Mimmi Spång

Katarina Margareta Spång (born May 5, 1973), more known under the name Mimmi Spång, is a Swedish film producer but has also acted as production manager among other things.[1] She has been involved with and produced several films, some of the most known being the Swedish productions Sebbe and Call Girl.[2]

Career

After graduating from the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts (SADA) in 2001 (previously known as University College of Film, Radio, Television and Theatre), Spång was offered a position at Memfis Film, which she accepted.[3] She worked at Memfis Film for the following three years and participated in several projects such as Zozo and Kopps in the role as first assistant director.[4] Spång stated in an interview that she found her time at Memfis to be extremely enlightening but that she felt that what she wanted was to work as a producer. In order to fulfill this desire, Spång founded her own company and was shortly thereafter hired by Garagefilm International where she has been employed since 2007.[3] Today Spång is one of the co-owners of Garagefilm together with the original founders, Malte Forsell and Håkan Lindhé, and her long time producer partner, Rebecka Lafrenz.[5]

Spång and Lafrenz first met as students at SADA in 1998. Since then, they have followed each other from their graduation to Memfis Film and lastly to Garagefilm, where they both are currently employed and acting co-owners. Together they have produced several films, among them being Sebbe, Call Girl and Cockpit. Spång and Lorenz were in 2011 chosen to represent Sweden in European Film Promotions Producers on the Move at the film festival in Cannes the same year. In 2011, the duo were also awarded the Lorens prize for producers at the Gothenburg Film festival.[6]

“The choice is obvious. Without Garagefilm, their commitment, knowledge and courage, the Swedish film industry would be poorer,” commented the Swedish Film Institute’s international chief, Pia Lundberg, about sending Spång and Lafrenz to Cannes.

Some of the films Spång has been involved with have received various types of criticism. Call Girl was critiqued for insinuating that one of Sweden’s previous prime ministers, Olof Palme, participated in purchasing sexual favors from minors. Both Palme’s son, Mårten Palme, and several other people reacted strongly to this depiction, finding it offensive and tainting. The director and writers attempt to explain that everything in the film was purely fiction was discarded as cowardly by the Swedish newspaper SvD's head of culture, Mårten Jönsson. SvD tried to reach Spång for a comment but was unable as she was otherwise engaged with filming a new project.[7]

In 2012, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swedish institute arranged a film festival in Bangkok, Thailand. The Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (Daily News) later reported that the organization of this festival in part was an attempt to sell military aircraft. Several filmmakers that were involved with the festival were outraged when finding out that their work could be connected to the selling of war machines. Spång was among these filmmakers and stated, “We really don’t want any of our films to contribute to weapons exports. We find it absolutely appalling.”[8]

In 2013, SFI’s Film room held a conference called Film Politics 2020,[9] inviting different Swedish filmmakers to speak about and discuss film politics. Among those invited, Spång was one of the representatives for Swedish producers, together with Peter ”Piodor” Gustafsson. Spång stated that she believes in quotation for the development of Swedish film production to begin its evolution concerning human variety in the film industry.[10]

Awards and nominations

Spångs career got off to a good start when her graduation-project Viktor and his Brothers won the Swedish film award Guldbagge Award for best Short Film in 2002.[3] Several of the projects Spång has been involved with has received multiple awards and nominations for production, crew as well as cast. A SOAP received the Silver Bear and Best Debut in Berlin in 2006. In 2009 Heaven’s Heart was awardarded a Guldbaggen. Spång produced the feature film Guidance which was nominated for the Dragon Award at the Göteborg International Film Festival and the New Talent Award in CPH Pix. Sebbe was nominated for the Dragon Award 2010 and was also named Best First Feature Film at the Berlinale 2010. In 2011 Sebbe won a Guldbagge for Best Picture. Call Girl was awarded four Guldbagge awards as well as several international festival prizes.[11]

Filmography

Film Year Role
Shocking Truth 2000 Post-production supervisor
Ordinary Americans 2001 Producer
Besvärliga människor 2001 Production assistant
Viktor och hans bröder (Viktor and His Brothers) 2002 Producer
Kopps 2003 Production manager/ First assistant director
The Apple Tree 2003 Production manager
Elixir 2004 Producer
Fragile 2004 Special thanks
Zozo 2005 Production coordinator / First Assistant Director
Krama mig 2005 Production coordinator
En fråga om liv och död 2006 Producer
Holly Hallonsten ger igen 2006 Producer
En såpa (A Soap) 2006 Co-producer
Jag förstår inte 2008 Producer
Himlens hjärta (Heaven's Heart) 2008 Executive producer
Äpplet & maske (The Apple and the Worm) 2009 Producer
Behandlingen 2009 Producer
Lidingöligan 2009 Producer
Småvilt 2009 Producer
Sebbe 2010 Producer
Call Girl 2012 Producer
Cockpit 2012 Producer
De närmaste 2012 Producer
Flugparken (Blowfly Park) 2013 Producer
Pioneer 2013 Co-producer
Nånting måste gå sönder 2014 Executive producer

References

  1. ↑ "Svenska Filminstitutet, Svensk Filmdatabas". Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "Svenska Filminstitutet Svensk Filmdatabas". Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Glennegård, Susanne. "Interview with Mimmi Spång". Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Svenska Filminstitutet Svensk Filmdatabas". Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "Producers on the Move 2011". Cineuropa.
  6. ↑ "MIMMI SPÅNG OCH REBECKA LAFRENZ – ÅRETS PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE I CANNES". Swedish Film&Tv Association. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "Det finns stora förutsättningar för åtal". Svenska Dagbladet. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Resare, Nils. "Jasplan säljs med svenska filmsuccéer". Dagens Nyheter. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Film Politics 2020
  10. ↑ Youtube
  11. ↑ "MIMMI SPÅNG Producers on the Move 2011". European Film Promotion. Retrieved 11 March 2014.

Bibliography

External links