For 25 years, Citizen Dane has supplied Denmark’s largest and most demanding businesses with visual communication. The company is situated in the center of Copenhagen and is a market leader in Denmark. Citizen Dane is part of The International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers (IQ) – an international network in 50 different countries.

We sat down (virtually of course!) with their in-house director, Marcus Mandal. Marcus has made many films for clients such as Maersk, Novo Nordisk, GN, ISS, Bestseller and Rolls-Royce. He has also achieved worldwide acknowledgment for his documentary films including  “KAREN BLIXEN – Out of This World”, featuring Meryl Streep.
Marcus graduated from the Danish School of Journalism and the University of Copenhagen (Political Science). He has worked with TV news as a reporter, anchor, and editor-in-chief. For 10 years he was a director and editor-in-chief at Nordisk Film.
And in addition to this, he made the Guinness Book of Records holding the world record in snowball-juggling marathon!

Citizen Dane have won 14 Telly Awards during the years, and you have directed most of the films. How does that feel?

We are all very proud when we are awarded by Telly Awards. It’s an award that is respected among our colleagues around the world – and the statues look very impressive on the mantelpiece in our meeting room. For the team who have invested a lot of energy in the projects, it’s great to feel that other professionals appreciate what we are doing.

Our clients are usually very impressed, and they can often use the appreciation to get better publicity.

What kind of film has been awarded?

At Citizen Dane we have specialized in corporate films, but we also do documentaries and many films about HSE. And all the genres have been awarded by The Telly Awards! 

What do you find important in a successful corporate movie?

For us it’s vital to be involved in the films at a very early stage, so we can develop creative ideas and write the scripts ourselves.

We always try to focus on people in our films – not on impressive buildings or machinery. What it is important to most companies are their employees; and as film is a great media to communicate feelings and emotions, people are far more interesting. 

What are your latest works?

I have just made a series of 10 small films to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Danish company GN, which is a global leader in intelligent audio solutions.  In this production we developed new ways of making old black and white photos and paintings work in a modern video.

And in a very different genre, we produced a music video with 40-year-old Christian who is diagnosed with autism and who wrote and performs his own song.  

It’s always fun and inspiring to be challenged by new topics…