The Bridge Star Sofia Helin Signs First Look Deal with Nordic Drama Queens

 Posted on August 2, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1124 words  |  Martina Birk

Swedish star Sofia Helin (“The Bridge”) has signed a multi-year first look deal with Scandinavian production company Nordic Drama Queens to exclusively co-develop a slate of film and TV projects.

Nordic Drama Queens, which is backed by Fifth Season (previously Endeavor Content), was founded in September 2021 by Sandra Harms, Miso Films’s former managing director (“438 Days,” “Lust“), Josefine Tengblad, former head of drama at Swedish network TV4/CMore (“Blinded”), Line Winther Skyum Funch, a former executive producer at Yellow Bird (“Millennium,” “Thin Ice”).

Helin, who is best known for her role as detective Saga Norén in “The Bridge,” previously collaborated with Harms on the HBOMax comedy-series “Lust” which they developed and produced together. The show is nominated for best comedy at Rose d’Or, which will be held during Content London.

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“Lust” world premiered at Berlinale Series earlier this year and won best comedy at the Swedish TV awards Kristallen 2022. The daring series stars Helin as Anette, a woman leading a government study about middle-aged women’s sex lives.

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Helin said the experience of collaborating with Harms on “Lust” and being fully involved creatively made her want to team up on future projects and tell new stories. “I remember telling Sandra that I wanted to make a show about female sexuality after 40 and she said yes instantly,” Helin reminisced. She added that her “creativity blossomed” following “The Bridge” and learning about the process.

“To join the talented, hungry and experienced team at Nordic Drama Queens, backed by global film and TV studio Fifth Season, provides a great opportunity for me to find a home for my ideas as a creative producer,” said Helin. “I’m thrilled to keep bringing stories reflecting the complex world we’re living in to the audience, together with Nordic Drama Queens,” Helin continued.

Under the partnership, Helin will be creating and developing ideas for series and movies that she will star in. Nordic Drama Queens will match her with writers who will take over and pen those projects.

Helin said she was exciting to be part of a new breed of actors who are creatively involved and contribute to movies and series they star in. She’s interested in wide-ranging topics and genre. “I get ideas about things that happen in society or even far back in history. The question that I’m always interested in is ‘how do we exist in this world?,'” Helin added.

Besides “The Bridge” and “Lust,” Helin also starred in “Atlantic Crossing,” in which she played the Norwegian Crown Princess Märtha who was secretly romantically involved with the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (played by Kyle MacLachlan). The series won the International Emmy Award.

Helin said she was also involved creatively in “Atlantic Crossing,” as well as in “The Bridge.” She was an executive producer on both.

Helin’s credits also include Jo Nesbø’s “The Snowman,” the Australian drama series “Mystery Road” and Norwegian series “Exit.” She will also play the lead in Viaplay’s highly anticipated series “Limbo” and the crime series “Fallen” for TV4/C More.

“Sofia is known to the audience as a fantastic and versatile actress, but she is also an extremely skilled creator and producer with a keen eye for talent, quality and for projects that resonate with our time and the world we live in,” said Skyum Funch.

“There are not many actors like Sofia who are able to come up with stories that are not about themselves,” said Tengblad, who also pointed out this type of partnership between a talent and a production banner isn’t common outside of the U.S.

The series and movies that Helin will develop will not necessarily be female driven, but they will all have strong characters and tackle something unique that “we can all relate to,” Tengblad added.

Helin is represented by PMJ Artistgruppen (Sweden), United Agents (U.K) and Players Agentur Management (Germany). Aside from the collaboration with Nordic Drama Queens Helin will continue to take acting assignments with other production companies.

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