Detective Touré” features Touré a sub-Saharan immigrant settled in Bilbao who will become the best detective of the city, despite no badge, nor papers.
- 2/17/2022
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Series Mania unveiled the fifteen projects set to pitch at this year’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions with the hopes of scoring the €50,000 grand prize. Among the impressive list of participants is Israeli thriller “The Accident,” written by celebrated filmmaker Mata Yair and produced by Maya Fischer at his long-time collaborators Green Productions.
“The Accident” is the story of the Alegba family and their efforts to get away from their life in a downtrodden neighborhood dominated by criminals. Asher is a tow truck driver who hauls away totaled vehicles after accidents. He has a contentious relationship with his ex Miri, who works as a portal clerk. The two have one daughter, Tali, who is a bright and gifted young girl that both would do anything to protect.
Things in the neighborhood go from bad to worse when Asher witnesses a murder, initiating a chain of events that culminate in the series’ launch point,...
“The Accident” is the story of the Alegba family and their efforts to get away from their life in a downtrodden neighborhood dominated by criminals. Asher is a tow truck driver who hauls away totaled vehicles after accidents. He has a contentious relationship with his ex Miri, who works as a portal clerk. The two have one daughter, Tali, who is a bright and gifted young girl that both would do anything to protect.
Things in the neighborhood go from bad to worse when Asher witnesses a murder, initiating a chain of events that culminate in the series’ launch point,...
- 2/17/2022
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Sales
BBC Studios has closed a raft of sales deals for Jimmy McGovern’s “Time,” a BBC Studios production for BBC One which has proved a critical and rating success in its first month on the air, pulling 11.6 million viewers in its first 28 days. The series stars Bafta-winner Sean Bean (“Games of Thrones”) and four-time nominee Stephen Graham (“Line of Duty”) in a powerful story about life inside a prison.
Deals closed by BBC Studios include France and international French speaking territories, Switzerland and Africa (Canal+), Estonia (Etv), New Zealand (Prime), Greece (Cosmote), Israel (Yes and Hot), Latin America (HBO Max), Russia (Yandex), Sub – Saharan Africa (Mnet and ShowMax) and Spain (Movistar+). BBC First will broadcast and stream the series in in Australia, Asia, Canada, Benelux and Turkey.
Festival
The 65th BFI London Film Festival (Oct. 6-17) has unveiled a range of events that are free to attend for the public.
BBC Studios has closed a raft of sales deals for Jimmy McGovern’s “Time,” a BBC Studios production for BBC One which has proved a critical and rating success in its first month on the air, pulling 11.6 million viewers in its first 28 days. The series stars Bafta-winner Sean Bean (“Games of Thrones”) and four-time nominee Stephen Graham (“Line of Duty”) in a powerful story about life inside a prison.
Deals closed by BBC Studios include France and international French speaking territories, Switzerland and Africa (Canal+), Estonia (Etv), New Zealand (Prime), Greece (Cosmote), Israel (Yes and Hot), Latin America (HBO Max), Russia (Yandex), Sub – Saharan Africa (Mnet and ShowMax) and Spain (Movistar+). BBC First will broadcast and stream the series in in Australia, Asia, Canada, Benelux and Turkey.
Festival
The 65th BFI London Film Festival (Oct. 6-17) has unveiled a range of events that are free to attend for the public.
- 9/29/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Icelandic film production company Sagafilm and Sweden’s LittleBig Productions are developing a historical series about 17th-century Icelanders abducted by Barbary corsairs and sold into slavery in North Africa.
Tentatively titled “Salé” — a city on the North African coast that was also a haven for pirates — the series is inspired by true events. It begins in the summer of 1627, when several hundred people in settlements along Iceland’s coast are captured by Barbary privateers under the command of the Dutch pirate Jan Janszoon, more commonly known as Admiral Murat Reis. Among his prisoners are Gunnur, the wife of a young fisherman, and her 12-year-old daughter Gríma. When they are brought to the North African slave markets, mother and daughter are separated, sold to different masters and forced to develop different strategies in order to survive.
Described as a thrilling tale of love, survival, revenge, and the power of hope, “Salé...
Tentatively titled “Salé” — a city on the North African coast that was also a haven for pirates — the series is inspired by true events. It begins in the summer of 1627, when several hundred people in settlements along Iceland’s coast are captured by Barbary privateers under the command of the Dutch pirate Jan Janszoon, more commonly known as Admiral Murat Reis. Among his prisoners are Gunnur, the wife of a young fisherman, and her 12-year-old daughter Gríma. When they are brought to the North African slave markets, mother and daughter are separated, sold to different masters and forced to develop different strategies in order to survive.
