Re -invention CEO Rikke Ennis about Survival Strategies

Selected twice for Variety Index of the 500 most influential managers in the global media industry, Rikke Ennis, CEO of Reinvent Studios in Copenhagen, is one of the most market intuitive and progressive heavyweights in the Nordic region.

On Gothenburg’s TV-drama Vision and Nordic Film Market she and her sales team will present high-profile series, including “pressure point” with David Dencik in the lead role, the Erik Poppe-Help “Quisling”, “Hejastallan-a Sámi’s Wedding”, the wedding competed “, the competed functions” the competed functions “The competed functions” The competed functions “. Stranger” and “Second Victims”, and works “The Dance Club” by “Love & Anarchy” S Lisa along the Teth, Danish/Korean ” Hana Korea “and quirky Finnish debut” The Squirrel “.

Proof of Reinvent’s A-Festival Pulling Power, is the recent movie Sales Bet “early” by “Wildland’s Jeanette Nordahl with Dencik and Trine Dyrholm, who will be world premiere in the Berlin Panorama section, while the premium” Hejastallan-a Sámi shows wedding “And” Vigdís “will bend at the Berlinal Series Market Select.

In advance on Gothenburg, Ennis shared with Variety Her view of the state of the Nordic film and TV industry and her vision on how they can float as a real and rare independent.

Since you launched Reinvent Studios in 2018, we have gone from Piek to Post-Piek TV and the theatrical market for films has not been completely recovered from Covid. How has invention again adapted to the drastic changes on the market?

Rikke Ennis: When we started in 2018, our dream was to be an independent mini-studio, depending on three legs: sale of Nordic film and TV series, production and financing. Everything was fine as Covid. That was a huge shock. But our luck was that we had just signed at SF Studios [an exclusive representation deal on their films and series] so we can work on a larger catalog.

After Covid the market was open, the streamers and broadcasters were extremely hungry and everything was possible, both production and acquisition. We can sell easy-first second windows. We drove on the Golf. Then hit post-peak TV hit. Fortunately we are like a boat with a small speed in a stormy water. We can change direction very quickly.

Now the production has been hit hard, so we produce less ourselves. We focus more on partnerships, co -productions and what we are good at: developing great ideas, compiling the financing structure with broadcasters, streamers and then finding international money. Our know -how means that we will not waste a valuable time for years to build a financing plan, for example, if we know that a project is not becoming green. Time is money.

Things have of course changed a lot on the sales side. We used to invest large MGs in series and we have taken a lot of risks. Our MG-Wise strategy has adapted and now leans more to crime, thriller, the genres that can go on prime-time slots when it comes to series. We still take other genres, but without MG. On the film side it depends on the director and the package.

This is a fairly large shift …

Yes, but we must be careful. What we see on the market is that financing is missing. What used to be completely funded by streamers and almost completely funded by broadcasters is no longer. That means that we have projects on our table with only 60-70% financing, and it is very difficult to go on the market to get that kind of money.

Do you think that producers are not realistic about the actual value of their titles on the world market?

It is a problem with producers, but also with some commissioners who insist on certain types of content that are being developed. That is when you are married to your commissioner as a producer and cannot go to someone else. Only then do you start talking about the framework for financing, the costs you can ask, etc. There must be more transparency about budget levels and financing conditions in the past.

Are the production costs still too high?

Absolutely. First of all, in terms of story you have to know where you are going. But there is also inflation, war, sustainability and thinking green, what we would all have to do but come up with a costs. What people have hit hard is bridge financing. In short, money is very expensive nowadays. What earlier cost 4-5% earlier, now costs almost 20%. If you forget that with a budget, then you are in major problems. Very few financiers can offer a large scale of bridge financing.

Is this true producers within integrated groups in a competitive advantage?

Absolute. I believe that the company will continue to consolidate, smaller production outfits will be purchased or will not survive. The problem is that the market is streamlined. If only larger groups do business, diversity, taking risks will suffer. On the film side is one of the only large Nordic producers who are still successful to balance smaller author films with a large commercial rate, Zentropa, but they are supported by the Nordisk film.

But you have had a safety net through your deal with the European Investment Fund signed in 2021, that you gave a guarantee of € 26 million ($ 26.7 million) of the EU, you could mention some projects that benefited from this, and Has this deal been renewed?

We have been renewed and are very happy with it. That is why we were able to bet on certain projects, such as NRK’s ​​”Power Play”, TV2 Denmark’s “Oxen” or C More/TV4’s “Evil”. We now have around € 27 million ($ 27.7 million). They cover up to 70% of a loss and are the key to us to take risks. But we can’t use it on our own productions and co -productions. It must be the length of the weapon; It is not a cash, but a guarantee. That is why everything we invest in from our own pocket is.

Of course it would be ideal of cool money. In the future it would be great to see the EU offering a credit line to the production sector. This is where many projects fail.

Do you feel that more needs to be done to protect indie producers?

Certainly. Good producers are rare species. The industry must take care of them and treat them as a talent, such as directors and scenarists. They must also be paid a reasonable amount during development. Nobody can survive if you cannot pay your bills.

On the film side you have picked up a few arthouse titles as a supplement to your SF Studios Slate. Is this partly to compensate for the current SF Studios deal with Netflix?

Our collaboration with SF Studios is great and I am sure it will take. But SF cannot only take projects because we want them. It must be logical for them, for their northern and domestic market. That is why, in addition to some of their films, we have broadened our slate to be more attractive to buyers. In addition to the genre films that everyone is looking for, we have added festival films and titles of newcomers.

With “Stranger” for example, we immediately kept it and we commit it at a very early stage. We liked the daring storyline and setting in pre-historical Scandinavia. “Hana Korea” is another great example of original quality of arthouse drama. When I read the script, about a young North Korean defector who tried to adapt to her life in South Korea and love, I cried. Then “The Squirrel” is a different kind of love story. Imagine a world without real animals, and suddenly a man develops a friendship with a real squirrel. It is beautiful and fresh. The three films are also produced by Top -Noorde production houses.

What is your medium term strategy? Would you consider expanding to English speaking?

It is clear that there are more customers with English content, so we will look ahead, we will continue to concentrate on the Nordics, while we are expanding to English speaking, for example from Ireland or Scotland, because we share many cultural similarities as the noir feeling , unique landscapes. We are investigating exciting projects that will hopefully be announced soon.

Can you mention some of your flagship series in your 2025 lei?

This year we will launch five large titles: “Quisling” from TV2 Norway, nominated for the Nordic Series Script Award, the drama thriller “Escaping Bolivia” based on a true story, and “Reykjavik 112”, Adjustment of the best-selling Roman. Both packed the filming. Then I can call our Danish event series ‘Oxen Season 2’, now in pre-production.