The Nostradamus Collective tackles industry concerns through collaboration

Thirty top decision makers in the European film industry came together for the first meeting of the Nostradamus Collective at the Göteborg Film Festival on January 29, 2025. During the 90-minute session the invited participants discussed their fears and hopes for the industry at the moment. Designed as a temperature check at the start of the year, this forum is the next development of the Nostradamus initiative, spearheaded by Göteborg Film Festival in partnership with BoostHBG, Kulturakademin and Lindholmen Science Park, with additional support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Region Västra Götaland and Creative Europe. The session kicks off a continuous process over the year, where the Collective will work with partners to keep the conversation going and test new ideas. The Nostradamus Collective wants to foster knowledge-sharing and inspire deeper engagement in how the choices of individuals can shape the industry long-term.

Three challenges that the Collective identified

• Democracy in decline: The current political climate in Europe and around the world was a recurring theme that concerned participants. There was a distinct fear that the decline in liberal democracies would quickly lead to the stifling of creative and artistic freedoms, both through content directives as well as through cutting financial support. This issue extends beyond the film and TV industry of course but can have direct impacts on it within the near future, if not already. At the 2025 Göteborg Film Festival opening ceremony, Swedish Culture Minister Parisa Liljestrand faced boos after criticizing public funding for culture and the Swedish film industry which sparked an intense national debate the following week. This brought the impact of political changes into stark focus. The rise of right-leaning politics and governments is seen as an indicator that priority will be on things other than supporting the arts for arts’ sake. One participant shared a fear of an ‘erosion of the common ground of stories that binds society together’ and others echoed the importance in this political reality to stand up for the value of film in a society. A worry that was expressed was whether creators, producers or even institutions would have the knowledge, resistance and resilience to continue pushing forward in this new political context.

• The Youth Factor: The viewing habits – or lack thereof – of the younger audiences is a big area of concern. They seem to be pulled away from film and TV as a preferred format for consuming stories. In the long term this can also become an issue of talent development and retention – does the younger generation want to be a part of this industry? What would have to change for them to pick this over other areas where they can use their skills in visual storytelling? There was a strong sense that the lack of younger people in positions of power in the industry creates a disconnect between the content that is produced and what young audiences want to watch as well as what young talent wants to make.

• Crisis mindset: The industry faces numerous destabilizing forces, including the rise of AI and the decline in production volumes after peak TV. Broader societal challenges, such as political disruption and climate impacts, further highlight the need to maintain a proactive and curious mindset. Producers and decision-makers struggle with managing the fires right in front of them while also keeping an eye on the systemic changes that must happen for longer-term resilience. There is a risk that crisis can also lead to more competitiveness and infighting at a time when people need to come together to solve major challenges. There is a lack of transformative energy in this type of environment and that can lead to decision paralysis and an inability to imagine a different reality. Producers are too busy trying to stay afloat to think long-term. Playing it safe can however lead to just producing more of the same content which quickly can become irrelevant – if it is not already – further exacerbating the problems. Audiences are changing, technology is changing, business models are changing, and the world around the industry is changing. The challenge is to be able to look up from the immediate issues in order to build a more sustainable future for the industry as a whole.

Three areas that bring the Collective hope

• The Next Generation: Even though there is a lot of concern about the viewing habits of young audiences, there is also a lot of hope in the way they are curious and flexible both in consuming and creating audiovisual stories. There are ways to engage with them and, as one participant pointed out, perhaps it is not so much about educating them in the old ways of cinema but rather about the industry embracing their new approaches to storytelling. Another pointed out that nothing brings more hope than teaching at a film school. There is energy and talent in the young creators, and it is hopeful when they surprise us by making things we haven’t seen before, when they explore things in ways we haven’t seen. There is a sense that the younger generation is facing the fears that we all have rather than running from them. It is important to find ways to harness this as a business, and it brings hope to see new blood stepping into key decision-making roles

• Collaboration: Participants urged the sector to think more about collaborations as a response to increased economic uncertainty in the industry, turbulent political realities and hegemonic global streamers. Especially pan-European collaborations and trying to find new ways to approach the European audience as a whole. There was a strong consensus that the European spirit of collaboration cannot be taken away even if there are forces trying to divide it. As someone so aptly put it, when there are dark shadows on the wall good people start working together, across institutions, across generations.

• Resilience and ingenuity: The time has come to question what we once considered impossible – this was central to the discussions in the room and will continue to be so moving forward. Often, we work from assumptions about what is feasible, and that prevents us from trying new ideas. It is time to let go of rigid assumptions. Crisis can also lead to creativity and in dark times it is important to remember that film and audiovisual storytelling is a way to expand empathy and share diverse stories in subversive ways. There will be disruptive models for making and financing audiovisual storytelling that we cannot even imagine right now.

One of the overarching areas that was discussed and debated among the participants as both a challenge and an opportunity was the changing business models. This is just the beginning of that conversation, but one general idea was that it is time for the European film business to start looking at other types of financing. Younger producers, in particular, aren’t afraid of exploring seed funding and business angel-style financing, which is more common in the startup world. Some European financial institutions have shown interest in investing in films, but a key challenge lies in bridging the communication gap and speaking a common language to make such deals a reality. The future might require more collaborations between “business people” and “art people” and developing the skills to communicate across that divide.

There was also curiosity about how the future of crowdfunding might look with the advances in technology such as smart contracts that make it possible for audiences and fans to properly invest in projects and filmmakers. Perhaps what is required to move away from a model that focuses almost exclusively on projects to a model that looks at long term talent and creative development? Could there be a way to fund production companies who want to test out new ways of doing things, without forcing them to take all the risk alone? The ideas are often there, but there is no margin to allow a small company to try something once or twice before it yields the results they hope for.

Overall, the session was unflinching in the description of the many challenges and fears that the industry faces. Yet there was also a strong feeling of hope in the room, and participants felt that just talking to each other about the challenges had given them practical ideas for projects and changes. The challenge ahead is making sure that the hope and ideas are channeled into concrete actions, and that thinking together can continue.

The Nostradamus Collective is an initiative by Göteborg Film Festival supported by BoostHBG. Starting as a prototype in 2025, the Collective aims to foster knowledge-sharing and inspire deeper engagement in how the choices of individuals can shape the industry longterm. We imagine the platform or network as a hub for industry exchange and a catalyst for cross-sectoral development.

If you are working towards a resilient audiovisual sector, and might be interested in contributing to the Nostradamus Collective, you can sign up for updates or contact Josef Kullengård for any inquiries: josef.kullengard@goteborgfilmfestival.se.