SF and Studiocanal in New Deal

In a major broadening of its horizons, Swedish film production and distribution company Svensk Filmindustri announced today a new agreement with French producer and distributor Studiocanal. We talked about the deal with Jenny Stjernströmer Björk, Executive Vice President Acquisition and Business Intelligence at Svensk Filmindustri.

Can you tell us about how you’ve come to the new agreement between Svensk Filmindustri and Studiocanal?

We’ve been looking for a strategic partner for both distribution and production and we think Studiocanal is top in its class. Their strong brand, incredibly exciting line-up and ambitious production department exemplify how to work in the future. So we are so proud that we were able to work this out.

What does the deal mean for Svensk Filmindustri?

There are several parts. On the production side, it means we have the opportunity to produce features directly for an international audience while at the same time cooperating with the talented development team at Studiocanal. Our output agreement means that we will distribute Studiocanal’s films in the Nordic market. With their amazing roster of films, we further strengthen our own line-up on the Nordic market.

What will we see in the future from the deal?

The first developments are two projects we will produce in cooperation – a remake of Easy Money, in English, and a new thriller titled The White Island, set on the Spanish island of Ibiza.

We’re also developing two high quality TV-series – The Lawyer, based on a story by script writers Hans Rosenfeldt (The Bridge) and Michael Hjorth (The Condemned) in cooperation with Easy Money author Jens Lapidus. And drama series The Ambassador, with a story by crime novelist Henning Mankell.

On the distribution side, the children’s film Paddington comes out in December and in 2015, five more Studiocanal titles will be released.