The royal historical TV series “Atlantic Crossing”, with Swedish Sofia Helin in the lead role as Crown Princess Märtha, was both a viewer success and won many awards. But it cost a record amount of money. The series had a budget of at least NOK 157 million and the company that made the series, Cinenord, had financial challenges afterwards. There is still economic unrest around production. It is common for a large part of the money to finance such a production to come in after the production is over, for example through the sale of rights and support schemes which subsequently require documentation that the money has been used for the actual purpose. Here are actress Sofia Helin, director Alexander Eik and producer Silje Hopland Eik from when “Atlantic Crossing” won the Emmy. Hopland Eik is general manager at Cinenord. Photo: Reuters NOK 15 million withheld As news reported last August, the production received NOK 27 million in so-called framework grants from the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI), but the institute withheld close to NOK 15 million of the support afterwards because they believed the company had not documented well enough that the money was actually used to produce the series. The company appealed this decision to the Ministry of Culture, which has now come up with its assessment: The ministry believes that the film institute must process large parts of the decision again. NFI’s decision to reject NOK 11.3 million for, among other things, administration remuneration is revoked and sent back to NFI for new processing, the ministry writes in its assessment. Christian With from the law firm Bing Hodneland is the production company Cinenord’s lawyer. Photo: Mateo Radic – This is a victory for us. We now expect NFI to reverse the decision and pay out this money, says Cinenord’s lawyer Christian With from the law firm Bing Hodneland. NFI says this about the Ministry of Culture’s conclusion: – We will carry out a thorough review of the decision before we can form an opinion about the background for the conclusion. Based on the conclusion from the review, we will decide on further processing of the case, says section leader for international relations at the Norwegian Film Institute, Dag Asbjørnsen. Three million is not clearly documented Closer to NOK three million, Cinenord is never paid out. The Department of Culture supports the Film Institute in that, among other things, producer fees (salaries to the producers) and money paid between the various companies and sub-companies of the production company are not sufficiently well documented. – We do not agree with this and believe this is documented, says lawyer Christian With. – How can it be that you think this is well enough documented when two bodies, first the NFI and then the Department of Culture, think the opposite? – I read the Ministry of Culture’s conclusion as an assessment of the law and not a criticism of the documentation, says Cinenord’s lawyer. Dag Asbjørnsen is section leader for international relations at the Norwegian Film Institute. Photo: Norwegian Film Institute – Important for the future It is unusual for such large sums not to be approved by the Film Institute. This is therefore a unique case in the Norwegian context. The support from the Norwegian Film Institute came through the incentive scheme. A relatively new scheme which will help to increase the number of large international film and series productions in Norway. Adokvat Christian With believes that this case shows that the guidelines for what receives support – and what does not – are unclear: – It is important to clarify this for others who want to come to Norway to make films and TV series in the future. If this remains unclear, they go to other countries.
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Over 11 million in support for “Atlantic Crossing” must be reassessed – news Culture and entertainment
