Endre Lund Eriksen – screenplay – The Monsters of Dunderly (FILMS FOR KIDS.Pro)

FRED’s Matt Micucci talks with screenwriter Endre Lund Eriksen, who along with producer Merete Korsberg Dalsbo worked on the development of The Monsters of Dunderly at the Films For Kids.Pro project.

We interview him at the 15th T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival, the day before the final pitch. He tells us about his project, The Monsters of Dunderly, which he worked on adapting from his own novel, therefore we ask him about the challenges of adaptation.

We also ask him to give us an overall overview of the project and the situation regarding films for a young audience in Norway, a country that has set the example of how films for a young audience can be quite successful at the box office.

“FILMS FOR KIDS.Pro is the first program in Europe dedicated solely to the development of films for young audiences.

Our goal is to support the production of ambitious movies for children aged 5-12 years, based on the highest artistic and production standards of European, and in particular Norwegian, cinema. We will work on ideas brought by participants and develop them from a short synopsis through first draft to a second draft of the screenplay (approximately 90-pages long).

In parallel we will work with their respective producers on a strategy for financing, promoting and distributing those movies. All elements of the program are focused specifically on cinema for children. More information: www.filmsforkidspro.eu Supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-financed by the Polish funds. Participation in the whole program is free of charge (tutoring, lectures, transportation, accommodation and board, and also participation in film festival screenings).”

THE MONSTERS OF DUNDERLY: The protagonist of the story, Bulder, is a wild and funny monster living in Dunderly, a secret hideout far up in the mountains where a lot different monsters live together, safe from human beings. Their only connection with the outside world is an elevator, which is used to receive supplies and letters from other monsters. One day a new monster called Mons Monster arrives at Dunderly. This situation brings about changes in the monster village. The Monster of Dunderly is an adaptation of a very successful children’s novel created by Endre Lund Eriksen (author) and Endre Skandfer (illustrator)”