POPPOLI PICTURES produces features targeting international audience. The company
focuses heavily on development before going to production stages,
giving ideas and scripts time to grow. The company’s aim is to
eliminate, however impossible it may sound, the outdated star-driven
fiction structure and traditional docs/fictions by bringing them together with
a new “middle-genre” of docs and fiction film, something
that we call a "Visiomentary". Where characters are real
but the story is directed. This is what some may call Italian "Neorealism",
reshaped by a naive thinking group of filmmakers from many corners
of the world.
Poppoli Pictures is based partly in Iceland, with co-producers and
bases around Europe, in New York and Asia. The company is a collection
of artists / producers around the world who participate in projects
by Poppolis founder, director Olaf de Fleur Johannesson.
HOW DO WE MAKE FILMS
Our prime production until late 2006 was documentaries. Although
the name and label “documentary” is something we do not
fully agree on. We make films for the audience and don’t compromise
that vision with long, boring and artistic films unless it servers
a purpose, a sort of grown up french filmmaking perhaps. Our mission
is always to benefit financially from a project, even though we never
ever ever ever have.
We believe that any doc/fiction subject can be made interesting and entertaining,
should it be cooked with the right recipe. Therefore during pre-financing
we collect critisim and value if the film is worth making it, for
if we do, it's going to occupie about 3 years of our lives.
POST
PRODUCTION
There we edit the project and drive it extensively for test-viewers
all around the world. Test-screenings are the most important factor
in our production schedule, to enable us to see what the project does
for the audience. To secure that the film is perceived, understood
and hopefully somewhat liked. Or, like a good friend told us once,
what is a film without an audience.
TECHNIQUE
Also, to avoid financial shocks, we use the highest standard affordable
equipment. We never shoot on film or expensive cameras unless we have
secured a solid budget for it. Therefore we use HD cameras and Final
Cut Pro for post production. These two offer us the option of delivering
a project by all technical standards, or, if we have obtained a budget
for it, to transfer the flick to a 35 mm film.
POPPOLI PICTURES presents itself
ceo BIRGIR JOHANNESSON managed by KRISTIN ANDREA THORDARDOTTIR GUDNI PALL SAEMUNDSSON assisted by THOR THORSTEINSSON DAGUR KARI JOHANN G JOHANNSSON written by STEFAN SCHAEFER cinematography RUNE KIPPERVIK DAN HERSEY executive producer HELGI SVERRISSON philippines team ARLEEN CUEVAS BEVERLY TANEDO BUTCH MADDUL thailand RUNE KIPPERVIK sound GUNNAR ARNASON JON SKUGGI music by PAVEL E SMID KARL HENRY production design LINDA STEFANSDOTTIR MYRRA LEiFSDOTTIR VICTORIA IMPERIOLI co-produced by RAGNAR SANTOS BENEDIKT JOHANNESSON directed by OLAF DE FLEUR JOHANNESSON press and pulicity VIGNIR J. VIGNISSON