FOLKEFILM LAUNCHES IN SWEDEN

Folkefilm, a Stockholm-based production company, has opened its doors to the Swedish market.

Folkefilm was created by three well established Swedish directors - Johan Tappert, Tobias Bergman and Filip Nilsson - who recruited Johan "Joi" Persson, former producer and co-founder of Camp David, as executive producer. The roster is completed by feature film and commercials director Ruben Östlund.

Although in some senses it's a traditional commercials production company, Folkefilm is also open to collaborations with web agencies or in-house production companies. Tappert feels this open-minded attitude is vital, especially in the Scandinavian market where agencies are increasingly bringing production in-house.

And because the directors are used to working together and have been friends for sometime, Tappert feels that there's a collaborative air about the enterprise. "There's no competition between us. We help each other on treatments or go out to shoots together," he said.

As always, choosing the name for the company proved to be one of the most difficult tasks. In the end they settled on the plain and simple Folkefilm. "It's a typical Swedish name. 'Folk' without the 'e' means people in Swedish. It's sort of an everyday name, popular in the 1930s or 50s, but it's becoming hip again. We wanted a name that felt Swedish but still had an everyday and quite human feel to it. And also it's quite ironic and shows we don't take ourselves too seriously," explained Tappert.