The Movietown Ystad Media Analysis 2012

1. The MovietownYstadMedia Analysis 2012

2. Scope of the analysis • The analysis aims to provide a comprehensive image of how Ystad City is portrayed and described in articles in English and Swedish, focusing on film, series and film production in editorial web media during 2012. • All articles in the analysis have been collated through Ystad's monitoring service Meltwater News. • The analysis is qualitative. In total there were 290 articles during the period.

3. Favourability

4. Favourability • Positive / Very positive, 51 % • A large proportion of the articles assessed as positive (33%) consists of publicity in connection with Ystad, film and tourism. • Tourism management magazine Besöksliv writes about how emulating Ystad’s film profile has become desirable for other cities wishing to stimulate the film tourism industry and local businesses. • The articles can be linked to a press release sent out by Ystad (2012-04-03) concerning the project Euroscreen, which is about knowledge transfer between film regions. • In Kristianstadsbladet Ystad is further described as the "Wallander City" and Helsingborgs Dagblad has written about the ambition to create a film centre on Kullahalvön, where Ystad stands as a good example and a source for inspiration.

5. Favourability • Positive / Very positive, 51 % • The beautiful landscape of Ystad with its magnificent surroundings generates a lot of positive press (39%). • The publicity contains references to the city in which it is described as a “set designers dream”, and as very ”Film friendly." An article published in the Sydney Morning Herald with the title "Why we love Scandi-Noir" refers to the exotic Scandinavian landscape. Ystad is in the article marketed in by-lines such as "the endless yellow fields of Wallander'sYstad" and it also points out that the landscape may be experienced by coming to Ystad and taking part in the Wallander tour.

6. Favourability • Positive / Very positive, 51 % • A strong local interest is certainly discernible, as the media in the region regularly reports on the local film development and happenings. Skanska Dagbladet featured an article concerning the new Film Incubator in Ystad, a meeting place for professionals and people in the film industry with the aim of continuing the work of making Ystad a movie city, with new projects, collaborations and initiatives.

7. Favourability • Neutral and balanced publicity, 45 % • Neutral or balanced publicity consist of articles that do not mention Ystad as a movie town with any emotionally charged words, or articles in which positive and negative values balance each other out. These represent a total of 45 percent of the analysed articles. • Among these articles, Kurt Wallander is again the “person” who generates the most writings. The focus is mainly on film production and the participating actors. Ystad as a city often becomes secondary in this context. • For example, the start of the shooting for the last Wallander films generated close to 30 articles all over the country, where it was mentioned only in brief that the movie takes place in Ystad.

8. Favourability • Neutral and balanced publicity, 45 % • Several newspapers such as Svenska Dagbladet noted the sale of Henning Mankell's house in Ystad - the house where many of the Wallander books were written. The articles on this topic were very neutral towards Ystad as a city.

9. Favourability • Negative / very negative, 4.3 % • Articles that are expressly negative towards Ystad as a city are very rare indeed. • Ola Rapace was quoted in the magazine Café saying that he thought that the Wallander movies were very bad and that they were low-quality productions. He also said that he felt unwell during the time he starred in the films in Ystad. This story was later also published by both Expressen and Aftonbladet. • A fire which during the summer brought back old memories from when the infamous pyromaniac ”gryningspyromanen” raged. This portrays Ystad as a "crime city”, connecting it to a movie perspective by drawing parallels to the terrible murders taking place in the Wallander movies.

10. Favourability per month 2012 An article with the headline “Why we love Scand-noir” is published in many Australian papers, such as The Sydney Morning Herald. The story about Henriksson’s decision to not star in any more Wallander movies, is spread to several papers via an article published by news agency TT. The start of the shooting for the last Wallander movie is noted in many newspapers, the spread was also this time due to TT. Actor Ola Rapace is quoted in Café as saying that he thinks Wallander is ‘really bad’. Both Aftonbladet and Expressen also publish articles on this. The press release on Ystad’s success in the Euroscreen project generates a number of articles with a very high MI.

