Yellow Bird (company)

Yellow Bird is a Swedish film and television production company. In 2003 Danish producer Ole Søndberg and Swedish author Henning Mankell started a collaboration on a series of television films based on Mankell’s famous fictional detective Kurt Wallander and Yellow Bird was born. The success of the initial Wallander films was followed by Stieg Larsson’s ''Millennium'' trilogy, Jo Nesbø’s ''Headhunters'', Liza Marklund’s ''Annika Bengtzon'' series as well as the British version of ''Wallander'' starring Kenneth Branagh.

Yellow Bird was sold to media conglomerate Zodiak Media in 2007.

Productions

Tjuvarnas jul - Trollkarlens hemlighet

In this feature film adventure, with characters from the popular advent calendar "Tjuvarnas jul", the foundling Charlie meets a mysterious wizard at the carnival. He reveals to her a world of magic and entertainment. The leading roles are played by Tea Stjärne, Gustaf Hammarsten and Elisabet Carlsson. Gustaf Skarsgård plays the role of the Wizzard.

Shooting occurred during autumn/winter 2013 with the premiere in autumn 2014.

Echoes from the Dead

A feature film released in 2013 and based on the debut novel by Johan Theorin. Its premise: Can you ever come to terms with a missing child? Julia Davidsson has not. Her five-year-old son disappeared twenty years ago on the Swedish island of Öland. No trace of him has ever been found. Lead roles are played by Lena Endre, Tord Peterson and Thomas W Gabrielsson.

Headhunters

''Headhunters'' is a feature film released in 2011 and based on the novel by Jo Nesbø. It is a dark comic thriller centered on a corporate headhunter whose life and marriage are suddenly threatened and turned upside-down when he himself becomes hunted by an unknown individual. The lead roles are played by Aksel Hennie, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Synnøve Macody Lund.

Wallander

From 2005 to 2006 13 new stories starring Krister Henriksson as Kurt Wallander were produced. The first film is based on the Linda Wallander novel ''Before the Frost'' and was released in cinemas. The rest of the films are original stories based on plots written by Mankell with scriptwriting completed by others. Two more were theatrical releases and the rest were released on DVD and shown on TV.
In 2008, a further 13 films were commissioned. Filming began in August 2008, and filming will continue, and releases begin, in 2009.
The first of these films, ''Hämnden'' (''The Revenge''), was a theatrical release on 9 January 2009, directed by award-winning Paris-based Franco-Swedish director Charlotte Brändström. The remaining 12 films will be released on DVD and then be broadcast on TV4 at a later date.
After filming is completed on the 2009 series, Henriksson will not play Wallander again, having only signed the new contract because he thought the 2005 series could have been better.

As a series, ''Mankell's Wallander'' has been nominated for The International TV Dagger at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards, an awards ceremony presented by British television channel ITV3 and the Crime Writers' Association.

Yellow Bird recently co-produced two English-language Wallander series, starring Kenneth Branagh as Wallander, with the British broadcaster, the BBC
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