### Case 2: Barn (*Beware of children*, Haugerud 2019)

This case builds on four interviews with the producer of *Barn*, from the production company Motlys, and the head of the distribution company Arthaus, three of which also included the head of the home entertainment distributor Star Media. All informants were interviewed together; the two first interviews were held at Arthaus' offices and the second two were held on Zoom.

The first interview took place in September 2019, the day before *Barn*'s cinematic premiere. The second interview took place in December 2019, when the cinema run was all but done. At the time, *Barn* had just been released on home entertainment, but no figures had been reported yet. The third interview took place in March 2020, six months after the cinema premiere and three months after the home entertainment release. The fourth interview took place in April 2021, 18 months after the cinema premiere.

While all of these interviews were conducted by me and were based on the same interview guide in the previous case, they had a much looser conversational feel. Often the informants would ask each other questions and discuss matters concerning *Barn* and other topics among themselves. These meetings would not have taken place without my invitations, and the informants stated that they had enjoyed these moments to debrief.

In the following text, all three informants are referred to only as their company. This is for clarity, as their names are not relevant in this case. However, none of the informants requested anonymity and no attempt has been made to obscure their identities.

#### Production

*Barn* explores the aftermath of an incident in which 13-year-old Lykke causes the accidental death of classmate Jamie in the schoolyard. The film was Dag Johan Haugerud's second full-length feature. Haugerud's previous effort, *Som du ser meg* (*I Belong*, Haugerud 2012), was critically acclaimed in Norway. Dag Johan Haugerud has also directed three acclaimed medium-length features, *Lyset fra Sjokoladefabrikken* (*The Light from the Chocolate Factory*, Haugerud 2020), *Det er meg du vil ha* (*I'm the one you want*, Haugerud 2014) and *Thomas Hylland Eriksen og historien om origamijenta* (*The Professor and the Story of the Origami Girl*, Haugerud 2005). The last two were released by Arthaus, while *Som du ser meg* was released by Norsk Filmdistribusjon.

*Barn* was awarded production funding by the Norwegian Film Institute in May 2017. This made up NOK 11,5M of the total budget of NOK 19M. NOK 1M was provided by the Nordic Film and Television Fund, and SEK 800,000 by the Swedish Film Institute. The final amounts were secured by MGs from the international sales agent, Picture Tree International, the local distributor, Arthaus, and from investments by the production company, Motlys, as well as lines of credit from the equipment provider, Storyline. Production began in autumn 2017 and the film was finished around November 2018.

Motlys is among the more established Norwegian production companies, and have made several critically acclaimed movies. It operates in the artistic segment of the Norwegian film industry, and all the company's movies have been supported by the artistic schemes. Motlys has produced all of Dag Johan Haugerud's previous movies. In a study of six Norwegian film producers Engelstad and Moseng classified *Barn*'s producer as highly oriented towards "art" and "nurturing long-standing collaborations" (2014). In addition to *Barn,* Motlys had another 2019 release in *Håp*, which was distributed by SF Studios.

Arthaus was initially established to acquire titles for the Norwegian Federation of Film Societies. In 1992, it became an independent distribution company specialising in arthouse movies. Arthaus is organised as a non-profit foundation.

*Barn* was only the third Norwegian movie distributed by Arthaus since 2008. The first was the 45-minute film *Sommerhuset* (Givær 2008). More recently, Arthaus distributed the Motlys-produced *The Rules of Everything* (Hiortøy 2017). *Barn* was by far Arthaus' biggest Norwegian title to-date and represented a bigger investment than most of the company's titles both in terms of money and time.

> "The budget isn't that much higher than what we usually spend on a foreign movie, perhaps three times higher. However, in terms of resources spent, it's probably five or seven times higher. When we release a Norwegian film, we're included in the whole process. We create all the materials we need for the marketing. With foreign titles, there are a number of posters and trailers and so on that we can choose from. Now we have to create all of it. A lot of it is done by the producers, but always in a dialogue with us."---Arthaus, September 2019

###### Table 23: Arthaus' 2019 slate

| English title              | Norwegian title                 | Premiere     | Weeks in cinemas | Admissions |
|--------------|-----------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
| Woman at War               | Kvinne på krigsstien            | January 25   | 20               | 8,077      |
| Burning                    | Burning                         | February 22  | 19               | 4,806      |
| The Sisters Brothers       | The Sisters Brothers            | March 22     | 14               | 8,934      |
| Happy as Lazzaro           | Lykkelige Lazzaro               | April 12     | 25               | 7,103      |
| mid90s                     | mid90s                          | April 26     | 37               | 12,978     |
| Non-fiction                | Mellom linjene                  | May 10       | 23               | 11,059     |
| 3 Faces                    | 3 kvinner                       | June 07      | 28               | 4,636      |
| Castle in the Sky          | Laputa -- Himmelslottet         | June 28      | 23               | 4,096      |
| Amazing Grace              | Amazing Grace                   | August 16    | 27               | 42,815     |
| Beware of Children         | Barn                            | September 13 | 29               | 21,942     |
| Who You Think I Am         | Forført                         | October 4    | 10               | 2,215      |
| And Then We Danced         | I morgen danser vi              | October 25   | 23               | 3,998      |
| Too Late to Die Young      | Godt nyttår, Chile              | November 22  | 13               | 3,910      |
| Echo                       | Echo                            | December 01  | 8                | 890        |
| Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Portrett av en kvinne i flammer | December 25  | 36               | 23,682     |

