The Danish drama industry is headed for the abyss.
That's the warning from more than 1,900 Danish filmmakers.
Names such as Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Paprika Steen and Søren Malling direct criticism at the organization Create Denmark, which has not succeeded in negotiating new agreements with the major streaming services.
"An entire industry that has so far flourished is being dismantled, and it is a disaster," reads the petition.
Stopped production in the country
It was during 2021 that Create Denmark, on behalf of the Danish Artists' Association, entered into an agreement with the Producers' Association.
The aim was to ensure that filmmakers in the country would be better paid by the major streaming services if their TV series reached a larger audience.
Something that the services did not agree to.
The rights conflict has since caused, among others, Netflix, Viaplay and TV2 Play to stop the development of new original productions in Denmark.
Something that the filmmakers in the petition believe has led to a "catastrophic situation".
Create Denmark: "Could have signed the petition myself"
Benjamin Boe Rasmussen acts as spokesperson for Create Denmark, he admits that the communication with the film workers was poor during the negotiations with the streaming services.
He also says he understands those who signed the petition and the concerns they express.
- I could have signed the petition myself and I want to assure them that we are working as hard as we can to get new agreements, hopefully we will have something to show at the end of the week, says Rasmussen.
But if the consensus is so great, how did you end up in this situation?
- All hell broke loose when the streaming services announced they wouldn't accept the deals so then we had to start all over again and negotiate with each streaming service individually, and that takes time.