SF Studios 2019

SF Studios Makes Award-Winning Films and TV Series

In 2019, SF Studios celebrated its 100th anniversary. For one of the world’s oldest film companies, its historical success provides inspiration for the road ahead.

Michael Porseryd, CEO

SF Studios was founded in 1919 as AB Svensk Filmindustri. The company quickly gained international attention through successes such as Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness! (1921) and Gösta Berling’s Saga (1924), the latter starring Greta Garbo. SF Studios contributed to what was called the “golden age of Swedish cinema.” From the 1930s, SF Studios continued to grow, targeting the Swedish market. The 1940s saw new international successes when Torment (1944) won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, and Symphony of a City (1947) won an Oscar for best short.

Ingmar Bergman played an extremely important part. Most of his films were produced by SF Studios, such as The Seventh Seal (1957), one of the most iconic films in history, as well as The Virgin Spring (1960) and Through a Glass Darkly (1961), both winning Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film. Since then, SF Studios has produced a number of internationally acclaimed films such as Persona (1966), The Emigrants (1971), My Life as a Dog (1985), A Man Called Ove (2015) and Borg vs McEnroe (2017). Seven of the 10 most-viewed Swedish films of all time have been produced by SF Studios. These have contributed to at good international reputation for Swedish films.

Today, the business includes production and distribution of films and TV series, for both the Nordic and global markets.

In recent years, the film industry has undergone major changes. Streaming of film and television has grown dramatically. To face this development, SF Studios also offers the digital services SF Anytime and SF Kids.

The ambition of SF Studios is to be the leading distributor and producer of film and television drama in the countries where the company operates. The company will also return to the international market where it had great success during its first decades. By producing English-language films for an international audience, SF Studios will become a prominent European film studio with its roots in the Nordic region.

Several important steps were taken in 2019:

1. Production began on the thriller Horizon Line, SF Studios’ first English-language feature film. The intention is for a major launch in U.S. cinemas. An American remake of A Man Called Ove starring Tom Hanks is scheduled to start filming this coming winter.

2. SF Studios will produce a stand-alone sequel to Easy Money as a Netflix series. The company will also produce Red Dot, Netflix’s first Swedish original movie.

3. Extended collaborations with both Warner Bros. Pictures and Sony will make SF Studios their distribution partner on the Nordic market.

4. SF Studios became the main owner of Felix Herngren’s production company FLX, which is behind several of Sweden’s most successful films and TV series in the last decade.

5. At the end of 2018, Norwegian production company Paradox was acquired, giving SF Studios its own production facility in Norway.

At the same time, SF Studios continues to be a creative engine for talent in film and television drama, not least by offering attractive and exciting film and television projects, a stimulating work environment, freedom and market-leading knowledge in movie marketing and launches. SF Studios looks to the future with the same spirit that marked the company’s first 100 years.

SF Studios

Sales: 1,899 SEK M (1,256 SEK M)

EBITA: 36 SEK M (17 SEK M)

Number of employees: 160

Chairman of the Board: Maria Curman

CEO: Michael Porseryd