In economic terms, *Barn* was just another movie in Arthaus' 2019 slate and Arthaus did not need it to make a bigger profit than any other 2019 titles. However, Arthaus clearly felt extra responsibility for *Barn*.

> "We rarely release Norwegian titles and the experience we have is from Norwegian movies that nobody else wanted or saw a potential for cinematic release in. There were very low expectations. But this, this is one of the best Norwegian movies of the decade according to critics. We feel this is something more than some international festival winner. It's something different." ---Arthaus, September 2019

Arthaus describes itself as a purely cinematic distribution company, and has rarely attempted to become involved directly in the home entertainment markets. While Arthaus retains the home entertainment rights to *Barn*, it has, since 2007, relied on Star Media Entertainment to handle both digital and physical home entertainment releases.

Star Media was originally founded in 1984 as a video distribution company. After a failed first attempt, the company became successful during the early 2000s. In 2019, it was acquired by Denmark's Mis.Label but continued to operate in Norway as Star Media. Star Media acquired rights for foreign titles in all windows and did home entertainment, physical and/or digital, for several Norwegian distribution companies. But with the decline of the physical home entertainment market, Star Media had also shrunk, and by the time of the interviews had only one employee in Norway. In September 2021, a few months after the last interview, Star Media's Norwegian office closed.

In 2019, Star Media Entertainment registered 82 titles in Videogramregisteret. 43 had not been in cinemas; of the others, 11 had been distributed in cinemas by Arthaus. Among the rest were 10 home entertainment releases for Another World, physical releases of Norwegian titles for Norsk Filmdistribusjon and Selmer Media.

#### Day and date talks

In their initial meetings with NFI, as support was awarded, Motlys was challenged to think about alternative strategies for distribution. It was clear that *Barn* would be a difficult film to sell in cinemas, no matter how good it became. While a key element of the Norwegian film support system, the ex post support, requires a certain number of cinema tickets sold, NFI has been eager to express that its support is platform neutral and that it would be willing to support movies that do not have cinemas as their first window.

> "We were aware that it's difficult for films like this, and the \[NFI\] commissioner asked us if it was possible to think about alternative ways of distribution."---Motlys, December 2019

Based on these discussions, Motlys approached NRK, Norway's state-owned public broadcaster and biggest television channel. Motlys suggested a variant of a day-and-date\[\^59\] release, with a limited run on NRK during *Barn*'s opening weekend. The idea was that it would be available in cinemas and in NRK's on-demand service during the opening weekend, and then have a regular cinema window for the rest of the run. Perhaps learning from the negative reactions to Euforia's attempt at a streaming pre-release for *Jakten på Berlusconi* (Endresen 2014)\[\^60\], Motlys held talks with NFI, NRK and the main cinema chain in Oslo.

> "We asked if NRK would be willing to offer a substantial amount to get a first window, an opening week or weekend where they put it on the front of their services." --- Motlys, December 2019

While the idea was that *Barn* would be the first test for this kind of day-and-date release, Motlys' thought it could be a good release strategy for a few of the least commercial Norwegian movies each year.

> "We discussed this with the heads of NRK, NFI and \[cinema chain\], and we could do this for two or three Norwegian films each year. Also, because it would mean that NRK would invest more in Norwegian films." ---Motlys, December 2019

NRK has played a relatively small role in the financing of Norwegian movies since 2001 and has generally only bought traditional TV rights. In recent years it has bought the "pay TV" window for some documentaries as well as Motlys' 2020 feature *Ninjababy* (Flikke 2020). However, unlike its Danish counterpart, DR, NRK has no obligation to invest in Norwegian movies.

Motlys had nevertheless had great experience working with NRK previously. Motlys had produced *Heimebane* (*Home ground*, Fasting 2018) which reached a million viewers, and so had seen up close how effective NRK's marketing machine could be.

> "Let's say that it had attracted a few hundred thousand viewers, perhaps five hundred thousand. Then people would have started talking about it, and about how great it is. (...) And the buzz would have been "it's not that grim, it's a quite warm film actually", and more people would see it in cinemas because of all the free marketing." ---Motlys, December 2019

For a while Motlys believed this could work, as the local heads of the cinema chain were positive. However, the foreign head office did not agree.

