Thank You

Thank you to all program sponsors and individuals who made Beyond Blond 2008 possible. We truly appreciate your cooperation, support and dedication to raise awareness about Swedish culture and Swedish brands.

We hope to see you at next year’s Beyond Blond. Meanwhile please visit our regular website for other Swedish related activities that are taking place in California: www.swedenabroad.se/losangeles

Hästens put Beyond Blond 2008 to bed

Beyond Blond Team says;

After 30 days of Swedish activities it was finally time to put Beyond Blond 2008 to bed. The event Saturday evening in the residence in Beverly Hills marked the official closing of Beyond Blond, Swedish lifestyle month.

The main sponsor of the evening, Swedish brand Hästens Beds and staff from their store on Beverly Boulevard, had decorated the residence with beds, pillows and small Hästens horses. Absolut was serving drinks with a wide variety of flavours. Pyjamas optional could have been the dress code of the event since both waiting staff and DJ were wearing the check pyjamas that relate to Hästens’ commercials, as seen on TV.

More Music...

Sara from the Beyond Blond Team says:

Don´t forget that Swedish singer song writer Tobias Fröberg will be performing at Hotel Cafe on May 2 and at the Troubadour on May 3rd. His album Turn Heads will be released on April 9th and includes guest appearances by Ane Brun, Kathryn Williams and Peter Morén (from Peter, Björn & John). To listen to his music go to: www.myspace.com/tobiasfroberg

And in other news... Beyond Blond is drawing to a close and we will be having our big closing night party tomorrow in collaboration with Hästens Beds. Come back for pictures and a final report in a couple of days!

Sweden Center Stage at the Newport Beach Film Festival

Swedish film enthusiasts and supporters after the sold out screening of The King of Ping Pong
Diana Ljungaeus and husband Frank Megna, who wrote and directed the film The Seekers
DJ at the after party who was kind enough to throw in a couple of Abba tunes for nostalgic puposes... No Swedish party can go without at least one.
Happy guests at the Swedish Spotlight party
Photographs by: Kerstin Alm

Sara from the Beyond Blond Team says:

Last night Swedish film took center stage when the Newport Beach Film Festival screened the four Swedish films selected to this year´s festival. It was part of the Swedish Spotlight that included Jens Jonsson´s film The King of Ping Pong (that won for Best World Cinema:Dramatic Competition up in Sundance earlier this year), Suddenly starring Mikael Nykvist, Sun Storm starring Izabella Scorupco (who also attended the screening) and the film The Seekers, starring Maud Adams.

The screenings were followed by a party at the design store Design Within Reach and featured Swedish drinks and delicacies sponsored by Food Perfected and Absolut.

Probably the best backdrop in town...

Sara Vahabi & CG Nina Ersman from the Swedish Consulate, Patrik Larsson and friend from Lights Out Music Group and Anders Hjelmtorp from Export Music Sweden

Tony Ferguson from Interscope and Sat Bisla of MusExpo

Consulate staff hard at work...

Sara from the beyond Blond team says:

With temperatures soaring over 90F (that is over 30C!), an enthusiastic music crowd gathered at the Swedish residence yesterday for an early brunch and live acoustic gig by the energetic and talented Miss Li.

The event, which was done in collaboration with Export Music Sweden, Concerts of Sweden and Rebel Synch kicked off Sweden´s participation in this year´s MusExpo. Over 60 reps from the music industry attended within the areas of A&R, licensing and music supervision.

Sweden currently has a number of Swedish bands featured in major US TV series and commercials including Miss Li and The Perishers, who both have songs in shows like Grey´s Anatomy.

So if you want to see some live Swedish music there´s still time! Several Swedish bands are in town this week so hurry and check out http://www.beyondblond.org/ for the latest updates!

Miss Li and Musexpo

Lina from the Beyond Blond Team informs;

Did you know that MusExpo 2008 is about to start? This year Sweden will be participating with a special performance by Miss Li, a young Swedish artist with a fun and energetic music style. Tomorrow morning we will host a brunch for invited people from the music industry in collaboration with Export Music Sweden and Sat Bisla of Rebel Synch . Miss Li will be performing an acoustic set for the invited guests, and hopefully we will be able to show you some pictures of her after the event.

Miss Li will also perform at House of Blues on Sunset Boulevard on Monday evening. If you are curious to hear her music, visit our myspace page... :
www.myspace.com/beyondblond2007

Fingers crossed for Edwardson!

Lina from the Beyond Blond Team says;

Today we keep our fingers crossed for Åke Edwardson, the Swedish crime writer, who is in L.A. this weekend to attend the LA Times Book Fair. He is nominated for the annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes for his book “Frozen Tracks” and the winner will be announced at the ceremony tonight. “Frozen Tracks” is a mystery/thriller, which received several awards in Sweden when it came out in 2001 and we hope that also the American audience will like his works.

You can meet Åke Edwardson in person if you are in Los Angeles. He will sign and sell his books tomorrow, Saturday April 26 at 4 pm, at the Festival of Books in Westwood.

Welcome to stop by!

