27/11/2007

On November 21, Henrik Bo Nielsen, CEO of the Danish Film Institute (DFI), informed his staff of a series of structural changes and financial cuts within the institute implemented from now through early 2008.

The staff re-vamping will include two job losses and shifting within the institute of one-third of the employees. The total DFI operational budget of around DKK113 million will be reduced to DKK108 million and DKK2 million of the DKK5 million saved will be earmarked towards the agency’s new operational initiatives in 2008.

To create a “more flexible organisation” and enable each department to be more focused on their goals, several areas within the DFI have been re-organised and put under the aegis of one of the four key departments. For instance, the production, development and marketing of short films and documentaries will now be entirely under the Production and Development Unit – headed by Claus Ladegaard – which will also comprise the low budget filmmaking initiative New Danish Screen.

The Distribution and Marketing unit headed by Anders Geertsen has been renamed Audience and Marketing (Publikum & Formidling) and now encompasses all audience-related activities within the DFI building or Film House, including the DFI interactive film studio Film X, the Bookshop, the video library and screenings within the Film House.

As for the Information unit (under the aegis of Susanna Neimann), it will include all communication and press relations and will move from print to Internet communication. The Danish version of the magazine FILM will no longer exist, but the English version will continue to be published three times a year around key international festivals.