Described as a thrilling tale of love, survival, revenge, and the power of hope, “Salé...
- 9/17/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
German sales outfit The Playmaker Munich, formerly Arri Media International, has shared with Variety the international trailer of psychological thriller “Wolka,” produced by leading Icelandic banner Sagafilm with Poland’s Film Produkcja.
The feature will bow as a market premiere at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films, Scandinavia’s major film showcase which runs Aug. 24-27.
The atmospheric trailer follows Anna (Olga Bołądź) as she gets out of a Polish jail on parole after 15 years behind bars. She soon travels from Warsaw to Iceland, on the tail of a mysterious Dorota (Anna Moskal) who has blended into the nation’s largest ethnic minority. Composer Atli Örvarsson and cinematographer Marek Rajca (“South by North”) capture the escalating tension as Anna’s arrival rocks Dorota’s life, established under a false identity.
The images reveal the cultural challenges for the strong community of nearly 10,000 immigrant Poles living in Iceland, tagged by Dorota in...
The feature will bow as a market premiere at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films, Scandinavia’s major film showcase which runs Aug. 24-27.
The atmospheric trailer follows Anna (Olga Bołądź) as she gets out of a Polish jail on parole after 15 years behind bars. She soon travels from Warsaw to Iceland, on the tail of a mysterious Dorota (Anna Moskal) who has blended into the nation’s largest ethnic minority. Composer Atli Örvarsson and cinematographer Marek Rajca (“South by North”) capture the escalating tension as Anna’s arrival rocks Dorota’s life, established under a false identity.
The images reveal the cultural challenges for the strong community of nearly 10,000 immigrant Poles living in Iceland, tagged by Dorota in...
- 8/16/2021
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Luke Kleintank (The Man in the High Castle), Heida Reed (Poldark) and Vinessa Vidotto (Lucifer) have been tapped as leads of FBI: International, the upcoming third series in Dick Wolf’s hit FBI drama franchise on CBS. It is slated to air as part of an FBI Tuesday lineup and will launch this fall with a three-hour crossover premiere event alongside the mothership FBI and FBI: Most Wanted.
FBI: International, which received a straight-to-series order, follows the elite operatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s International Fly Team. Headquartered in Budapest, they travel the world with the mission of tracking and neutralizing threats against American citizens wherever they may be. Not allowed to carry guns, the Fly Team relies on intelligence, quick thinking and pure brawn as they put their lives on the line to protect the U.S. and its people.
Kleintank will play the Head of...
FBI: International, which received a straight-to-series order, follows the elite operatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s International Fly Team. Headquartered in Budapest, they travel the world with the mission of tracking and neutralizing threats against American citizens wherever they may be. Not allowed to carry guns, the Fly Team relies on intelligence, quick thinking and pure brawn as they put their lives on the line to protect the U.S. and its people.
Kleintank will play the Head of...
- 7/8/2021
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Jan Mojto’s Munich-based production-distribution company Beta Film has boarded Nordic suspense thriller “Helsinki Syndrome,” the first common project with Finland’s Fisher King since Beta took a majority stake in the leading Finnish production company in 2019.
Coinciding with the Fisher King deal, Beta launched the Sweden-based Beta Nordic Studios (Bns), a umbrella hub grouping its production interests in the Nordic region.
Bns aims to leverage Beta Film’s international expertise and distribution muscle to deliver high-end local content with global potential from its members.
Minimum guarantees that Beta Film puts up against future distribution revenues also allow producers to make series at the budgetary level of their artistic ambitions rather than that of local financing available, helping the shows to become standout titles from their territory.
Scheduled to go into production in June 2021, “Helsinki Syndrome” is created for Finnish public broadcaster Yle by Mikko Oikkonen, whose pioneering Finnish Noir...
Coinciding with the Fisher King deal, Beta launched the Sweden-based Beta Nordic Studios (Bns), a umbrella hub grouping its production interests in the Nordic region.
Bns aims to leverage Beta Film’s international expertise and distribution muscle to deliver high-end local content with global potential from its members.
Minimum guarantees that Beta Film puts up against future distribution revenues also allow producers to make series at the budgetary level of their artistic ambitions rather than that of local financing available, helping the shows to become standout titles from their territory.
