Streaming Creates A Shortage
COPENHAGEN — Merete Mortensen, the founder of a successful television production company, is used to having her pick of the industry’s top talent in Denmark. But when she was trying to hire a new developer recently to help her create new shows, her first and second choice turned her down.
“It’s been crazy,” Ms. Mortensen said. “We’ve been having bidding wars over the best people.”
Netflix, Amazon Prime and their competitors have created a boom in TV shows as well as jobs for actors, directors, producers and writers. A lot of that content is being developed far from the usual hubs in Hollywood, New York and London, as the streaming services mine international productions from countries including France, Japan and Brazil.
Perhaps nowhere is that expansion more evident than in Denmark, where thanks to years of rising demand, there are more critically-praised series and movies being made. But what there isn’t, in this country of just 5.6 million people, is enough skilled professionals to produce them all.
Shows have had to postpone production by six months, or indefinitely, said Claus Ladegaard of the government-sponsored Danish Film Institute, which helps fund many productions.
There is a two-year wait for those who oversee productions, Mr. Ladegaard said, noting there is also a shortage of scriptwriters, cinematographers and directors.
A decade ago, there might be two or three television series in production in Denmark at any time, Mr. Ladegaard said. Now there are close to 20. That is in addition to 20 to 25 films being shot.
About a dozen years ago, Danish broadcasters began ramping up their investments in high-quality TV dramas. Shows like “The Killing” and “The Bridge” helped establish the popular genre known as “Nordic noir,” with brutal crimes set in bleak landscapes.
Denmark is in demand for other genres, too. One of the most popular shows of the last decade was a political drama, “Borgen,” a fictional series about the country’s first female prime minister.
The Danish programs became huge hits at home and abroad, said Hanne Palmquist, the vice president of original programming for HBO Nordic.
Netflix premiered its first Danish series, “The Rain,” in 2017. The first season of the science fiction tale was “one of Netflix’s most successful non-English series to date,” said Tesha Crawford, Netflix’s director of international original series.
The Nordic streaming service Viaplay is thinking of launching an all-Nordic platform in the United States and Britain.
Most important to the success of these Danish exports, industry insiders agreed, is the local talent for storytelling.
“It goes all the way back to Nordic mythology,” said Louise Vesth, a producer of “A Taste of Hunger,” a new Danish film that faced difficulties hiring crew. “We’re very good at telling big stories about small problems.”
Denmark’s shows are in demand, but talent is scarce.