03/06/2009

One of Europe’s foremost post-production enterprises has consolidated its Norwegian activities, while its Swedish branch has upped its co-productions with Eastern Europe. Last week, The Chimney Pot Oslo (TCPO) announced it had merged withNorway’s leading film studios, Norsk Filmstudio, to become more competitive on an international level.

“By combining our skills, we can now offer our clients full services, from camera shoots to the finished film delivered onto the silver screen and television,” said Martin Thorkildsen, managing director for TCPO, who will become creative producer for the new entity, based at Jar, outside Oslo.

Last year, the two groups combined had an annual turnover of NOK 75 million (€8.4m) and their current work force is 55 employees. Recent Norwegian productions serviced by TCPO include Max Manus [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and North [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rune Denstad Langlo
film profile].

In Sweden, The Chimney Pot offers the complete chain of services, from scanning to sound design. The company works on some 1,000 commercials and 15 feature films each year. Of these films, two to four are Swedish co-productions and another two to three are international co-productions.

“Our co-production activities are a small part of our overall business but it’s a good way to bring foreign productions to our studios,” explains Fredrik Zander, head of Feature Films.

Recent Swedish films co-produced by Chimney Pot Sweden include Let the Right One In [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: John Nordling
interview: Tomas Alfredson
film profile]. Zander, who is constantly being offered projects from all over the world, has felt a strong creative breeze blowing from Eastern Europe over the last couple of years. He was in Cannes last year as co-producer of Bulgarian filmmaker Kamen Kalev’s Eastern Plays [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kamen Kalev
film profile], selected in the Directors Fortnight. The film was the first ever Swedish/Bulgarian co-production.

Zander is co-producing another Bulgarian film, Mission London by Dimitar Mitovski, set to start shooting in July. He is also involved in the Polish film Miracle Seller by Jaroslaw Szoda and Boleslaw Pawica.