Film and TV
Film and TV productions contribute to both local creativity and international sharing between countries. With new programme concepts and productions, Swedish production companies are creating value for Sweden with a positive impact on regional and national growth, exports and tourism.
Swedish film and drama attracted international attention at an early stage with the directors Viktor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller. They then moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s. As, incidentally, did Greta Garbo too at about the same time.
Those were the days of silent movies, so the Swedish language presented no obstacle to international recognition. But despite the language, Swedish films and our most prominent film-makers have always had an international audience as well.
“The difference compared with ten years ago is that there’s general acceptance of subtitles and a high level of interest in Swedish language content, not least in English-speaking countries, thanks to a few Swedish and Scandinavian mega-hits in the field of drama that have paved the way,” explains Johan Holmer, Secretary General of the Swedish Film & TV Producers Association.
Swedish films and TV series are now seen all over the world, attracting high viewing figures and often being nominated for international prizes. They also attract foreign visitors to Sweden who want to go on guided walks in Lisbeth Salander’s footsteps in Stockholm or to visit Wallander’s Ystad.
Johan Holmer believes that there is hardly a more effective way of communicating a country than in moving images, referring to the images of the USA that we Swedes have in our mind, which have often been created by films and TV series. Often from New York.
With “The Bridge” having been broadcast in more than 160 countries and the film “Borg” having been sold to more than 150, this says a great deal about the reach of the Sweden brand.
But not all film and TV production is about drama, thrillers and comedies.
In the TV market, production companies take care of the development and production of new formats in genres such as entertainment, reality, facts and documentary for TV channels, and also for other media houses and brands. The underlying format rights are sold all over the world.
In the field of commercials, Sweden has for many years been a world leader in the development of new talents. When international industry media rank the best production companies in the digital categories, Swedish companies often come out on top. Through their international success, Swedish companies affect and define the global standard for commercials.
There are, however, more unutilised opportunities, which would be of high economic value to the country.
More Swedish and international production companies would make their recordings in Sweden if we had a system of production discounts like those in most European countries and in 35 states in the USA. The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth recently investigated the issues and suggested a similar system for Sweden too. This would mean a 25 per cent discount on the spending of a film or TV company in Sweden in the form of wages and purchases of goods or services from companies with a registered office and personnel in Sweden. This very model has been in place for some time in Finland.
“If Sweden is to be competitive and achieve its full potential, Sweden must invest in its creative industries on the basis of a long-term strategy, in the same way as they do in the UK, for example,” says Johan Holmer, pointing out that investments in film and TV production have every chance of being successful, not least through the explosive development in the consumption of moving images.
“So, the opportunities for both creative and economic development are very significant, both for the country as a whole and for the regions,” believes Johan Holmer.
Text: Carin Fredlund