Mountain North Pictures

Mountain North Pictures was co-founded by childhood friends Daniel Nordlund and Simon Bergström in 2016. We spoke to Daniel about creative direction and future plans.

Origins

Acting in a short film while at university ignited Daniel Nordlund’s interest in film production.  Before establishing Mountain North, Daniel worked as a freelance designer, but longed for work that gave him more creative freedom. This led to Daniel and Simon’s first collaboration, developing the short film Mulberry Night. With Simon based in Sweden and Daniel in Taiwan, they managed script development and pre-production remotely.  An eye for a good frame was well practiced by Simon and Daniel. Both were already keen photographers when they established Mountain North. Daniel returned to Västernorrland, and with no formal training in film production, they set about learning their craft by bringing Mulberry Night to the screen.

Revenue streams

Mountain North has a number of revenue streams to help build a sustainable income for the company.  Commercial film and photography is an important source of business. Previous work includes video for professional camera equipment company Manfrotto, photography for multi-tool/knife brand Leatherman and LED light manufacturer Ledlenser. Daniel also explains the importance and potential within more ‘passive’ revenue streams that can be generated from photography and film footage: “A good source of income can be stock photos…prints too for photography…also stock video footage”.

Inspirations

Nature inspired film and photography is a particularly strong interest for Mountain North. This has informed both their commercial and creative projects. For example the company’s commercial video for Manfrotto depicts Scandinavian landscape and wildlife. The short film ‘Elsewhere’ explores the wilderness surrounding Daniel and Simon’s hometown of Sundsvall in Mid-Sweden.

Networking

Mountain North is also keen to build its networks to support the company’s future development capacity. Supported by a creative momentum project Mountain North attended the Galway Film Fleadh last July in Galway city.  This helped build networks with other peripheral screen industry professionals, as well as develop skills and gain knowledge at the Fleadh’s masterclasses, talks and workshops. Mountain North has also started to build strong networks locally, such as within the small local film community in Västernorrland, as well as with the regional development agency, Film i Västernorrland.

Work and travel

Mountain North is currently combining contract work and post-production of existing film projects with a trip around Europe to inspire and shape creative practice. Daniel explains: “We plan to document and film the whole trip, make a diary…sort of to inspire other people. We ourselves are also inspired by other photographers that stop their careers to see how everything works”.

Follow Mountain North on social media to catch up on Daniel Nordlund and Simon Bergström’s trip around Europe.