Tom Rickard on Scandi Brands Helping Scandi Production

“There is something to be said about the impact of in-housing creative on the Scandinavian production scene and its benefits for the region.”

This is how my conversation starts with Tom Rickard, executive producer and new talent director at Giants & Toys. He excitedly continues: “It means Scandi brands are producing more global campaigns from here - the region - and through that they’re both giving local directors a shot at the global stage, whilst also giving international talent a chance to have a crack at a previously insular market.”

Going back to the ‘beginning’ as Tom calls it, the Scandinavian market and production scene have indeed kept their cards close to their chest, when it comes to creativity, with very few international production companies and directors working across the region. “It’s always been locals,” says Tom. And to him, the reason for that is because Scandi work is made for a small market - local directors who own their region’s voice and they echo it back to the community.

Scandinavia, however, remains a huge region with a massive talent pool. “You have super world class directors just down the road from the local agency,” says Tom. And while the Scandis have become great at exporting their talent, they just can’t quite bump up the allure enough for outside talent to come around.

That was, until a recent shift. Tom says he has seen an increase of in-house agencies of classical Scandi brands the likes of H&M, Lego, Klarna, Oatly and other global businesses, bringing their creative back to its homeland. “I’ve seen an increase in the campaigns being produced in Stockholm, which in turn means that the work has become less ‘Scandinavian’ and more global,” he explains.

“So, within the last year or two, we have seen a huge increase of international production companies finally getting the chance to work with these brands here, locally. I guess they’ve always worked with them, but now they are involving Scandinavian creatives in their homeland.”

This, understandably, has been a huge success for production companies in countries such as Sweden and Denmark. “A lot more is happening,” says Tom, “Which gives the creatives here a whole new warchest to work with and also hopefully gives the more local directors the chance to start working on the global stage through that channel.”

Looking back, over the years several international production companies have tried their hand at starting in Sweden - such as Partizan a few years ago - but usually unsuccessfully. While a lot of people believe it is due to the tighter Scandinavian budgets as opposed to the ones abroad, Tom thinks that it’s because the region is home of a more naturally insulated market.

“In the last few years, though, you have Biscuit producing quite a lot from here, Arts & Sciences working in Norway and Denmark, and many others. The other really interesting outcome from this is that when people start working with these bigger brands and their in-house agencies within the region, that creates a shift in the mindset of independent Scandi agencies. They’re now saying ‘Yeah, why not? Why aren’t we working with these directors?’”

This shift shines through the work coming out of the region too - for Tom, it makes it more universal and global. “The creatives from these in-house agencies are still being really selective in who they pick, I’ve noticed that over the years. One of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with when selling international directors to agencies here is people saying ‘Oh, it just doesn’t have the same look to it.’”

“I suppose that’s the thing with Scandinavian directors and the work they do - they’ve been praised for the level of attention to detail and the aesthetics is so important to them. That’s why I think Biscuit and Arts & Sciences have been able to work from here, they have amazing directors, but a lot of these directors also have a certain Scandinavian aesthetic to their work. You see the influence of people like Roy Anderson in some of their work.”

When looking internally at Giants & Toys, the international request has been increasing too. “At the moment, the majority of our directors are Scandinavian, but we’re also increasing the international side,” says Tom. “I still have a lot of people coming to me and asking who I’ve been talking to lately and what international talent they can have a look at. It’s been quite exciting because it brings a whole new dynamic to the market.”

New dynamic comes with new challenges, though, and as mentioned before Scandinavian budgets tend to be on the smaller end. While the beauty of working with in-house agencies of huge brands is that the money doesn’t often run out, this isn’t always the case in the region. “The challenge is finding those directors on the international stage who have already been working on big budget stuff that are now willing to maybe get a little bit more hands-on and develop something that they really care about creative wise.”

Tom continues, “The upside for these directors though, is that working with Scandinavians is a collaborative process. The examples I have seen and the feedback I’ve had from international directors that have worked here has been incredible. They have the ability to put their heart and soul into the work and leave a mark.”