SF Studios (original) (raw)

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Sweden’s largest film industry involved in film production, distribution, and theater chain

Not to be confused with the Finnish quiz show SF-studio.

AB Svensk Filmindustri
Trade name SF Studios
Formerly Svensk Filmindustri (1919–2017)
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Film, television
Predecessor AB Svenska BiografteaternFilmindustri AB Skandia
Founded 27 December 1919; 104 years ago (1919-12-27)[1] by merger (as Svensk Filmindustri)
Headquarters Stockholm, Sweden
Area served Worldwide
Key people Iréne Lindblad (CEO)
Products Motion pictures, television series
Owner Bonnier Group
Parent Bonnier Entertainment
Website sfstudios.se

The gate to SF's headquarters at Filmstaden in Solna outside of Stockholm

SF Studios is Sweden’s largest film industry involved in production, distribution, and movie theater market chains (both Swedish and international, including American) with headquarters in Stockholm and local offices in Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki and London. The studio is owned by the Nordic media conglomerate Bonnier Group. The largest film studio in Sweden,[2] it was established on 27 December 1919 as Aktiebolaget Svensk Filmindustri, which means Swedish Film Industry in Swedish (AB Svensk Filmindustri) or Svensk Filmindustri (SF), and adopted its current name in 2016.

SF Studios was founded in 1919 through a merger between AB Svenska Biografteatern and Skandia Filmbyrå AB. From 1942 to 1961, Carl-Anders Dymling was the company's president. In 1946, the melodrama Sunshine Follows Rain was released, earning the studio's largest profit of the sound era.[3] SF produced most of the films made by Ingmar Bergman, as well as a long list of films by other filmmakers such as Mauritz Stiller, Victor Sjöström, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Bo Widerberg, Lasse Hallström and Bille August. The majority of film adaptations of the works by children's author Astrid Lindgren have been produced by SF.

More recently, SF Studios has produced the Academy Award-nominated film A Man Called Ove. The studio produces film and tv-series and has production divisions in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and since 2017 in the United Kingdom. In 2020, SF Studios released its first international film production Horizon Line.

SF also distributes foreign films in the Nordic countries and has deals with Warner Bros., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Sony Pictures and STX Entertainment in the United States and StudioCanal in France.

SF was owned by Hufvudstaden AB [sv] from 1970 until 1973, when it was sold to the newspaper firm Dagens Nyheter. Since 1983, SF has been owned by the Bonnier Group. In 1998, SF was divided into two separate companies, the production and distribution company AB Svensk Filmindustri and the cinema chain SF Bio (later Filmstaden)

In 2020, SF started distributing Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's titles in Scandinavia after their deal with 20th Century Home Entertainment expired, and signed agreements with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to handle titles across the Nordic and Baltic regions.[4] A year later, they signed a deal with Paramount Home Entertainment to distribute their releases in Scandinavia.

In mid-2022, SF signed a deal with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment for physical distribution of their titles in Scandinavia.

  1. ^ "Om SF" (in Swedish). AB Svensk Filmindustri. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  2. ^ Fornas, Johan; Becker, Karin; Bjurstrom, Erling; Ganetz, Hillevi (2007). Consuming Media: Communication, Shopping and Everyday Life. Berg Publishers. p. 160.
  3. ^ Nordic National Cinemas. p.188
  4. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (2020-11-16). "SF Studios Signs Distribution Deal With Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2021-11-09.