> "\[The local cinema heads\] were a bit like, "this sound like a good idea, since we won't make a lot of money on this film anyway". (...) And then the message came from \[the head office\] ; "No way, it will be the end of our business". We tried responding that this would only apply to a few small arthouse titles. But no, it would be the beginning of the end." ---Motlys, December 2019

While it did not come to pass, Motlys was pleasantly surprised that the local cinema heads had been open to the experiment. Company leaders felt the discussions had openly addressed some of the unresolved questions about how to help the smaller Norwegian movies in a market that had less space for them.

> "What should we do with these kinds of movies? Should we stop making them? Is there a place for them in cinemas still? And should NFI support movies that don't get screenings? So, everybody came to the table with a positive attitude and wanted to see what we could do. Well, it would have been fun to try." ---Motlys, December 2019

Continuing talks with NRK without the blessing of the cinemas was not an option, but Motlys had not given up on involving NRK in day-and-date style releases.

> "Unfortunately, we can't do this without \[them\]. They are too powerful. Hopefully, we continue to kick them on the shins until they realise that this is a win-win. To boost two or three Norwegian quality movies, which we agree that we should continue to make. (...) And if we get NRK to invest 2 million, then NFI can spend less. We just have to get them to understand that this is not the beginning of the end, but the start of something new." ---Motlys, December 2019

#### Festivals

For *Barn,* the primary release strategy was always going to be festival-led. Motlys felt the film could potentially be a Cannes contender, and set its sights on the French Riviera early. However, the first festival to show serious interest was Gothenburg.

> "They were very interested in the movie and saw it in November 2018. They fell completely in love and wanted it as their opening movie. We thought that was nice and started planning for a February \[2019\] release. We were then contacted by the curator of the Director's Forth-night in Cannes. While he would not promise anything, he advised us not to go up in Gothenburg. ---Motlys, September 2019

With Cannes as a possibility, Arthaus and Motlys considered releasing *Barn* in June. While Norwegian movies are very rarely released in the summer months, Motlys was wary about the long wait from May to September or October.

> "When we had *Louder than Bombs* in the main competition in Cannes and a Norwegian premiere in the autumn, we were disappointed. We thought that people had forgotten it." ---Motlys, September 2019

While releasing in June would go against conventional wisdom. Arthaus thought a gamble could pay off for *Barn*, especially considering its length. At 157 minutes, it was the longest running Norwegian titles in decades.

> " We thought it would be exciting to have a Norwegian premiere right after Cannes. There are no Norwegian films released between April and August, and that would leave us all alone as a Norwegian film throughout the summer. Especially for such a long film, two and a half hours, it would be easier to program. Of course, you're competing with the weather, but we thought that the weather had been so good \[in 2018\] it couldn't be that great again \[in 2019\]." ---Arthaus, September 2019

With a June premiere, *Barn,* could also benefit from the Norwegian Film Festival in August. If the film won awards, it could boost the cinema attendance if the film was still playing.

In the end, Cannes did not pick *Barn*, and Motlys now looked to Venice for a possible world premiere, with San Sebastián and Toronto as backups. Venice seemed interested, but getting an answer took time. An invitation from the Norwegian Film Festival became the final leverage *Barn* needed.

> "It is a bit of a game, and quite difficult to be on top of. However, we were also invited to be the opening movie at the Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund \[in August 2019\]. We then went to Venice and said that we needed an answer. They saw it at seven in the morning the day after and loved it. It was picked very early for a side section, which again excluded the main competition. (...) Venice then makes San Sebastián impossible and Toronto less interested because they prefer world premieres." ---Motlys, September 2019

*Barn* was eventually screened at 15 international festivals, including Venice Days, Busan International Festival, Thessaloniki International Film Festival and Gothenburg International Film Festival.

#### Cinema release

With Venice secured, plans for a release date could be set. Arthaus and Motlys settled on September 13, 2019, almost a year after the film was completed.

> "World premiere in Venice and Norwegian premiere a week later is perfect. We got the reviews when we opened in Venice and there is time enough to use them in the marketing. If it was two weeks, I think we would have lost momentum." ---Motlys, September 2019

However, opening in September meant there would be strong competition, not least from other Norwegian titles. It was therefore important for Arthaus that the date was set as early as possible.

> "We announced September 13 in April or May, I think, and the others noted that. *Hjelperytteren* went a week earlier than first announced, leaving two weeks between them." ---Arthaus, September 2019

Another Norwegian movie, *Spionen*, was also scheduled to open the week after *Barn*, but moved to a later date to avoid *Downton Abbey* (Engler, 2019) which also opened on September 13\[\^61\].