Scheduled to go into production in June 2021, “Helsinki Syndrome” is created for Finnish public broadcaster Yle by Mikko Oikkonen, whose pioneering Finnish Noir...
- 4/11/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Beta Nordic Studios, the umbrella for Beta’s production activities in Scandinavia, has acquired a majority stake in Cinenord, a leading Norwegian production banner specializing in high-end series.
Founded in 2004, the company is led by Silje Hopland-Eik and Alexander Eik, the producer-director duo behind the popular Scandi series “Atlantic Crossing” and “Wisting,” as well as the family franchise “Casper and Emma.”
Cinenord’s pipeline of high-profile scripted projects include “Bergman,” a series about the Swedish icon Ingmar Bergman that Alexander Eik is writing and will direct. “Alexander has been working on ‘Bergman’ for nine years and wants to create a fresh, fun and colorful show about the man behind the artist,” said Hopland-Eik.
“Beta Nordic Studios is looking to work with the best producers and Cinenord is one of them — it’s a real diamond in Norway with a consistent track record,” said Martin Håkansson, the co-director of Beta Nordic Studios.
Founded in 2004, the company is led by Silje Hopland-Eik and Alexander Eik, the producer-director duo behind the popular Scandi series “Atlantic Crossing” and “Wisting,” as well as the family franchise “Casper and Emma.”
Cinenord’s pipeline of high-profile scripted projects include “Bergman,” a series about the Swedish icon Ingmar Bergman that Alexander Eik is writing and will direct. “Alexander has been working on ‘Bergman’ for nine years and wants to create a fresh, fun and colorful show about the man behind the artist,” said Hopland-Eik.
“Beta Nordic Studios is looking to work with the best producers and Cinenord is one of them — it’s a real diamond in Norway with a consistent track record,” said Martin Håkansson, the co-director of Beta Nordic Studios.
- 3/2/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
BAFTA Execs To Speak At British Urban Film Festival
Exclusive: The British Urban Film Festival (Buff) has set BAFTA Chair Krishnendu Majumdar and BAFTA Film Committee Chair Marc Samuelson for a 90-minute ‘in conversation’ session at this year’s festival, which is taking place later than usual and online as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. The pre-recorded Q&a, titled The Changing Faces of BAFTA, will be moderated by Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe and streamed via the festival’s website next month. Viewers will be able to submit questions in advance of the Zoom session via the Buff Facebook page. Actor and producer Femi Oyeniran will once again helm the annual Buff awards ceremony. Winners last year included Noel Clarke, Terry Pheto and Aki Omoshaybi. The festival’s full program is due to be announced in coming weeks.
Sbs Begins “Most Ambitious Drama Yet”
Oz broadcaster Sbs has begun its “most...
Exclusive: The British Urban Film Festival (Buff) has set BAFTA Chair Krishnendu Majumdar and BAFTA Film Committee Chair Marc Samuelson for a 90-minute ‘in conversation’ session at this year’s festival, which is taking place later than usual and online as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. The pre-recorded Q&a, titled The Changing Faces of BAFTA, will be moderated by Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe and streamed via the festival’s website next month. Viewers will be able to submit questions in advance of the Zoom session via the Buff Facebook page. Actor and producer Femi Oyeniran will once again helm the annual Buff awards ceremony. Winners last year included Noel Clarke, Terry Pheto and Aki Omoshaybi. The festival’s full program is due to be announced in coming weeks.
Sbs Begins “Most Ambitious Drama Yet”
Oz broadcaster Sbs has begun its “most...
- 11/18/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman and Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Beta Nordic Studios, a subsidiary of Jan Mojto’s Munich-based production-sales powerhouse Beta Film, has acquired a 25% stake in Sagafilm, the thriving Icelandic production banner behind the Cineflix-repped series “The Minister”.
Sagafilm will now form part of Beta Nordic Studios, an unbrella group launched in 2019, comprising Patrick Nebout’s Swedish production outfit Dramacorp (“Midnight Sun”) and Matti Halonen’s Finnish company Fisher King (“Bordertown”). DramaCorp is a joint venture set up in 2016 by Beta and Nebout, a French-Swedish executive.
Beta Nordic Studios focuses on local scripted projects with an international appeal and is backed by Beta Film’s international distribution network.
The deal allows Beta Film to ramp up further its presence in the Nordics and collaborate with Sagafilm’s experienced producers who have nurtured a vibrant talent pool over the years. Iceland’s oldest production company, the 40-year old Sagafilm has a topnotch track record in films, TV series and documentaries,...
