Writing and Producing Television Drama in Denmark

Eva Novrup Redvall is Assistant Professor in Film and Media Studies at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her research focuses on film and media production, particularly the processes around screenwriting and the nature of creative collaborations. She has published extensively on Nordic cinema and television drama production and industry structures.

"Valuable to an academic audience for its very clear presentation of the history of the Danish television industry, Eva Novrup Redvall provides well synthesized descriptions of extensive interviews and explains the institutional reasons for how and why screenwriting practices operate in Denmark. The book is also an excellent outline for what one might want to consider in examining a work role within an industrial situation." - Janet Staiger, William P. Hobby Centennial Professor of Communication in the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin, USA 'This book belongs in that tiny group of inspirational analytic works that bring the academy and the industry closer together. With unparalleled access to the inner sanctums of television drama production (including the writers' room itself), Eva Novrup Redvall reveals the conditions of production behind Danish TV dramas. She examines the borrowing of techniques from the US; how they were adapted to a public service context; and how they continue to evolve dynamically. She skilfully uncovers the organisational methods that have enabled Danish TV industry to unlock the creativity of its writers and thus to achieve sustained global success.' - John Ellis, Professor of Media Arts, Royal Holloway University of London, UK 'Writing and Producing Television Drama in Denmark is a key text on Scandinavian television and production culture. As such, it is not only recommended to scholars of Scandinavian audio-visual culture, but also to those - including undergraduates as well as more advanced scholars -who are more generally interested in television production and scriptwriting.' - Tobias Hochscherf, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television The book provides a wealth of material to ponder, not only for those interested in Danish television but for anyone curious about the direction of small screen fiction generally.' - Glen Creeber, New Review of Film and Television Studies

• List of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Television Writing and the Screen Idea System 2. Danish Television Drama: A Crash Course 3. Dogmas for Television Drama: Changing a Production Culture 4. Training Talent for Television: DR and 'The TV term' 5. Writers, Showrunners and Television Auteurs: Ideas of 'One Vision' 6. The Workings of a Writer's Room: Borgen 7. Primetime Public Service Crime: Forbrydelsen / The Killing Conclusions and Cliffhangers Appendix Notes References Index