An established player on the Scandinavian production scene, Copenhagen/Oslo-based Locomotion A/S is consolidating its presence as an international production house at the same time as it connects its directors with the best scripts.
| by: | Mar 1, 2001 |
Consolidation in this case means looking beyond Northern Europe to the UK and eventually North America. Locomotion and London's Harry Nash have allied, with the Danish company representing directors Matt Kirby and Ashley King non-exclusively in Scandinavia, while the British production house now host Jens Mikkelsen in the UK market.
Yuh Koppel, engagement manager for Locomotion says the company is exploring different ways of securing extra-national scripts for its directors. She says the relationship with Harry Nash began in 2000 when Locomotion furnished a shoot with King with production services in Danish for a three-spot Nokiagame.com campaign.
"When Jens got signed with Harry Nash, we wanted them to send over one of their line producers to participate in one of our shoots so we could learn how the other works," says Koppel. In other areas of Europe and with other directors, Locomotion is using what Koppel calls the "American repping" way of going directly to agencies, a technique not widely employed in Europe.
"What we wanted to do was start out with Jens. Starting with ten directors at a time there is no focus. When you start strategic alliances with one or two directors you can see how focused they are on your company or director," explains Koppel who elaborates on Locomotion's plans for further foreign alliances, particularly in the US.
"Nothing will be signed before the first job has been done. This should be a test to see if we can work together. Some companies sign and agree on exclusivity and nothing happens and we don't want to end up in that situation," says Koppel. "[In the US] we are settling on a strategy and partnership. You need to meet each other and find out if you have the same philosophy. For instance, when we went to Harry Nash, we said we don't want Jens to do just anything in the UK. He should get jobs that are something for the reel or that could win an award."
Directors repped in Denmark and Scandinavia by Locomotion are Geir Hansteen Jorgensen, Jens Mikkelsen, Anniken Lien, Jonas Zachrisson, Charlotte Sieling, Klaus Thymann, Morten Tyldum, Erik Poppe, Anders Skoog (Denmark only), Niklas Hansen, Simen Alsvik, Anders Holm, Brian Percival, Rasmus "Pingo" Brinkløv, Pernille Fischer Christensen, Niels Arden Oplev, Mathis Fũrst, Matthias Jordal and Adam Neufzsky-Wullf.
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