> "UIP, which has Downton Abbey, doesn't care if there's a tiny Norwegian movie there. We will see; perhaps there's room for both." ---Arthaus, September 2019

Norwegian movies have generally opened as wide as the number of copies allowed. After the digitalisation of the cinemas in 2011, this typically means that most cinemas only open movies when they premiere. However, Arthaus has remained careful not to open too wide (Øfsti 2011a).

> "We always have that discussion with all our movies. How widely we open, and if it's better to release a movie in the bigger cities before it goes to the smaller cinemas and to let the word-of-mouth start working. However, with *Barn* and all the work we're putting into the release, \[and\] its large -- for us -- marketing budget and the international festival, we think that it'll be well known for the smaller cinemas at an earlier time. We have around 90 cinemas booked, and 60 of them for the first weekend. So, we expand a bit, but most of the cinemas that want the premiere will get it. There are still a few that won't take it if they don't get it on the first weekend, but I have the sense that more cinemas understand it might be better to wait a bit." ---Arthaus, September 2019

#### Critical reception

*Barn* was generally very well received by Norwegian critics, with several calling it the best Norwegian film of the year and even the decade. Others were more reserved and felt that it was too long and too political.

At the Norwegian Film festival *Barn* won nine Amanda awards: best film, best direction, best screenplay, best cinematography, best editing, best score, best sound design, best actor, and best supporting actor. It was also nominated for best supporting actress. Internationally it won the Nordic Council Film Prize, best film in the international competition at Thessaloniki Film Festival, and best Nordic film and best acting\[\^62\] at the Gothenburg Film Festival. *Barn* was also nominated to the Queer Lion at Venice Film Festival, the Golden Alexander at Thessaloniki Film Festival, and the International Feature Film Competition Award at Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival.

However, *Barn* did not end up as Norway's candidate for the Academy Awards, losing out to *Ut å stjæle hester* in the end.

> "We were on the \[Norwegian\] short list and did an interview with the Norwegian Oscar jury right before the premiere. At that point, *Ut å stjæle hester* had been out there for almost a year. I don't think it was a bad choice. It's not unlikely that it had a better chance at an Oscar. (...) US distribution plays a role there as well. It was a bit annoying to lose out because it would have been good for the marketing in Norway to be the Oscar candidate." ---Motlys, April 2021

#### Cinema performance

Talking before the cinema release, Arthaus had budgeted with a projection of somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 admissions.

> "Then we'll be happy and nobody will have lost money on this gamble. But I expect, and hope, and believe that we'll get more." ---Arthaus, September 2019

Motlys was slightly more bullish in its expectations.

> "I'm trying to not be disappointed, trying to keep expectations low and be happy with our achievements. But, I'm also a sore loser. I'm hoping we will reach as many as Dag Johans previous movie, *Som du ser meg*. Now, that was seven years ago and in a very different landscape, but it did 30,000. So, I'm guessing that if we do less than 30,000 I won't be happy. I've said that this film needs a few great reviews and an international festival, and we've got that, but I will be disappointed if we go below 30,000." ---Motlys, September 2019

*Barn* opened with 3,358 admissions during the first weekend and after 16 weeks the first cinema run ended at around 20,500 admissions. After receiving nine Amanda awards it returned to cinemas and earned another 1,200 admissions. This second run was impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, and another planned series of special screenings in autumn 2020, after *Barn* won The Nordic Council Film Prize, were scrapped entirely because of new lockdowns in Oslo.

> "We'd planned a series of screening at Vega Scene, with introductions from the director and a different actor each day. I think that could have generated a decent number of admissions." ---Motlys, April 2021

Speaking in late 2020 both Arthaus and Motlys expressed both pride in the movie and the way it was released, as well as disappointment in the admissions.

> "Well, we are not in it for the money, as long as we manage to cover our costs we are happy. (...) I'm a bit disappointed because the movie was received so well, and we have gotten so much great feedback from all kinds of audiences. And I feel that we as a distributor did a very thorough job in trying to reach as many as possible. We did a lot of event screenings, using the large great cast in the movie, and Dag Johan has been everywhere. I think we did 20 special screenings with cast and crew. (...) We get some feedback that we shouldn't be disappointed that this is a movie that might have done 10,000, and we got it up to 20,000. But, semi-happy." ---Arthaus, December 2019

Motlys shared similar sentiments.

> "Even if I said 30,000 earlier, you adapt, and you see what others are doing and 20,000 is ok. I guess I'm happier with 20,000 than I thought I would be. Also because I've seen how hard Arthaus have worked to get it out. There are not a lot of things we could have done differently, except to make a different movie. I'm happy that we made a movie that, even if it is hard to sell, makes an impression. (...) I'd rather make a great movie that is seen by 20,000 than a movie seen by 100,000 that I'm not proud of." ---Motlys, December 2019

The competition from *Downtown Abbey* also hit hard, as the two movies competed for the same core audience of middle-aged women.

