ECREA16-Abstract

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Thursday, November 10

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Zentropa – A Successful Danish Film Company: “We Make Things Happen”

H. Philipsen

University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

Behind many contemporary Danish film successes, we find the infamous film company Zentropa. It is without a doubt the most internationally known and

highly acknowledged film company in Denmark. Lars von Trier’s "Dancer in the Dark" won The Golden Palms at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000. Susanne

Bier’s film "In a BetterWorld" received an Oscar in 2011. Both films were born by Zentropa, a company that have excised since 1992 and is located in Avedøre

outside Copenhagen. Front faces are director Lars von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen – both educated at The National Film School of Denmark

and both notorious filmmakers. What kinds of environment and management are behind the company’s success? Is there a backside of the medal? Is it e.g.

possible to point out a certain‘Zentropian’culture? And if so, how does it differ from other comparable film companies? The people working at the company

– both staff and freelancers – can be described as highly dedicated, often underpaid and sometimes run-down but still willing to stay and work long hours

at film projects. How is Zentropa able to make its employees walk the ‘extra mile’? One answer could be through appropriate leadership. Producer Peter

Aalbæk Jensen is considered the daily leader of business, even though the overall management actually consists of several leaders. His straightforward tone

and authority is hardly a style easy for other managers to copy completely, since it seems to depend on his individual discourse, personality and tempera‑

ment. How does he get away with this style? And is this specific style part of the explanations of the success of the film company? These and other related

questions will be addressed and debated in my paper on the production and company culture at Zentropa. The paper is based on a number of qualitative

interviews with people from Zentropa – from leaders to students, from seniors to juniors. As perspective data I have used insights from festivals, seminars

and daily life at Zentropa. I have, furthermore, studied films and television dramas made by Zentropa and read reviews of these productions. Finally, I have

followed debates in the press about – among other things – Zentropa’s part in a recent financial crisis between the company and The Danish Film Institute

(DFI). Additionally, I have sought information in references such as Mathieu and Pedersen (2009) Dansk film på tværs af samarbejde og konkurrence (Danish

film across cooperation and competition, 2009) in order to supplement my knowledge from the empirical study of the company. Several statements, articles

and even books are written with focus on Zentropa. But few are academic grounded and even fewer take into consideration important issues like the com‑

panies relationship to Nordisk Film (the co-owner of this company) and the internal relationships among ‘Zentropian’workers. In my paper, discourse anal‑

ysis holds a key to a deeper understanding of why this work place carries out success despite the extreme radical environment Zentropa represents. Finally,

the companies’position in the Danish film business will be debated and reflected upon.

PN 016

International Ownership and Transnational Success: The History of Rubicon TV

E. Bakøy

, V.S. Sundet

Lillehammer University College, Lillehammer, Norway

Lillehammer University College, Department of Film and Television Studies, Lillehammer, Norway

This paper analyses the production culture of one of the most successful television production company in Norway, Rubicon TV. More specifically, it analyses

the company’s transition from being founded by the Norwegian media conglomerate Schibsted as a small-scale, national production company in 1993,

to becoming part of the major international production company Endemol Shine Group from 2009. During nearly twenty-five years of operation, Rubicon

TV has gone from producing entertainment and television drama for a small selection of Norwegian broadcasters, to become a truly global and digital

player, producing television content for web-TV and international streaming services in addition to more traditional broadcasters. One of Rubicon TV’s most

successful and well-known programmes was Lilyhammer (2012–2014), a television drama in three seasons about an escaping mafia boss, commissioned

by the Norwegian public service broadcaster NRK in collaboration with the international streaming service Netflix. Despite Rubicon TV’s success in both

national and international markets, few studies have investigated the company and its production culture. This paper aims to fill this gap by conducting

an in-depth analysis of its key strategy and core values, by drawing on perspectives on organizational culture and media management literature. By taking

an historical perspective, the paper further asks how Rubicon TV has managed to navigate strategically in a changing television landscape, as well as how

its production culture and core values have changed during its nearly twenty-five years of operation? The paper is structured as a historical analysis investi‑

gating Rubicon TV strategies, production cultures and core values in three key phases: The first phase starts in the early 1990s, when Rubicon TV is founded

to produce national television programmes to Norway’s first commercial television channel (TV 2), at a time when commercial television was still a new

phenomenon in Norway.The second phase starts in the early 2000s, when digital distribution increased the number of domestic television channels, and—

as a consequence—the demand for television content, with a wave of new formats and programme categories. Finally, the third phase starts in the early

2010s, when media convergence and globalisation allowed Rubicon TV to produce content for both new platforms (e.g. web-TV) and new international

players (such as the streaming service Netflix). Structuring the analysis around these three phases, the paper aims to discuss larger developments within

television history, as seen through the perspective of one particular production company that has succeeded in changing its operating to meet the changing

landscape. Empirically, the paper will be based on interviews with key informants working at Rubicon TV, as well as a detailed examination of trade press

and internet sources, covering the period under scrutiny.