Movies

‘Succession’ Heads to Norway: Scott Ferguson Details Norwegian Filming

October 13, 2022

The Roys head to Norway.

The new season of HBO’s “Succession” will see Alexander Skarsgård’s tech mogul Lukas Matsson lure the Roy dynasty to the Norwegian mountains.

Producer Scott Ferguson (“The Night Of”, “Brokeback Mountain”) is overseeing filming in Norway. such as the Atlantic Ocean Road (recently seen in the latest Bond film ‘No Time to Die’), the Romsdalen gondola and the luxurious Juvet Landscape Hotel (used in the sci-fi thriller ‘Ex Machina’), located near Geiranger Fjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ferguson reveals the upcoming season will delve deeper into the world of Matsson, who was first introduced in Season 3. As the sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to Matsson draws ever closer – and the Roys ask what their future will look like – the family is invited to visit the homeland of the GoJo founder.

“Last season we got a big new character and a new storyline, a potential merger with Alexander Skarsgård’s tech company,” Ferguson said. Variety locally in Norway.

“We were really excited when Alexander arrived – he’s a wonderful actor. And from the start, [showrunner Jesse Armstrong’s] the idea was that the tech company was going to be run by someone from a Scandinavian country. In the writer’s room, around February, Jesse had an idea for an episode they wanted to be in [Matsson’s] part of the world.”

“Succession” producer Scott Ferguson in Norway.

Graeme Hunter

Ferguson is one of the most experienced producers in the industry, having toured all over the world. Although he has worked in television in recent years, his previous films include collaborations with directors such as Jim Jarmusch, Steven Zaillian, James Mangold, Milos Forman, Sydney Pollack and Ang Lee. Ferguson has worked on the Emmy-winning “Succession” for the past four years.

He confirms that dramatic scenes set in equally dramatic landscapes in Norway are coming for the new season, which will air next year.

“When we saw images of Juvet’s remarkable architecture and setting, we were really excited,” says Ferguson. “Norway is a beautiful, natural setting. It immediately seemed like a perfect place for a family reunion on the show. We researched different countries, but realized that Norway had this exceptional landscape – like nowhere else in the world.

The production team raved about the powerful combination of alluring architecture and natural elements in the landscape.

“Mark and I traveled in May, looked around the Åndalsnes area, looked at the gondola with the restaurant on top of the mountains. They also had an airport in the area we were looking for in the story. The Norway had everything we were looking for – in absolutely beautiful settings. Then we had to figure out how to shoot in those locations, practically. We had great support from HBO and spent the last few months coming up with a plan, then set it up.”

Ferguson explains that he is involved in the writers room from the early stages of development in order to get a sense of the flavor of the planned storylines.

“I speak to them after they have passed [some time] in the writer’s room so I get an idea of where they’re going. Then I’ll come to London a couple of times and hang out with them during development, and start hearing what they think and what kind of places we’re looking for – what the storylines are.

Ferguson, who worked with Lee on “Brokeback Mountain,” also sees the benefits of working with local teams in the field. “People are good at filming where they live, and I always want to take advantage of that great local expertise,” he says. “That’s how we approached Norway and the other distant travel episodes of ‘Succession’.”

Looking ahead to Season 4, the producer promises that “what audiences love about ‘Succession,’ there will be more of.”

“It starts with HBO supporting us and creating an environment where Jesse and the writing team have the ability to take creative risks,” says Ferguson. “We use the production side to help them, everyone has the freedom to do their best. And I think that’s part of why the show works on so many levels – the writing, the directing, the crew. No one is afraid to try something he has never tried before.