> "We did not just lose audiences, but also many cinemas. They did an extra push for that movie during the opening weekend and had Downton Abbey events and stuff like that. So, that movie became their focus, their priority." ---Arthaus, December 2019

Moving *Barn* after the date for *Downton Abbey* was not really an option because of Venice.

> "We had chosen that date because it was the weekend after Venice, and if not for that we could have moved again. So, that was unlucky." ---Motlys, December 2019

While Motlys hoped that the film still would get attention in the coming months as it was a candidate for the Dragon Award in Gothenburg and likely to get several Amanda awards and nominations at the Norwegian Film Festival. However, as *Barn* would no longer be in cinemas by then, this could only affect the home entertainment release.

> "If Amanda had been in January we could have gambled on getting a lot of nominations, winning a lot of awards and getting a new actuality. With *Force Majeur* in Sweden, which we co-produced, it had one third of its admissions after Guldbaggen when it would otherwise been dead. And that was planned. ---Motlys, December 2019

As time had passed after the premiere, both Motlys and Arthaus also realised that the film was an even harder sell than they first perceived.

> "After a while you're able to get a more outside view of the film, and I see that is hard to sell. Even to an interested audience. Because it hasn't got that clear pitch, it's just a very good film. It has no overreaching theme, it doesn't try to create debate. It is just a film about being human in a difficult situation. And that is too vague in today's cinema landscape." ---Motlys, December 2019

However, when evaluating the marketing, both were unsure if they had made the right decisions. They had avoided stating explicitly that Jamie dies in the marketing material, leaving it slightly ambiguous.

> "I remember the discussion when we changed the pitch. \[First\] it was very clear that Jamie dies in an accident at school, and we changed to a serious injury. (...) I think it was Dag Johan Hagerud that wanted to be clear about what happens, don't hide it. I've been thinking about it, maybe we should have been. It is impossible to know." ---Arthaus, December 2019
>
> "\[Veteran producer\] John M. Jacobsen has often said that you can't get away from what the movie truly is, you can't market yourself away from the core of the movie." ---Motlys, December 2019
>
> "Everybody I know, knew about *Barn*, and it was like "oh, that is the long film about a child who kills another child", so the audiences had a clear idea about the movie." ---Arthaus, December 2019

There was never any discussion prior to making *Barn* if Jamie had to die. Motlys wondered if, in hindsight, that was a discussion they could have had.

> "What if he had been in a coma. Would it have made it easier for the audiences? I think so, and it would have been more or less the same movie". ---Motlys, December 2019

In the end, however, both Motlys and Arthaus were committed to director Dag Johan Haugerud's vision.

> "If we had been operating in another, more commercial system, we would perhaps have simply said that this is a movie we won't make. "Do you have anything else?" But when working with a director who you trust, it is exciting to just be a part of it, give him free reins and just try to help him succeed." ---Motlys, December 2019

While expectations for international success were low, it was further diminished by the COVID-19 pandemic. *Barn* opened in Denmark two weeks before cinemas closed. It was also released in Sweden in the spring of 2020, in a period of strict restrictions.

#### Home entertainment release

*Barn* was released in EST on iTunes December 2. A week later all other digital platforms in EST and TVOD, as well as DVD and Blu-ray followed. This gave *Barn* a relatively short cinematic window of 80 days.

The December 9 date was initially suggested by Arthaus, and neither Motlys nor Star Media had any objections to this. The date was decided before *Barn* opened in cinemas. Arthaus was aware that this was a slightly early release and expected it to still be playing in Oslo. However, Arthaus did not expect this to impact any screenings negatively and pointed to other titles like *A Star is Born* (Cooper 2018), *Bohemian Rhapsody* (Singer 2018) and their own *Mid-90s* (Hill 2018) that had all continued to perform in cinemas after they were released on VOD. Arthaus also wanted to have the physical home entertainment release before Christmas as it could possibly be a gift item.

The decision to have an early release on iTunes was made by Star Media, as it was one of very few options they have to boost the title's prominence on digital platforms.

> "In the old days, with \[physical releases\], we could offer marketing support to stores and buy shelf-space. You can't do that digitally, you depend on word-of-mouth and cinema performance. The James Bonds and the Frosts will be featured anyway, but a move like *Barn* will struggle. So, we do stuff like early EST, not because it sells anything, but because we get "shelf space"." ---Star Media, December 2019

In Star Medias experience, iTunes was the largest platform for both EST and TVOD in 2019. However, as recently as 2017 Altibox was the platform that generated the most income. Since then, Altibox seems to have scaled down their efforts in digital movies.

*Barn* was also released at the slightly low EST price point of NOK 99. For Star Media, this was also a marketing strategy. They did not expect the film to have any meaningful EST sales and a lower price could give higher prominence and boost the TVOD sales where most of the transactions were expected to come anyway. The EST price was lowered again to NOK 79 in June 2020.

