Winners Talk: Inside the making of double Golden Nymph winner Vanguard
Vanguard, the gripping Swedish drama series chronicling the life of telecom and media mogul Jan Stenbeck, made a sweeping impression at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival, taking home the Golden Nymph Awards for Best Series and Best Actor, awarded to Jakob Oftebro for his portrayal of the divisive businessman.
The series, originally titled Stenbeck in Sweden, is produced by FLX and distributed by Viaplay Content Distribution. It first premiered on SVT and is a co-production with the New8 alliance, which includes public broadcasters across Europe. The series follows Stenbeck’s turbulent rise from heir of an industrial empire to visionary disruptor in the telecom and media landscapes, founding companies such as Tele2 and TV3. It has already aired in several territories including Norway, Finland, and Iceland, with further premieres expected in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, US, and Poland.
Behind the camera is acclaimed director Goran Kapetanović, who spoke to TVBIZZ exclusively at the festival about the creative vision behind the show, the real-life inspiration, and his future plans — which include a return to his roots in the Balkans.
The title change from Stenbeck to Vanguard was one of the first things Kapetanović addressed. “Yes, maybe he’s not so famous outside Sweden,” he explained. “We wanted something catchier, and Vanguard also means ‘defense’ or ‘leading the way.’ It’s a nice title for international audiences.”
Kapetanović elaborated on the symbolic meaning of the title: “He was basically the pioneer of everything that happened in Scandinavia during the '70s. Sweden used to be very conservative, very socialist — heavy industry, forestry, steel. Then he comes in with all these radical ideas and transforms the country. Today, Sweden is known for innovation and tech — and a lot of that comes from him." The series is also about family and power. About the duality of business and personal sacrifice, noted the director.
The Man Behind the Empire
Asked to describe Jan Stenbeck to someone unfamiliar with him, Kapetanović said, “He was like a prince living abroad. His family was very wealthy. He was supposed to become a lawyer in the United States, and he was doing well there. But then circumstances brought him back to Sweden. He didn’t want to take over the company — but once he did, he changed everything. From heavy industry to starting mobile phone companies, newspapers, television channels...”
Stenbeck’s larger-than-life personality inspired not only admiration but also resentment. “He launched Metro, one of the biggest newspapers in the world,” the director noted. “He changed how we think about business. But it came at a cost. He sacrificed his health and his family to succeed. And in the end, it destroyed him.”
“Succession,” “The Godfather,” and Moral Consequences
Kapetanović acknowledged the comparisons to international hits like Succession and The Godfather, and said those titles influenced his thinking. “Of course, there are a lot of references. The Godfather especially — who is in charge, who inherits the business, how the family ties complicate everything.”
“But in the end,” he continued, “it’s about human behavior. What does it take to succeed? How much do you have to destroy to reach your goal? Is it worth it? That’s what this story explores — not just about one man, but about ambition, power, and consequence.”
Casting Jakob Oftebro
Kapetanović is deeply involved in the casting process, and his approach to finding the right actor for Jan Stenbeck was rigorous. “I didn't want a famous Swedish actor like one of the Skarsgårds,” he said. “I wanted someone new. I auditioned over 100 actors. The character spans over 30 years, so I needed someone who could transform — someone powerful, vulnerable, good-looking, but also able to gain weight and show physical change.”
He found his Stenbeck in Jakob Oftebro, a Norwegian actor known across Scandinavia. “Jakob speaks perfect Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish — he’s the only actor who does that fluently,” said Kapetanović. “He also used method acting, worked with coaches, and wore prosthetics throughout the series. Our costume and makeup team — the best in Sweden, some worked on Dune — helped bring the transformation to life.”
Anecdotes, Research, and Family Approval
Asked about famous anecdotes used in the show, Kapetanović shared one remarkable story: “One time, the tabloids published photos of him with a woman. His wife was flying into Stockholm that day. He ordered all his assistants to buy every newspaper in Sweden to stop her from seeing it. Of course, she saw it anyway. But that story made it into the show.”
The research process was exhaustive, but the Stenbeck family declined involvement. “The scriptwriter did extensive research — there are so many books, so much material. The family didn’t want to be involved during production. But now they’ve seen it, and they’re very happy. They felt it was a respectful and decent portrait of their father.”
A Return to the Balkans
Kapetanović, who fled Yugoslavia in his teens and settled in Sweden, has previously explored Balkan themes as well as doing a lot of interesting projects about religion and extremists, about Christian and Muslim extremists like the series Caliphate which was on Netflix and which he directed. Asked about future work in Central and Eastern Europe, he said: “Definitely. I studied at the Film Academy in Stockholm — my professor was Ingmar Bergman. But I’ve always been inspired by Eastern European cinema, especially Russian and Polish cinema and all my work the references of human, how to portray human beings coming from the Slavic soul”.
