NEWS

The man behind HBO’s hitseries 'The Handmaid's Tale' has just visited Copenhagen. 170 of the most talented creative people within Nordic TV drama participated in his masterclass at The National Film School of Denmark.

When the American TV producer Bruce Miller gave a masterclass at The National Film School of Denmark late August the tickets were completely sold out.

The award-winning writer visited Copenhagen in connection with Copenhagen TV Series Masterclasses, which offers 170 of the most talented creative people within the Nordic television drama industry a day of inspiration, professional insight and creative exchange. This year, the main attraction was the creator of 'The Handmaid's Tale' - a TV series that won eight Emmy awards last year and presents a brand new season in the beginning of 2019.

Talent development as a core value
It was the fifth time that Copenhagen Film Fund and Copenhagen TV Festival / The Danish Producers’ Association held Copenhagen TV Series Masterclasses. In previous years, the program has offered masterclasses with the creators of 'The Night Of', 'True Detective', 'Homeland' and 'Top of The Lake'.

"The purpose of Copenhagen TV Series Masterclasses is to strengthen international talent exchange within the film and television industry. Exchange is a key element in maintaining and further developing the high concentration of skilled writers, directors and producers we have in Denmark. In addition to learning from some of the biggest masters of television drama, the event is also a platform where creative talents meet and network internally," says Thomas Gammeltoft, CEO of Copenhagen Film Fund.

Copenhagen TV Series Masterclasses started out as an offer for an exclusive set of creative people within Danish film and television, but after two years it invited visitors from Norway, Sweden and Finland as well, who showed great interest in accessing the intimate writer’s forum.

"There are not many craft orientated events and seminars in the Nordic countries, with the opportunity to meet colleagues from other countries, reflect on own material and learn new techniques. These people are some of the biggest writers who come to Copenhagen and share their experiences with a small exclusive group, which is a unique luxury," says Swedish scriptwriter and producer Anders Weidemann, about last year's Copenhagen TV Series Masterclasses.

Read more about last year's Copenhagen TV Series Masterclasses here.

Masterclass program
In addition to the masterclass with Bruce Miller, this year's program included the English producer of Netflix TV Series 'The Crown', Andy Harris, on what it takes to produce such a large TV series, and also Danish TV series elite Tobias Lindholm, Charlotte Sieling and Peter Bose, who talked about the creative process step by step.

Copenhagen TV Series Masterclasses focus primarily on the established and experienced part of the industry. Copenhagen Film Fund is working on offering similar masterclass to new talents.

About Bruce Miller
Scriptwriter and producer Bruce Miller started his career as a scriptwriter on NBC's 'Damage Room' and has since been working on TV shows such as 'Alphas', 'Eureka' and 'The 100'. In 2017 he released the TV series 'The Handmaid's Tale', which has been running for two seasons on HBO and HBO Nordic. The TV series is a re-interpretation of Margaret Atwood's book of same title from 1985. The series has won eight Emmy awards in 2017 - including the best drama series award, which no streaming service has previously won - a Golden Globe, Peabody Award, and a Critics' Choice Award. The shootings for the third season of the series starts in September and are expected to premiere in spring 2019.

Photo: © 2018 MGM Television Entertainment Inc. and Relentless Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved. hbonordic.com.