Norway’s Producer on the Move: “Romeo + Juliet blew my mind”

And it happens in a very important and interesting period for Norwegian film and television drama, according to Ramborg, who was educated at the Norwegian Film School in Lillehammer and after producing several shorts was signed by the Norwegian production company, Maipo Film, headed by producer Synnøve Hørsdal.

Establishing ourselves as an international film nation

“After a tough start, we are now establishing ourselves as an international film nation. The film school opened in 1997, and gradually the industry has become more professionalised. We have had periods of an offensive film policy that now show results, and we have set up funding models that make it possible to produce highly ambitious films and series. I think that we have finally developed a cinematic self-esteem that now overshadows the destructive Law of Jante (see below), which used to hang over us,” Ramborg said.

Ash Lads

Her first feature was Norwegian director Anne Sewitsky’s De nærmeste (Homesick/2015), which won lead actress Ine Marie Wilmann several prizes, and most recently she produced Norwegian director Mikkel Brænne Sandemose’s Askeladden – i Dovregubbens hall (The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King), which sold 358,643 tickets in Norway to become last year’s Norwegian top performer in the cinemas. She is currently preparing an Ash Lad sequel, Askeladden – i Soria Moria slott (The Ash Lad: In Search of the Golden Castle).

Romeo + Juliet blew my mind

What started your interest in film?

 “I saw Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) when I was 15, and it simply blew my mind – the visual, energetic feast made me buy the complete works of Shakespeare for the first (and last) time, and I had such a girlcrush on Claire Danes (Juliet). Later I discovered David Fincher, Stanley Kubrick and especially Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colours: Blue (1993), which made me realise what a powerful and complex medium film is – it can be healing and give comfort in a completely unique way.”

Do or to learn about everything

 And when did you decide to make it your profession?

 “As a child I had a romantic dream of becoming an author; it eventually changed to culture journalism, and I went to Lillehammer to learn more about film and film science. I was so fortunate to be acquainted with the second brood of producers at the film school - six very different, inspiring producer sprouts, today some of the most prominent names in the industry. Probably it was a mix – I would like to be as they were and do what they did – that gave me the thought of becoming a producer. And then it turned out to be the job of my dreams. You must be able to do or to learn about everything (without necessarily knowing anything about it ...) - and the teamwork, as well as the relationship between art and commerce, never stop fascinating me.”

The beginning and the end

What do you find most interesting in your job?

 “The beginning and the end – the script development and the launch of the film, which I try to make form a synthesis, thinking about the launch already when developping the screenplay. I learned a lot about this studying copywriting at Westerdal’s School of Communication. The mantra then was What do you want to say?, and it is still what it's all about.”

100% enthusiatic

How is the organisation at Maipo Film, how do you work together at your production company?. 

 “We are seven producers with different tastes and interests, who have always several films in development or production. The main condition for taking in a new project is that one of us is 100% enthusiatic about that particular project. From A-Z a film production usually requires blood, sweat and tears - but if the driving force is a burning desire to give the audience this particular story, you will be able to withstand some years of rejection and oppression along the way. Most frequently we are also two who produce together, which ensures that the project is taken care of even in situations that makes it necessary to reshuffle.”

Move a large audience

 What do you yourself demand from a project, before you accept it?

 “I am open to genre and form, but the idea or the story must resonate with me. It can be anything from a character, I immediately identify with and think is important to portray, to political issues that occupy me. I want the films I produce to move a large audience, and induce both laughter and crying. The essence of the fairy tale is a good starting point. Schiller wrote, “Deeper meaning resides in the fairy tales told me in my childhood, than in any truth that is taught in life.” he said. And he got something - I will happily produce a dozen variants of adventure movies.

Real taboo

What were the biggest challenges with your first two features?

 “De nærmeste deals with a real taboo – the sexual relationship between two siblings – so one of the biggets challenges was to define the communication strategy before releasing the film. As with Askeladden – i Dovregubbens hall, we were also concerned about the launch - we had made a family movie, but not for the youngest children. In many ways it was for a new Norwegian audience, still it took almost 360,000 admissions, and became the second most popular film in Norway after Star Wars last year.”

A solid European network

What do you expect to get out of the Producers on the Move programme in Cannes?

 “I am more than ever reminded of how important it is to have a solid European network based on mutual trust. It is easy to get lost in translation, and hard to take projects-in-development to the next level without strong partners abroad. To me, Producers on the Move appears to be the best possible platform to connect with these future partners.”

LIfe and death

What is on your time schedule except the sequel of Askeladden?

 “Another project I am focusing on is Evig sommer (Eternal Summer), an unsentimental love story – literally about life and death – written by one of Norway’s most talented young directors, Jakob Rørvik.

It follows 29-year-old Elisabeth, who is told that her husband is dying – this will be his last summer – and she escpes into an intense relationship with a younger man. The story will wrench your heart, but leave you with solace, hope and faith in life. We plan to shoot next year.I  have also co-produced Swedish director Hannes Holms Ted – För kärlekens skyld (Ted – Show Me Love), a biopic of Swedish singer-songwriter Ted Gärdestad, with Stella Nova Film’s Lena Rehnberg and Cecilia Forsberg Becker.

Gärdestad became famous for his collaboration with ABBA and the hits he wrote in the 1970s till his death by suicide in 1994. I met Becker during in Young Nordic Producers Club during the Cannes festival five years ago, and this is the first result of this.”

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*) Law of Jante (Janteloven): 10 rules of group behaviour as identified by Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose in his 1933 novel, A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks (En flyktning krysser sitt spor), criticising individual success and achievement as unworthy and inappropriate. The first three:  1 You're not to think you are anything special, 2 You're not to think you are as good as we are, 3 You're not to think you are smarter than we are.