*Barn* was offered to all EST/TVOD platforms but not all of them, notably Blockbuster and Google Play Store, chose to offer it.

> "It is very frustrating to see that we offer the movie to all platforms, but not all of them take it. And it is even more frustrating when they take it down after six or 12 months." ---Star Media, March 2020

Arthaus managed, during the first period of COVID-19-lockdown, to get an "Arthaus" section on the small Norwegian VOD platform Nettkino. Similar efforts had been made in conjunction with Star Media/Mis. Label to get a section on iTunes as well. Especially with the success of *Parasite* Arthaus hoped that film could draw attention to their other movies. However, as Arthaus only held the rights for Norway this proved difficult

> "The problem is that these movies are not called Arthaus in Denmark, Sweden and Finland, and iTunes and Blockbuster and the others are Scandinavian players. I don't understand why they can't customise it for Norway and Sweden and so on. It could be Folkets Bio in Sweden and Arthaus in Norway, but that is a challenge for the Nordic Countries." ---Star Media, March 2020

*Barn* was also released on both DVD and Blu-ray. The higher cost of the Blu-ray release meant that Star Media were not prepared to risk the production costs. After some deliberation, Arthaus decided to cover these.

> "We were in doubt about releasing it on Blu-ray, but we decided that, dammit, such a great movie deserves to be seen in the best format at home. ---Arthaus, December 2019

#### Home Entertainment performance

Arthaus and Motlys were hopeful that the somewhat lacking cinema admissions, combined with great reviews, awards and high awareness, meant that there would be a relatively high number of people who were interested in seeing the movie when it was available at home. They had experienced this previously with *Force Majeure* (Østlund 2014) which did great in home entertainment markets, despite disappointing at only 20,000 admissions in Norwegian cinemas. Star Media was more reserved.

> "I am very anxious about the digital release, because of the theme of the movie. Will be people think, "A movie about a child who dies? Am I in the mood for that? Or should I see World on Fire on NRK or whatever on Netflix?" Because the competition now is insane, there is some much to choose from all the time." ---Star Media, December 2019

Star Media were very hesitant to make any predictions on the performance of *Barn* in the various home entertainment formats. No VOD estimates were given, and DVD/Blu-rays estimates were very unsure. Star Media used to be able to make pretty accurate estimates on physical sales, but a shift in ordering from the bigger customers has changed this. They now order less upfront, but place re-orders quickly if sales are good. This places a bigger strain on the home entertainment distributors, as they risk either having too large inventories or be unable to fulfil re-orders if a movie performs well.

> "It is very frustrating to not be able to estimate sales anymore. Platekompaniet has ordered 100 copies, does that mean I can sell 1000? Probably, but I would not promise \[Arthaus\] that." ---Star Media, December 2019

The initial run for both the DVD and Blu-ray was 500 copies each, the minimum order possible. In the spring of 2020 *Barn* had sold about 900 physical copies, around 1,700 TVOD transactions and 300 EST sales. On iTunes, where it sold most of its digital copies, it had charted at 44\[\^63\]. However, after receiving nine Amanda awards in the summer of 2020 it received a strong boost. By the spring of 2021 *Barn* had sold about 900 DVDs and 600 Blu-ray copies.

> "There was a marked increase in sales after the Amanda awards, and it has sold steadily after that. So, about a third of the sales came after Amanda, which was almost nine months after the DVD-release" ---Star Media, April 2021

In digital transactions, the boost was also very evident. In July, the total transactions were 143, compared to 1,847 in August, and it had reached number nine in the iTunes chart\[\^64\]. By the spring of 2021 the total was 5,000 TVOD transactions and 700 EST sales. Bringing the total number of home entertainment transactions up to around 7200. This places the conversion rate at a decent 33%

Star Media were pretty happy with these numbers, especially the EST sales were better than expected. While the Amanda awards had a noticeable effect on the number of transactions in the home market, all three informants still felt the timing of the Norwegian Film Festival left a lot to be desired. If *Barn* had caught this second-wind while still playing in cinemas, it would certainly have been more valuable for Arthaus and Motlys, and higher cinema admissions would generally also give more home entertainment transactions for Star Media as well.

#### Streaming and Television

Neither Arthaus nor Star Media had any substantial experience of selling movies to SVOD services. Arthaus had approached Netflix, among other streaming platforms, about the foreign titles they hold local distribution rights to. While there had been interest, they wanted to secure rights for all Nordic countries, which eventually fell through. However, both Arthaus and Star Media had some experience with selling movies to NRK, and some of Arthaus' older titles had been made available on Get/Teliaplay and Altibox through a cooperation with Euforia.