11. Examples of positive articles Sydney Morning Herald, 2012-10-01 Besöksliv, 2012-05-30 Expressen, 2012-10-12

12. Examples of negative articles Aftonbladet, 2012-10-23 Sveriges Radio, 2012-07-25 Aftonbladet, 2012-10-19

13. Productions & Topics

14. Movie tourismcreates press withhigh MI

15. Geographical distribution • Sweden • A clear majority, 77 percent, of the articles are found in Swedish media. • Press originating in Skåne, reports most frequently on Ystad as film location. • The articles are usually positive and often concern filming and tourist attractions, as well as new projects or events related to film. • The movie town Ystad is however not just a local matter, as it is also discussed and depicted in the country's major newspapers, such as Aftonbladet and DagensNyheter. • Large city press accounts for 34 percent of the Swedish reports about the movie town of Ystad in media. • Australia • Out of the English-speaking countries, Australia is the country where most articles about Ystad and its movie profile are published. The main reason for this is the article “Why we love Scandi Noir" which has been spread to more than 30 of the country's newspapers. • The article addresses the Nordic crime fiction success as a phenomenon and together with Henning Mankell and his colleagues Läckberg and Larsson, Ystad is also mentioned and portrayed as the Wallander town. • In addition to this, The New Zealand Herald depicts Ystad beautifully in the article "Ystad: Lovely town for a murder." With enticing formulations describing Ystad as a picturesque seaside town where terrible murderers are hiding.

16. Geographical distribution • Great Britain • Ystad the movietown • Bitish version of Wallander • Kenneth Branagh: Ystad a city with the perfect elements to record movies in • London Evening Standard: a nice travel story on a visit to Ystad, marketing Daniel Berlin Krog, LogiGamlegård, YstadSaltsjöbad and Ystad city in itself. The author describes recognising movie scenes from the films. • USA • Ystadis mentioned in articles about Wallander and Branagh films • Branagh is quoted as waxing lyrical way about his time in Ystad, focusing on the strength of the Scandinavian landscape and what its mystery makes for productions. • Branagh: Det skandinaviska landskapet (läs: skånska) • “Underneath that placid, open landscape there’s this ferocious intensity” (Chicago Sun Times)

17. Media Categories • Local press (48 %) • Local press is the media category which stands for the largest part of the publicity about Ystad and film. • Large city press (46 %) • A remarkably high proportion of articles written during the period has been published in large city press in Sweden and abroad. • The Economist, Sydney Morning Herald, The Gurardian, The Telegraphall contributes to a very high PR value. • Magazines (4 %) • Swedish and foreign popular magazines such as Digital Show and Radio Times have written of Ystad.

18. Few pressreleases on movie profiling * Own initiative: Press releases and other PR activities that have generated articles. ** Comment: Articles in which people representing Ystad or the films have been quoted *** Passive: Articles where Ystad have had no active involvement

19. Key figures • Number of articles: 290 • PR-value: 96 156 700 SEK • PR-value per article: 331 600 SEK • Unique viewers per week: 132 797 091 • Media index: 9,4 • Own initative + comments: 44 % • Positive: 50 % (146) • Balanced: 45 % (131) • Negative: 5 % (13)

20. Summary and Conclusions • Summary • The books and films about Kurt Wallander dominate the articles about Ystad as a movie town. The media coverage has been mostly positive or neutral. Actors and writers with a strong personal brand who attract media coverage is to a large extent a contributing factor. • Many articles relate to several of the topics simultaneously. Recordings, features, film-friendly and tourism are frequent topics in articles where Ystad is mentioned. Ystad is often portrayed as a city at the forefront regarding film tourism and film production and has also become recognised as a centre of film and creativity. Often the beautiful and varied scenery, Österlen, the ocean and the closeness to the rest of Europe is pointed out as favourable conditions for film production. • The Wallander actors Krister Henriksson and Kenneth Branagh are diligent with comments about Ystad to the press, often in conjunction with interviews related to the participation in the films. Both speak favourably of Ystad and serve well as ambassadors for the city. • Authors Henning Mankell and Susanna Alakoski speak favourably of Ystad in articles about their books and films. People representing Ystad municipality are however less active in the press, with the exception of Petra Rundqvist.

21. Summary and Conclusions • Future potential • There is an existing national and international interest in Ystad as a crime fiction-town. Despite a relatively small effort when it comes to PR activities in order to strengthen Ystad's positioning as a film centre, the topic has still generated 290 articles. This interest should be maintained and there is a future potential to develop stronger media relations. For example, more press releases on the topic and other PR activities could increase the number of articles and increase the PR value. • The Wallander movies dominate the press that connects Ystad with movie making, even though Ystad has not taken a lot of PR actions in order for the press to write about it. It may be wise to take advantage of the media interest in connection to the coming premiere of the last Wallander. It should also be noted that the Wallander success must be replaced by something else in order for the media to keep on writing about Ystad and the film positioning. • The majority of spokespeople are external stakeholders related to the film or book industry. Representatives from Ystads Municipality are rarely seen but when they do feature, they present Ystad very positively. More frequent statements increase the opportunities to influence the media coverage and strengthen the brand in the context of film. • This analysis includes only Swedish and English articles. It is worth noting that there is quite a lot of press on Ystad and film in other countries and continents such as Spain, France, South America and especially in Germany.