From May 15-17, twenty-two promising young Nordic producers gathered at the informal networking event Young Nordic Producers Club in Cannes, to hear professionals explain the ropes of international co-productions and Dos and Don’ts.

In its third year, Young Nordic Producers Club (YNPC) co-organised by the Danish Film Institute and the National Film School of Denmark has moved from being a ‘rock’n roll’ dogma style producers’ training course to a more structured and focused event, both in terms of quality of participants and topics explored. Noemi Ferrer (pictured - DFI Head of International), the brain behind the event with Tina Wagner Sørensen (Head of Post Graduate Training at the NFSD), says the event has already become a calling card for young Nordic producers. “What is becoming clear is that YNPC is now a label, like EAVE or ACE that people use to connect and promote themselves and their company."

The focus of the lectures and case studies this year was on Dos and Don’ts in co-production, accessing support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond, creative collaborations between producers and scriptwriters, discussed notably by Lone Scherfig and Malene Blenkov (Creative Alliance), technical aspects of co-production such as completion bonds, and co-production opportunities with the Netherlands.

“The Netherlands is very close to Scandinavia in terms of size of the country and support system and Norway has a special co-production treaty with them, so we felt the combination was perfect,” notes Ferrer.

Among the up and coming Nordic movers and shakers, Hannu-Pekka Vitikainen, owner of newly created  Zone2 Pictures in Finland felt the case studies were very useful. “I really enjoyed hearing Mikkel Jersin, co-producer of Louder than Bombs who told us what you have to do to survive when a production collapses and how to bounce back. I had that experience and it’s important to hear from more established producers. I also enjoyed the speed-dating lunches where I could sit next to a big executive without feeling that I was imposing myself.”

Isabella Rodriguez, junior producer at Sweden’s French Quarter Film, enjoyed the length of the training course, spread over three full days in Cannes. “The full overview of co-production was very useful, especially today as co-production becomes almost vital. Eurimages’ CEO Roberto Olla gave us hard facts and that was extremely useful.”

Finnish junior producer Mahsa Malka (Dionysos Films) who is collaborating with successful director Johanna Vuoksenmaa (21 Ways to Ruin a Marriage) said she took on board some tips for her future projects such as ‘be honest with yourself and the weaknesses of a project’ and in the case of first time features, ‘concentrate first on the local market to established the director and then take him/her to the next step, with established talents and co-producers’.

Young Nordic Producers Club was supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.