Mikael Marsimin's 'Cold Song' Is a Rare Return to High-Swing European TV Drama (Exclusive First Look)

Miso Film Sweden's six-part adaptation of Lynn Ullman's novel, backed by SVT and the New8 Group, arrives at Mipcom as European drama budgets tighten and commissions retreat to safer formats.

At the first meeting for The Cold Song, director Mikael Marcimain told producer Christian Rank that he thought this was the last chance they would get to make a show like it.

The six-episode Swedish series, adapted from the acclaimed novel by Norwegian writer Lynn Ullmann, recalls the kind of ambitious European TV seen a decade ago, when global broadcasters favored big swing dramas in international territories. Synopsis: A wealthy family's life falls apart after their young nanny disappears on summer vacation and family secrets and buried guilt are revealed.

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For him, says Marciman, whose credits include best-series Mania winner Blackwater (2023) and the thriller Call Girl, which won the Fipresci International Critics Award in Toronto, the show was "an excuse to do something new, to do a new take on what we call Nordic noir. You know these series, we usually invest in middle-aged men, we invest in them. Disappearance, usually a girl. We have the young man who disappears [in this series], but it's more of an excuse to tell the story of this family than a thriller.

The Cold Song, which Fremantle presents to Mipcom buyers this week, arrives at a time when European TV is in retreat. Budgets have tightened and commissions have retreated to the familiar — favoring low-budget dramas and safe crime formats.

"The money has definitely taken a backseat," says Rank, who produced The Cold Song through Fremantle's Swedish Miso Films. We're kind of back to a system that was more like it was before the whole golden age of television. To more classic crime shows, classic dramas. "These kinds of hybrid series, international shows with international appeal, there aren't many of them."

The Cold Song is a co-production between Miso Film, Swedish public broadcaster SVT, regional film fund Film i Väst and Northern European public broadcasters participating in New8, a partnership announced in 2023 to develop and finance the drama for audiences across the region. The New8 Group brings together public broadcasters from Northern Europe, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands who pool resources to finance and produce projects that are broadcast across their respective territories.

Rank estimates that New8's involvement increased The Cold Song's budget by "around 20-30%" through direct financing and by opening up access to other European tax incentives and other investors. The show's creative team was able to focus on making the series instead of second-guessing every decision to appeal to the international market.

"It's a wonderful luxury that you rarely get these," Rank says, "and I think that's the strength of the New8 collaboration. It allows the people who do the show to do something bold and brave and do something that's a little bit off-the-shelf or unusual."

For Rank, who previously worked at Danish public broadcaster DR during a period producing global broadcasts of Borgen and The Killing, the approach recalls the early days of Scandinavian television, when unconventional, locally rooted stories could find audiences beyond their home markets.

"I remember when we screened Borgen internally at the DR, and the head of drama stood up and he said, 'This is the one show that will never travel,'" Rank says. And it ended up being the show that traveled the most.

The Cold Song provides a case study of how public broadcasters can maintain space for ambitious, international television at a time when commercial companies are hedging their bets.

Whether this approach will find buyers beyond northern Europe remains an open question. Rank acknowledges that it is more difficult to sell European drama, especially in the US market, than it was five years ago. Following its market launch at Mipcom, the exhibition will be presented at industry events in Europe and is eyeing the festival circuit for its official debut.

Check out the first images from The Cold Song, exclusively provided to The Hollywood Reporter, below.

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