Netflix is set to reteam with Anne Bjørnstad and Eilif Skodvin, the creators of the popular crime comedy series “Lilyhammer,” on a new Norwegian program, with the working title “Salmon Island.”
The series is set up at leading Norwegian production banner Rubicon, a Banijay company, and will be helmed by Marit Moum Aune (“Made in Oslo”), who also serves as a conceptual director on the series.
“Salmon Island” takes place in a small coastal community in Norway and revolves around two families who are sworn enemies in the global salmon industry. The contemporary series delivers a portrait of the fish farming business, weaving together comedy and drama.
“Over the last few decades, fish farming has changed both the Norwegian coast and international food culture,” said Bjørnstad and Skodvin, who also penned the series.
“The time feels right for a television drama about the operators in the industry. It’s amazing that a global streaming service like Netflix has the guts to tell such a locally grounded story,” the pair continued.
Bjørnstad and Skodvin also pointed that Moum Aune is one of Norway’s most acclaimed directors, working in theater and TV. The duo share that they have collaborated with the director on several stage shows.
“Lilyhammer,” which bowed on Netflix a decade ago and was branded as the streamer’s first original series, starred “Sopranos” actor Steven Van Zandt as a retired mobster laying low in rural Norway. Most recently, Bjørnstad and Skodvin created “Beforeigners,” also produced by Rubicon, for HBO Europe.
Besides “Lilyhammer,” Netflix’s Norwegian credits so far include “Royalteen” by Per-Olav Sørensen, and “Ragnarok,” whose third and final season premieres later this year, as well as “War Sailor,” a limited series which premiered April 2. “Royalteen: Princess Margrethe” is launching later this year.
