News

Global success of Norwegian TV series – case study from the producer of Lillehammer and Norsemen

13 July 2018, 10:50

On September 18, Anders Tangen, CEO and producer of the Norwegian company Viafilm, will tell KMW audience about the content outside the Scandinavian Noir, the concept of simultaneous filming in two languages ​​and other trends of series production in Norway that make this country's television products world hits.

During the last 20 years Anders Tangen has been producing many drama series, feature films, documentaries and short films, awarded with various prizes. In 2005 he founded the international distribution production company Viafilm. Today it has offices not only in Norway (Oslo and Stavanger), but also in the USA (Los Angeles). The company creates and distributes television drama series and feature movies that are filmed in Europe, Africa, South and North America. It also provides production, co-production and financing services for filming in Scandinavia. Viafilm’s content is universal, designed for global audience and demonstrates that the Scandinavian series are not only dark stories about the police and maniacs.

Among the most famous projects of the company are criminal drama Lilyhammer with the star of The Sopranos by Steven Van Zandt, the drama Dag about the marriage counsellor with huge problems in personal life, and also a comedy series about the Vikings Norsemen, which took the 8th place in the top 10 best international series of the year according to The New York Times in 2017.

Norsemen series was released on Netflix and NRK and became the first television series that was filmed in two languages ​​– English and Norwegian – and became a worldwide sensation.

‘Broadcasters can choose the English or Norwegian version, it allows us to bypass the remake option, plus Norwegian actors who speak fluently English can use this as a calling card to boost their international career’, – says Mr. Tangen about some of the reasons that prompted his company to an innovative solution to film simultaneously in two languages.

At KYIV MEDIA WEEK he will talk about the cases of LillehammerNorsemen and other interesting projects, but the main attention will be paid to the new romantic real-time drama One Night. This series, also shot in both Norwegian and English, tells about two singles – a woman and a man after 30, who are not just looking for love, but at the same time trying to find a place for her in their established life in the first place.

Mr. Tangen chose the case study format for his speech, which means that he will make the key accent on practical issues – the producer’s approach, the decision to film in two languages, the details of production, promo and distribution of both versions.

Anders Tangen's ‘Step out of Nordic noir. One Night case study’ will be held on the second day of KYIV MEDIA WEEK (September 18) from 11:00 till 11:50.

This case study is a part of the range of KMW events, dedicated to the series production, is organized with the support of Ukraine TV Channel, one of the leaders in TV series production and broadcasting in Ukraine. Thus, in 2018 more than 900 premiere hours of TV shows are scheduled to broadcast on the channel, 440 hours of which are in Ukrainian language. In total, more than 80 premiere series will be aired on the channel in 2018. In the fall season – about 50.

Follow the news about other events dedicated to series production on our webpage and on media forum’s Facebook page.

The 8th edition of KYIV MEDIA WEEK will be held on September 17-21, 2018 at Hyatt Regency Kyiv (5 Alla Tarasova St., Kyiv, Ukraine). Registration at early bird prices is available until July 31.