Buyers descend on Scandinavian Screenings

More than 80 international buyers have this week travelled to Denmark to check out the latest wares of Scandinavian producers and broadcasters, according to the Nordisk Film & TV Fund.

The three-day 2014 Scandinavian Screenings began in the Danish capital Copenhagen on Wednesday (June 4) at pubcaster DR’s headquarters.

Around 130 documentaries, dramas, children’s series and formats from the Nordic region are on show, the Fund says. The global distribution units of DR, Sweden’s SVT and Finland’s YLE – DR Sales, SVT International and YLE Sales – are hosting the event.

Shows showcased include DR Sales documentary The Arms Drop, Christmas series Time Travel and youth series Heartless; TV2 in Denmark’s Seaside Hotel, which Nordic World distributes; Finnish commercial broadcaster Nelonen’s Black Widows; and SVT miniseries The Fat & the Angry. Upcoming series pitched include TV2 drama Norskov and NRK’s Eyewitness.

“Usually we show our buyers the bulk of our new programmes twice a year at the MIPTV markets in Cannes, but not everything can wait that long,” said Helene Aurø, deputy managing director of DR Sales.

“Buyers want to get hold of the programmes when they are ready, or even before, and therefore the Scandinavian Screenings is well placed between the two TV fairs.”

UK-based distributor DRG, which is owned by Scandi broadcast and production giant Modern Times Group via its Nice Entertainment Group division, is at the event as the distributor of Norwegian pubcaster NRK’s unscripted and scripted programming.

Its formats manager, sales and acquisitions Albertina Marfils described the event as “a great way of catching up with the best of Nordic content in three days”.

This year is the fourth annual Scandi Screenings.