“Now, in my 50s, I feel ready to go back to my roots,” he added. “I want to make an anti-war film about the 1990s in the Balkans. Something in the style of The Deer Hunter." When time passes, you gain perspective. It’s been 30 years — now is the moment to reflect and create something meaningful, the perspective can help us to understand ourselves about all the conflicts in the region, he explained.
Kapetanović also hinted at TV projects in the region: “Yes, I want to do series as well. I’ve been working a lot with Poland — my DOPs are Polish, we do post-production in Warsaw. There’s something that connects us. Maybe it’s the Slavic soul.”
Also speaking to international journalists in Monte-Carlo, executive producer Erik Hultkvist and screenwriter Alex Haridi offered a candid look into the development of the award-winning biopic — from structural inspirations and title debates to the challenges of portraying such a controversial figure.
Vanguard vs. Stenbeck
One of the first questions raised by TVBIZZ addressed the name change from Stenbeck to Vanguard for international audiences: “We had an internal [discussion], actually at FLX, the production company. We sent out an email to everyone employed there to ask them for their best suggestion of the international title,” explained executive producer Erik Hultkvist. “And one person won a prize for coming up with Vanguard. But no, Stenbeck obviously doesn't say that much to the international audience.” Screenwriter Alex Haridi added humorously, “I think I did get that email. It was during production. And so I put it down on my list of things that I needed to do that day. And I never got to it. So I have nothing to do with the English title.” (laughs)
“He’s either the savior or the devil”
Asked by journalists about the genesis of the project, Haridi revealed, “So it's based on a non-fiction book. Because it's obviously a biopic. So it's about a real person's life.”
The series draws heavily from Per Andersson's Stenbeck: A biography of a successful businessman, though Haridi confirmed that it is not a direct adaptation. “The book is very detailed. So most of it is in there. But then doing the adaptation of course we had to find a way to tell the story. And... also I've changed some things. It is very faithful to the true story.”
The story captivated Haridi, especially the personal dimensions. “He’s an extremely divisive person in Sweden... either he is a god who came in and saved us from the doldrums of the 70s... or he's this devil... who just sort of privatized and didn't care about laws and just destroyed everything.”
“What really got to me personally was the relationship that he has with his sister,” Haridi continued. “So much of it comes out of just having this really childish argument with his sister. So it's almost like these two kids in the playground that are fighting over who has the spade that created the society that we live in.”
From Steel to Satellites
During the roundtable, journalists asked for clarification on Stenbeck’s influence and business evolution. Hultkvist noted, “Mining steel and forestry. And the steel industry was sort of declining in Sweden. So he had to change it. And then he was... a visionary type.”
“He founded the first non-governmental telephone company in Sweden called Tele 2. And a few years later, he founded the first non-governmental TV channel. And that was TV 3. Which broadcast from London to all of Scandinavia.”
Yet it wasn’t just the innovations that made Stenbeck polarizing.
“A lot of the hatred, I think, comes from all the people who worked in the company with steel and forestry,” said Haridi. “He fired a lot of people... these small towns out on the countryside in Sweden that were sort of completely destroyed when he just up and left and fired everyone.”
He also added, “He broke a lot of sort of systems... he found these loopholes all the time... At one point in history, I think he owned the entire cell phone system in 30 different countries in the world.”
“I was inspired structurally by The Crown”
Despite frequent comparisons to Succession, Haridi said the more accurate creative reference was another royal saga.
“Looking at the challenge that I had of telling 25 years in five episodes, Succession wasn’t really that good a place to start. So I think it was, as I mentioned earlier, structurally The Crown.”
He elaborated: “Each episode [focuses] on a very limited time period... The first episode basically tells a story about what happened in 1977 when he took over the company... and then the last episode mainly takes place in 1991. And then sort of flashes forward to his death.”
Filming Long Island... in Skåne
While much of the production was based in Gothenburg due to regional funding from Film Invest, some clever location choices helped recreate the global scope of Stenbeck’s life.
“We had to find, for example, his house on Long Island, because we didn't go to Long Island to shoot,” explained Hultkvist. “It had to look like Long Island in the 1970s. But eventually it was found in Skåne actually, in the south of Sweden.”
Haridi added, “A lot of the development of the show took place during the pandemic... is there a way to shoot this show in all these different places... but just keeping it in one place? And nowadays it's just amazing what you can do with effects and set extensions.”
Global Reach for a Nordic Giant
Asked by TVBIZZ about the show's international distribution, Hultkvist detailed the territories already onboard.