Motlys had not made any attempts at selling their catalogue to streaming services, having the impression that they would not be very interested in their type of movies, and not pay very well in any case. Motlys did sell television and streaming rights for *Barn* during pre-production without the involvement of Arthaus.

C More bought the traditional pay TV window and made *Barn* available on their services in Scandinavia in September 2020, a year after the premiere. At one point it looked like this date would have to move, as COVID-19 might delay the Swedish premiere. In Sweden, no movie can have a shorter cinematic window than 122 days. However, the Swedish premiere was eventually set in May 2020, giving ample time for the mandated window.

Motlys had also sold TV, including on-demand, rights to YLE and NRK. Swedish SVT had been approached during the production, but had refused. After the success at Gothenburg Film Festival they had approached Motlys to buy TV rights, but at that point the rights had been sold to a Swedish distributor along with the other windows. The sale to NRK had a holdback period of 24 months after the cinema premiere. It was made available for two months on December 16, 2021, 26 months after the premiere.

#### Further collaborations

Arthaus passed over Motlys and Dag Johan Haugerud's next film, the medium length feature *Lyset fra Sjokoladefabrikken*. Motlys self-distributed the movie to selected cinemas,\[\^65\] and then sold it to NRK, where it remains on-demand in perpetuity. Arthaus had first been offered the movie when it was more of a "creative exercise" and not something with a "cinematic potential".

> "This was a year before *Barn* went into production. It was something Dag Johan Haugerud did when he was trying to finance *Barn*." ---Arthaus, March 2020

However, when it was selected for Gothenburg Film Festival and Tromsø International Film Festival in 2020, Motlys decided to try to get it into cinemas and went to Arthaus. They were reluctant since they had just finished the release of *Barn* which had drained the company, and since it was already selected for Gothenburg they would have to squeeze it into an already packed lineup.

> "My team was simply not ready for a film like that, right after *Barn*. (...) \[Motlys\] came to us in November, and it was already at festivals, so the train was already moving." ---Arthaus, March 2020

Motlys did not seriously pursue any other distributors, and opted instead to release the film themselves.

> "It was a good experience for us. This was a movie that was made on a very low budget, with small amount of NFI funding to finish it. So, we have no problem understanding that Arthaus passed it over. We had not expected that \[Gothenburg\] wanted it either. (...) Both me and Dag Johan Haugerud were pleasantly surprised that it got such a good reception. To us, it was just a small thing. So, I think it was a good thing that we released it ourselves. And then Arthaus can do the next Dag Johan film." ---Motlys, March 2020

To which Arthaus immediately responded.

> "We were afraid that this disqualified us from further collaborations with Motlys and Dag Johan, but that was luckily disproved right now." ---Arthaus, March 2020

#### The Bottom Line

In the end, all three companies involved in *Barn* did just about break even. Motlys met their budgets when *Barn* passed 10,000 admissions to qualify for ex post support, which would trigger funds that matched their pre-sales in the form of Norwegian and foreign MGs as well as television and streaming rights. Beyond these they saw no profits from sales or admissions, but had not expected to either. For Motlys the key to survival is to stay in production.

> "This was not a film we had counted on creating profits. We make money by making the movie." ---Motlys, April 2021

On a personal level, however, the movie had brought substantial awards money that was split between the director and the producer.

> "For the director and \[personally for\] the producer there have been some awards' money, the Dragon Award \[from Gothenburg Film Festival\] is one million \[SEK\] and The Nordic Council Film Prize is also quite a bit." ---Motlys, April 2021

Arthaus reached their minimum estimates and did not lose money, but had hoped for more.

> "We are just over break even, but it would have been great to see 40,000 admissions. It didn't do as well as we had hoped, but it reaches the estimates we needed to break even." ---Arthaus, April 2021

For Motlys and Dag Johan Haugerud it was also a major success that the film was screened at Venice and received prestigious awards in Gothenburg and Thessaloniki. Hopefully, opening doors for Haugerud internationally in the future. While Motlys was proud of the movie and what it had achieved, making another movie like *Barn* was not tempting.

> "No. But you always want to do something new. For example, we now have a project with Dag Johan Haugerud that is going to be a 90-minute film, that will have a clear plot and theme. But it is more because you don't want to repeat yourself." ---Motlys, December 2019

However, Motlys acknowledge that reaching audiences is a part of their ambition and that in the current market it is getting increasingly difficult to justify many of the films the company makes.

> "We have a constant discussion on that dilemma. How can we reach a bigger audience and still make the movies we want to make and sacrificing the reasons why we make movies?" ---Motlys, December 2019

Arthaus shared a similar sentiment.

> "What we dream of is distributing movies like *Parasite,* who manage both. That are brilliant artistic and uncompromising throughout the movie and still have a big appeal. But, you know, that happens every third leap year." ---Arthaus, December 2019

For Motlys, *Barn* was another example of a movie that was an artistic success, where they did get their investments back, and managed to stay in production for a while longer. However, they were unable to generate any profits of the project.