Sagafilm will now form part of Beta Nordic Studios, an unbrella group launched in 2019, comprising Patrick Nebout’s Swedish production outfit Dramacorp (“Midnight Sun”) and Matti Halonen’s Finnish company Fisher King (“Bordertown”). DramaCorp is a joint venture set up in 2016 by Beta and Nebout, a French-Swedish executive.
Beta Nordic Studios focuses on local scripted projects with an international appeal and is backed by Beta Film’s international distribution network.
The deal allows Beta Film to ramp up further its presence in the Nordics and collaborate with Sagafilm’s experienced producers who have nurtured a vibrant talent pool over the years. Iceland’s oldest production company, the 40-year old Sagafilm has a topnotch track record in films, TV series and documentaries,...
- 9/2/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Berlin — Stockholm-based global distributor Eccho Rights has boarded international financial thriller series “Polaris” (formerly known as “Bankster”) from fast-rising Icelandic production outfit Grassriver. The eight-part series, now in development and commissioned by Icelandic public broadcaster RÚV, will be co-produced and distributed by the Lumiere Group in Benelux.
Creators/co-writers of the high-concept series are crime writer/screenwriter and former financial crime investigator Jón Óttar Ólafsson, and Glassriver CEO Hordur Rúnarsson. The company’s co-founders –writer/director Baldvin Z and Andri Óttarsson are script supervisors.
“Polaris” is based on the compelling true story of one of the largest bank robberies in history, when Icelandic ‘banksters’ emptied British saving accounts of £1.8 billion ($2.3 billion) to reimburse Russian oligarchs and shabby businessmen whose assets were frozen when the financial crisis hit Iceland in 2008.
After stealing from ordinary U.K. citizens, the banksters fled to Libya to hide the cash. In the series Alex, an...
Creators/co-writers of the high-concept series are crime writer/screenwriter and former financial crime investigator Jón Óttar Ólafsson, and Glassriver CEO Hordur Rúnarsson. The company’s co-founders –writer/director Baldvin Z and Andri Óttarsson are script supervisors.
“Polaris” is based on the compelling true story of one of the largest bank robberies in history, when Icelandic ‘banksters’ emptied British saving accounts of £1.8 billion ($2.3 billion) to reimburse Russian oligarchs and shabby businessmen whose assets were frozen when the financial crisis hit Iceland in 2008.
After stealing from ordinary U.K. citizens, the banksters fled to Libya to hide the cash. In the series Alex, an...
- 2/25/2020
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
GÖTEBORG, Sweden — Established Nordic prodco Sagafilm is producing Icelandic crime series “Sisterhood,” in association with Sky Studios, for commissioners Nent Group’s Nordic streamer Viaplay and Iceland’s Ott service Síminn.
The six-part series will premiere simultaneously on Viaplay and Síminn in 2021, with the latter retaining domestic first window rights. NBCUniversal Global Distribution handles international sales.
“Sisterhood” is the first project to originate from a multi-year development and distribution deal inked by Sagafilm and U.K.-based Sky Studios last fall. Sagafilm’s head of development Jóhann Ævar Grímsson is its creator/writer, with Björg Magnúsdóttir (“The Minister”) as co-writer. Silja Hauksdóttir (“Agnes Joy”) will direct all episodes.
“Sisterhood” begins with the skeletal remains of a young girl, Hanna, who disappeared 20 years ago, being unearthed in a picturesque fjord town in Iceland. Vera, a newly-promoted investigator is assigned to the case and delves deeper into it than anyone expects. Her...
The six-part series will premiere simultaneously on Viaplay and Síminn in 2021, with the latter retaining domestic first window rights. NBCUniversal Global Distribution handles international sales.
“Sisterhood” is the first project to originate from a multi-year development and distribution deal inked by Sagafilm and U.K.-based Sky Studios last fall. Sagafilm’s head of development Jóhann Ævar Grímsson is its creator/writer, with Björg Magnúsdóttir (“The Minister”) as co-writer. Silja Hauksdóttir (“Agnes Joy”) will direct all episodes.
“Sisterhood” begins with the skeletal remains of a young girl, Hanna, who disappeared 20 years ago, being unearthed in a picturesque fjord town in Iceland. Vera, a newly-promoted investigator is assigned to the case and delves deeper into it than anyone expects. Her...
- 1/29/2020
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
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