Writing and Producing for Older Teens: Aiming for Authenticity, Relatability, and Co-Creative Strategies

This chapter explores the writing and production of two Danish productions of the early 2020s that were hailed as successfully managing to appeal to older adolescents by giving them a voice during their making in various ways and carefully thinking about how to launch and position the final productions, on YouTube as well as in regular cinemas. The first case is the YouTube series CENTRUM by writer/director Jonas Risvig that was made during the COVID-19 lockdown. The second case is the feature film Smuk which was developed with funding from a new audience research scheme from the Danish Film Institute. The two cases illustrate new ways of aiming for authenticity and relatability through inquiry-driven and/or co-creative writing and production practices that were widely regarded as inspiring examples of best practice in the early 2020s.