EXCLUSIVE: Scandinavian distributor NonStop Entertainment is upping its local production activity with two new features.
Production begins on May 22 in northern Sweden on sci-fi comedy Arne Goes to Space, the debut feature of Lars Vega. Swedish stars Rolf Lassgard and Lennart Jahkel lead with Kiran Shah, in the story of two brothers still living in their parents’ home, who are forced to reconsider where they are in life when an alien arrives.
Sweden’s Nexiko leads production, with NonStop also distributing in the Nordics.
NonStop has also boarded production on Kim Sundbeck’s relationship drama The Greenest Grass, produced by Anagram and sold internationally by Yellow Affair.
Vilhelm Blomgren and Anna Asp star in the story of a couple in Malmo’s trendy Möllan district whose stale relationship takes a surprising turn.
The titles join NonStop’s production slate which includes schlager singer documentary Siw; Pella Kagerman and Hugo Lilja’s Egghead Republic; and SXSW horror The Home.
NonStop continues to buy international titles for Nordic distribution, having recently acquired Julia Ducournau’s Competition entry Alpha.
The company has also launched a new brand identity, which it says “better reflects NonStop’s evolution as a distribution, towards bolder moves in acquisitions across genres and towards a shifting audience landscape.”
The rebrand and increase in local productions come 10 years after NonStop regained its independent status, when CEO Jakob Abrahamsson and co-founder CG Andersson took over the company from Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting System.
“We felt we needed to be more active in this area [of local productions], and not just sit and wait for producers to knock on our door,” Abrahamsson told Screen.
“We’re going to pick films that have a clearly defined audience; it’s always been key but is even more necessary these days,” said Abrahamsson of the strategy on choosing local productions. Siw is “older-skewing, but also speaks to Sweden and who we are”; while The Home comes on the back of NonStop scoring strong distribution results on The Substance and Terrifier 3. “It has something more than just jump scares, it is more grounded – about being lost and finding your route,” says Abrahamsson of The Home.
“None of them has a huge budget, by design” said Abrahamsson, placing all five NonStop productions in the €1m- €2m range individually. “They are genres that can be pulled off with a capped amount of money.”
“What they all have in common is that they are creating universes beyond the expected, both story wise and ambition wise with creative solutions in place.”
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