“It’s been shown in Norway and Finland... Iceland... premieres in Denmark [end of June].” Beyond the New8 alliance (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium), “I think we sold it to Estonia and Ireland... US, UK, Poland... Viaplay has a SVOD service through Amazon Prime... Viaplay Select on Cindie, which is Latin America... Prima+ in Czech Republic and Vodafone in Greece.”
“A child that never grew up”
Asked how he approached such a complex personality, Haridi reflected: “He is a very complex character... If I would just put it down to like a single thing — for me, it is still just that image of the brother and sister in the playground... in a way, he's like a child that never grew up.”
The title change from Stenbeck to Vanguard was one of the first things Kapetanović addressed. “Yes, maybe he’s not so famous outside Sweden,” he explained. “We wanted something catchier, and Vanguard also means ‘defense’ or ‘leading the way.’ It’s a nice title for international audiences.”
Kapetanović elaborated on the symbolic meaning of the title: “He was basically the pioneer of everything that happened in Scandinavia during the '70s. Sweden used to be very conservative, very socialist — heavy industry, forestry, steel. Then he comes in with all these radical ideas and transforms the country. Today, Sweden is known for innovation and tech — and a lot of that comes from him." The series is also about family and power. About the duality of business and personal sacrifice, noted the director.
The Man Behind the Empire
Asked to describe Jan Stenbeck to someone unfamiliar with him, Kapetanović said, “He was like a prince living abroad. His family was very wealthy. He was supposed to become a lawyer in the United States, and he was doing well there. But then circumstances brought him back to Sweden. He didn’t want to take over the company — but once he did, he changed everything. From heavy industry to starting mobile phone companies, newspapers, television channels...”
Stenbeck’s larger-than-life personality inspired not only admiration but also resentment. “He launched Metro, one of the biggest newspapers in the world,” the director noted. “He changed how we think about business. But it came at a cost. He sacrificed his health and his family to succeed. And in the end, it destroyed him.”
“Succession,” “The Godfather,” and Moral Consequences
Kapetanović acknowledged the comparisons to international hits like Succession and The Godfather, and said those titles influenced his thinking. “Of course, there are a lot of references. The Godfather especially — who is in charge, who inherits the business, how the family ties complicate everything.”
“But in the end,” he continued, “it’s about human behavior. What does it take to succeed? How much do you have to destroy to reach your goal? Is it worth it? That’s what this story explores — not just about one man, but about ambition, power, and consequence.”
Casting Jakob Oftebro
Kapetanović is deeply involved in the casting process, and his approach to finding the right actor for Jan Stenbeck was rigorous. “I didn't want a famous Swedish actor like one of the Skarsgårds,” he said. “I wanted someone new. I auditioned over 100 actors. The character spans over 30 years, so I needed someone who could transform — someone powerful, vulnerable, good-looking, but also able to gain weight and show physical change.”
He found his Stenbeck in Jakob Oftebro, a Norwegian actor known across Scandinavia. “Jakob speaks perfect Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish — he’s the only actor who does that fluently,” said Kapetanović. “He also used method acting, worked with coaches, and wore prosthetics throughout the series. Our costume and makeup team — the best in Sweden, some worked on Dune — helped bring the transformation to life.”
Anecdotes, Research, and Family Approval
Asked about famous anecdotes used in the show, Kapetanović shared one remarkable story: “One time, the tabloids published photos of him with a woman. His wife was flying into Stockholm that day. He ordered all his assistants to buy every newspaper in Sweden to stop her from seeing it. Of course, she saw it anyway. But that story made it into the show.”
The research process was exhaustive, but the Stenbeck family declined involvement. “The scriptwriter did extensive research — there are so many books, so much material. The family didn’t want to be involved during production. But now they’ve seen it, and they’re very happy. They felt it was a respectful and decent portrait of their father.”
A Return to the Balkans
Kapetanović, who fled Yugoslavia in his teens and settled in Sweden, has previously explored Balkan themes as well as doing a lot of interesting projects about religion and extremists, about Christian and Muslim extremists like the series Caliphate which was on Netflix and which he directed. Asked about future work in Central and Eastern Europe, he said: “Definitely. I studied at the Film Academy in Stockholm — my professor was Ingmar Bergman. But I’ve always been inspired by Eastern European cinema, especially Russian and Polish cinema and all my work the references of human, how to portray human beings coming from the Slavic soul”.
“Now, in my 50s, I feel ready to go back to my roots,” he added. “I want to make an anti-war film about the 1990s in the Balkans. Something in the style of The Deer Hunter." When time passes, you gain perspective. It’s been 30 years — now is the moment to reflect and create something meaningful, the perspective can help us to understand ourselves about all the conflicts in the region, he explained.
Kapetanović also hinted at TV projects in the region: “Yes, I want to do series as well. I’ve been working a lot with Poland — my DOPs are Polish, we do post-production in Warsaw. There’s something that connects us. Maybe it’s the Slavic soul.”
