Press release
A year ago a handful of Nordic genre film producers joined forces and decided to invade Cannes film festival together – under the working title: “Nordic Genre Invasion” (NGI). A year later the number of producers had already increased to sixteen, the project had received funding from KreaNord. And besides Cannes, there is a lot more on the horizon: a worldwide digital distribution platform, co-productions, and a joint brand, to guarentee good quality Nordic genre films. The NGI brand also enhances funding and sales opportunities for the members. And with the financial support from KreaNord, NGI has now also hired a project manager.
Consequently sixteen Nordic (genre) production companies combined forces in Cannes 2014 film festival and market with a centrally located shared pop-up office and multiple evening receptions. The father of NGI, producer Tero Kaukomaa from Blind Spot and Iron Sky Universe was very pleased with the outcome of the market: “Best Cannes Ever. I have been coming to Cannes for the last 20 years and I never had a market before like this. Four international film projects, which I`m producing or executive producing were practically funded in Cannes. In addition we took a major step to get the Iron Sky TV- series off the ground. All those projects are part of Nordic Genre Invasion and there is no doubt they will be also in the future.”
According to Anna G Magnusdottir from LittleBig Productions in Sweden, NGI has proved to be a great marketing venue for their upcoming horror comedy American Burger: “We are looking forward to developing the platform further into a strong vehicle for Nordic Genre Films, together with our NGI colleagues.” Aleksi Hyvärinen from DonFilms agrees: “As NGI newbies, we expected a lot — and still were taken by surprise how useful and effective it actually is! During one week in Cannes, the feedback, support and contacts of our fellow NGI members really gave our projects a boost, both content- and business-wise.” Mona Skriver from Danish production company Tape_7 Productions thinks the industry recognises the need for NGI and what it stands for and grants you points for being a part of it: “…because you are on top of the latest/front mover. This is an advantage for your projects and agenda.”
Norwegian production companies Yesbox Productions and Filmkompaniet MadMonkey were also very pleased with the NGI collaboration: “We launched our crowd funding campaign for the “Viking Vampires” project the same day as the viking party, and got really good traffic on the campaign.” They continue: “Having an office with fellow genre companies was both practical and inspiring. The NGI gave our projects an extra quality stamp when presented in Cannes. Press, distributors, financiers and sales agents all recognized NGI as a quality brand and a good way to front the best genre films from the Nordic countries.” For Roger! Pictures, who also have a viking film in the pipeline, NGI was a great opportunity to get higher exposure to their projects and they saw the result in Cannes. All their projects moved big steps forward and they were overwhelmed by the huge interest from both buyers and co-producers. Fisher King Production was also very happy with the market this year: “The English language feature NYMPHS has taken big leaps forward in Cannes 2014 and interesting news are ahead.”
From Viking theme parties with drinking horns, helmets and gourmet mjöd to crowdfunding campaign launches to sparkling Danish tea and sealed deals, the NGI Cannes 2014 Invasion was definately a huge success. Hence, the NGI viking ship continues it’s journey: next up, American Film Market in Santa Monica in November 2014.
More info: www.nordicgenreinvasion.com