> "The problem is, with this kind of film, is that you are always forced to put more capital in it than you really want. Just to get it realised. The target is always to invest less \[of our own money\] in the actual film, so that there might be some profits in the end. (...) We are quite prudent. Yes, we might have hoped for twice the admissions, but we knew that it was likely to go the way it did. It becomes a virtue by necessity. The main problem for the Norwegian film industry is that there are so few Norwegians." ---Motlys, March 2020

#### Art first

The release of *Barn* was almost a textbook artistic movie release. The film received high praise, but modest audiences. None of the companies involved made any profits, but all avoided losses. Motlys and Arthaus also made several choices that, while good for the movie and Dag Johan Haugerud and Motlys' long-term goals, might have hurt the admissions. By initially passing on Gothenburg Film Festival for more attractive festivals later in the year, they were forced to release *Barn* in the autumn.

While the Venice premiere certainly gave the local release a higher profile than a Gothenburg premiere would, it is not given that this translated into significantly higher audiences. Gothenburg would allow a spring, or even early summer release as had been discussed, which would have given them less competition at cinemas, and they might have gotten a significant boost from the Norwegian Film Festival. While *Barn* got a significant boost from the Norwegian Film Festival in the home entertainment markets, this would have been far more valuable if the movie was still playing in cinemas.

While Motlys certainly wanted as high admissions as possible, prioritising a prestigious festival over possible local admissions would not hurt their earnings. Motlys budgets only required the movie to trigger ex post support. For Arthaus, however, higher admissions would result in more revenue. If their investment in *Barn* had been purely economic, then this could have been a conflict. However, it was evident that Arthaus, also from the decision to release *Barn* on Blu-ray, gave artistic considerations more weight than economic.

While it is impossible to know how *Barn* would have fared with an earlier release, the release strategy was relatively successful by all measurable means. *Barn* was in cinemas for a total of 29 weeks, more than any other Norwegian 2019 title released by a low-resource distributor with the exception of the children's title *Brillebjørn på ferie*. It also remained longer in cinemas than several of SF Studios and Nordisk Film Distribusjon's titles, despite some of them far exceeding *Barns* admissions\[\^66\]. While the 29 weeks includes *Barn*'s return to cinemas in 2002, this only serves to reinforce that Arthaus punched above the weight of its admissions in cinemas.

###### Table 24: Total admissions and highest observed iTunes chart position for Barn and selected movies.

|                | Total admissions | Highest iTunes Chart |
|----------------|------------------|----------------------|
| Barn           | 21,568           | 9                    |
| Disco          | 41,044           | 16                   |
| Håp            | 46,661           | 91                   |
| Swingers       | 10,096           | 10                   |
| De dødes tjern | 17,628           | 43                   |

*Barn* also performed well in home entertainment windows, especially after it won nine Amanda awards in 2020. While no sales figures for other titles are known, *Barn* did very well in the iTunes chart compared to admissions.

###### Table 25: Number of observations on TVOD/EST platforms from 2019 to 2021 for Barn and selected movies.

|                | iTunes | Google Play | Blockbuster | Viaplay Store | Altibox | Get /Teliaplay |
|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| Barn           | 13     | 0           | 0           | 30            | 10      | 10             |
| Disco          | 11     | 18          | 3           | 0             | 1       | 0              |
| Håp            | 7      | 14          | 5           | 64            | 20      | 19             |
| Swingers       | 17     | 65          | 10          | 88            | 37      | 4              |
| De dødes tjern | 16     | 28          | 1           | 72            | 6       | 32             |

While *Barn* did well in the iTunes chart, Arthaus/Star Media struggled to get prominence on several of other platforms compared to high-resource distributor SF Studios. The SF Studios titles closest to *Barn* in admissions, *Håp*, *Swingers* and *De dødes tjern*, were all featured on all observed platforms. *Barn*, and low-resource distributor Mer Filmdistribusjon's *Disco* were absent from several.

###### Table 26: Number of observations on SVOD platforms from 2019 to 2021 for Barn and selected movies

|                | TV2 Play | Viaplay |
|----------------|----------|---------|
| Barn           | 20       | 0       |
| Disco          | 0        | 0       |
| Håp            | 5        | 0       |
| Swingers       | 40       | 20      |
| De dødes tjern | 0        | 0       |

*Barn* was also the only title released by a low-resource distributor to get a SVOD release in the first streaming window. The deal with C More was, however, negotiated by Motlys without Arthaus' involvement. Motlys' other 2019 title, *Håp*, distributed by SF Studios, also went to C More about a year after theatrical release. It is not inconceivable that Motlys was able to build on their relationship with C More through SF Studios to secure the SVOD deal for *Barn* as well.