From left to right: Erik Hultkvist, Goran Kapetanovic and Alex Haridi
Also speaking to international journalists in Monte-Carlo, executive producer Erik Hultkvist and screenwriter Alex Haridi offered a candid look into the development of the award-winning biopic — from structural inspirations and title debates to the challenges of portraying such a controversial figure.
Vanguard vs. Stenbeck
One of the first questions raised by TVBIZZ addressed the name change from Stenbeck to Vanguard for international audiences: “We had an internal [discussion], actually at FLX, the production company. We sent out an email to everyone employed there to ask them for their best suggestion of the international title,” explained executive producer Erik Hultkvist. “And one person won a prize for coming up with Vanguard. But no, Stenbeck obviously doesn't say that much to the international audience.” Screenwriter Alex Haridi added humorously, “I think I did get that email. It was during production. And so I put it down on my list of things that I needed to do that day. And I never got to it. So I have nothing to do with the English title.” (laughs)
“He’s either the savior or the devil”
Asked by journalists about the genesis of the project, Haridi revealed, “So it's based on a non-fiction book. Because it's obviously a biopic. So it's about a real person's life.”
The series draws heavily from Per Andersson's Stenbeck: A biography of a successful businessman, though Haridi confirmed that it is not a direct adaptation. “The book is very detailed. So most of it is in there. But then doing the adaptation of course we had to find a way to tell the story. And... also I've changed some things. It is very faithful to the true story.”
The story captivated Haridi, especially the personal dimensions. “He’s an extremely divisive person in Sweden... either he is a god who came in and saved us from the doldrums of the 70s... or he's this devil... who just sort of privatized and didn't care about laws and just destroyed everything.”
“What really got to me personally was the relationship that he has with his sister,” Haridi continued. “So much of it comes out of just having this really childish argument with his sister. So it's almost like these two kids in the playground that are fighting over who has the spade that created the society that we live in.”
From Steel to Satellites
During the roundtable, journalists asked for clarification on Stenbeck’s influence and business evolution. Hultkvist noted, “Mining steel and forestry. And the steel industry was sort of declining in Sweden. So he had to change it. And then he was... a visionary type.”
“He founded the first non-governmental telephone company in Sweden called Tele 2. And a few years later, he founded the first non-governmental TV channel. And that was TV 3. Which broadcast from London to all of Scandinavia.”
Yet it wasn’t just the innovations that made Stenbeck polarizing.
“A lot of the hatred, I think, comes from all the people who worked in the company with steel and forestry,” said Haridi. “He fired a lot of people... these small towns out on the countryside in Sweden that were sort of completely destroyed when he just up and left and fired everyone.”
He also added, “He broke a lot of sort of systems... he found these loopholes all the time... At one point in history, I think he owned the entire cell phone system in 30 different countries in the world.”
“I was inspired structurally by The Crown”
Despite frequent comparisons to Succession, Haridi said the more accurate creative reference was another royal saga.
“Looking at the challenge that I had of telling 25 years in five episodes, Succession wasn’t really that good a place to start. So I think it was, as I mentioned earlier, structurally The Crown.”
He elaborated: “Each episode [focuses] on a very limited time period... The first episode basically tells a story about what happened in 1977 when he took over the company... and then the last episode mainly takes place in 1991. And then sort of flashes forward to his death.”
Filming Long Island... in Skåne
While much of the production was based in Gothenburg due to regional funding from Film Invest, some clever location choices helped recreate the global scope of Stenbeck’s life.
“We had to find, for example, his house on Long Island, because we didn't go to Long Island to shoot,” explained Hultkvist. “It had to look like Long Island in the 1970s. But eventually it was found in Skåne actually, in the south of Sweden.”
Haridi added, “A lot of the development of the show took place during the pandemic... is there a way to shoot this show in all these different places... but just keeping it in one place? And nowadays it's just amazing what you can do with effects and set extensions.”
Global Reach for a Nordic Giant
Asked by TVBIZZ about the show's international distribution, Hultkvist detailed the territories already onboard.
“It’s been shown in Norway and Finland... Iceland... premieres in Denmark [end of June].” Beyond the New8 alliance (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium), “I think we sold it to Estonia and Ireland... US, UK, Poland... Viaplay has a SVOD service through Amazon Prime... Viaplay Select on Cindie, which is Latin America... Prima+ in Czech Republic and Vodafone in Greece.”
“A child that never grew up”
Asked how he approached such a complex personality, Haridi reflected: “He is a very complex character... If I would just put it down to like a single thing — for me, it is still just that image of the brother and sister in the playground... in a way, he's like a child that never grew up.”
