Delegate producer Petter Lindblad and writer-director Esben Toft Jacobsen spoke to Cineuropa following their victory in securing the Eurimages Co-production Development Award, an accolade accompanied by a €20,000 cash prize, during the recent Cinekid for Professionals event, which ran in Amsterdam from 29 October-1 November (see the news).

Their project, an animated feature titled Millie and the Secret of the Crocodile, revolves around the titular orphaned mouse who lives with a family of loving hedgehogs. Millie is afraid of everything, especially the crocodile that bit off her tail when she was a baby. Her only friend is Morten, the son of the hedgehog family. One day, their football ends up in the river, and when Morten tries to retrieve it, he falls in and is carried away. Terrified, Millie knows she has to find Morten. She sets out on a journey, accompanied by a frog named Archimedes. As they travel down the river, Millie struggles to find the courage she needs. With the help of an old turtle who possesses a magical courage stone, Millie finds the strength she needs to face her fears.

The production team includes delegate producer Petter Lindblad, of Sweden’s Snowcloud Films; co-producer Marleen Slot, of Dutch outfit Viking Film; co-producer Claus Toksvik Kjær, of Denmark’s Nørlum Entertainment; and the helmer himself, serving as a co-producer for Denmark’s Vi Glæder Os Preben.

Cineuropa: How would you describe the concept of Millie and the Secret of the Crocodile, and what are the main themes tackled in the project?
Esben Toft Jacobsen: Millie and the Secret of the Crocodile is a tale about friendship and courage. It is an empowering story about overcoming one’s fears, and it’s funny and exciting at the same time.

What is the target audience you’ll be aiming to intercept?
Petter Lindblad: We’re aiming for kids aged five to nine and their families, so it is made with the young audience in mind, but with a broad family appeal.

How will you use the prize money you have won?
PL: The prize money will be valuable for us to put into strengthening the story even more, allowing Esben to work more on the animatic during our financing phase and not wait until we greenlight the film.

ETJ: The main thing is to get the story right, and see how emotional and funny we can make it. The time spent on the script and animatic is the most important for me.

How important do you think your participation in Cinekid was, overall?
PL: For me, as a producer of almost exclusively children’s content, Cinekid and the Junior Co-Production Market are a must. The festival and the professionals attending are just the right ones for my projects. This year, we had the privilege of pitching Millie and the Secret of the Crocodile publicly for the first time, and the positive response and potential partners moving forward are key to realising the film.

What can you tell us about the visual concept for the project?
ETJ: The characters are animals, and the story takes place in the underbelly of our world – places where humans don’t go. Our trash is what they use, like a takeaway box used as a boat or a bottle cap used as a hat. The film takes place in Sweden, and we will make sure it is clear from the scenery, from the typical red houses and Viking carvings in rock faces to the kinds of rocks and plants that grow there, which we will use in the backgrounds.

What’s next for you?
PL: For me as producer, it is a lot of meetings to follow up on, continuing with our MEDIA-supported development, leading up to us starting production financing at the start of 2025. [Then there are] agreements to be made, production workflows to be honed, schedules, and the casting of the team and actors to be worked on. And [I’m dealing with] some other projects in early development that are being worked on with some other creatives, plus the Danish premiere of the animated TV series Flora & Lars, directed by Esben, airing on DR on 8 November. It is an adventure-comedy series for kids aged five to eight that I have produced with Tall and Small in Copenhagen, and co-produced with Nørlum Entertainment, in collaboration with Poland’s GS Animation.

ETJ: I’ll start preparing for production, getting all of the characters, the scenery and the animatic just right. It is a lot of work and a lot of fun.

Do you know when the project will be ready?
PL: We’re hoping that 2025 will be our financing year and that we can greenlight production in December 2025, in order to complete the film by early 2027.