The Energy & environment Partnership between Sweden and California: MoU on Fuels and Energy

The Energy and Environment Partnership between Sweden and California: MoU on Fuels and Energy

With local, national and international news focused on the environment, Anna Carin Thomér blogs about California and Sweden partnership on energy through the Memorandum of Understanding on Renewable Fuels and Energy, signed in 2006. California has the toughest environmental legislation in the USA to decrease emissions of greenhouse gases and increase the use of renewable energy - California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (abbreviated AB 32) The legislation poses a great challenge on both agencies, utilities and other companies. There is an intense search for new solutions in energy and environment technologies.

The MoU is an active partnership with delegations going between Sweden and California. The initial focus has been on biogas as an alternative fuel for cars. Different stakeholders in California i.e. utilities, waste-to-energy companies, ranches and dairy farms are interested in Swedish knowledge in this area. Other areas of interest are energy efficiency, sustainable transportation and sustainable building and construction. The Consulate General of Sweden has arranged a series of roundtables on waste, water, renewable energy and sustainable transportation with visiting Swedish companies. The Swedish American Chamber of Commerce recently organized their annual Entrepreneurial Days in San Diego during which a separate Energy program was held in cooperation with the Consulate.

Global warming is what’s driving the energy policy in California. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been exceptionally interested in energy policy. A problem for sustainable energy has been in its economic viability in relation to fossil-fuel energy. As the price of coal is relatively cheaper in the USA today, it’s not been profitable for energy companies to pursue sustainable energy. However, with a 25% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2020, starting already by the year 2012, companies are now forced to look at renewable energy. California has a large resource of waste. Increased electricity prices make waste-to-energy production more profitable. Higher fuel prices also increase costs for transportation of waste to landfills. Sweden has a long experience of using waste toward energy, and we’re finding that Swedish companies can offer a great deal to California in this respect.

Happy Earth Day!

(Mardi’s Blog for April 22, 2008)
Did you know that Sweden is a recognized global leader in taking proactive initiatives that reduce dependency on oil and greenhouse gas emissions to avert global warming?
Maybe you’ve heard about Sweden’s city of Växjo, named “ The Greenest city in Europe?” The city was recently given two international awards for its ambitious Fossil Fuel Free Program. Växjo’s mayor, Bo Frank, asks this question that could be applied universally: “Do you take responsibility? Or are you waiting for someone else to act? Do you know how much carbon dioxide your car emits per kilometre?” I think we are all starting to take a serious look at what individually and collectively can be done. Our own Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa has pledged an ambitious initiative for Los Angeles, and Mayor Gavin Newsom has done the same for San Francisco. In 2006, California and Sweden signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” to share knowledge and know- how for a sustainable environment with the increased use of renewable fuels and energy.

Växjo hopes ultimately to be fossil free and targets 2010 as its goal to reduce fossil carbon dioxide emissions by at least 50%. How are they doing this and how can other cities use their example? Sarah Nilsson, head of Sustainable Development for the city of Växjo attended the SACC go E-Days Energy Cluster in San Diego a few days ago and told us some of the ways that Växjo is doing it: by using district heating based on bio fuels whenever possible, and with forest products, pellets or wood on a smaller scale basis; by building “passive” houses” with energy-efficiency building materials without traditional heating systems (She said that passive houses versus “normal” house use 50% less energy); by the use of and incentives to use eco-friendly cars and public transportation, with the building of a bicycle “highway,” by using biofuels processed from household waste (e.g. cooking oil) and from forest biomass residues, including ash, sawmill and pulp; by increasing a greener biological diverse city, with more green areas and ecologically produced foods; and by embarking on a joint ventures with industry to sell knowledge and products. The LA Times wrote about Växjo last year.

A Swedish matchmaker. No, not the company "Swedish Match"!

The CEO and co-founder Christoffer Elings-Pers with another representative of Starnox, Jonas Björk.

Lina from the Beyond Blond Team says;

Today I found this photo in my camera and tried to recall where it was taken. It was in the exhibition hall during SACC Entrepreneurial Days in San Diego, where the Swedish-owned company Starnox presented their business idea. In short, they sell to companies the service of finding high-quality interns from Starnox’ network of universities.

Their concept is to custom make the search and find a student who is exactly what the company is looking for, almost like a kind of matchmaker. They also have good connections with Swedish Universities and the CEO/co-founder himself Christoffer Elings-Pers started his career in the US as an intern from a Swedish University, so at least in his case the intern concept worked well. If you are interested in learning more about their service, visit http://www.starnox.com/

Annual Scandinavian Festival kicked off this week-end

Sara from the Beyond Blond team says:

The Annual Scandianvian Festival kicked off today at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks - north of LA. Thousands of people joined in the festivities, enjoyed traditional Swedish food, watched and listened to live performances by various dancing and singing groups and got to shop from various vendors who had set up stands in the beautiful park of CLU´s campus. The Festival will continue until Sunday - for more info check out www.beyondblond.org .

Sweden and Swedish - One out of... 91?

Lina from the Beyond Blond Team reflects;

Did you know that as many as 91 countries are represented in Los Angeles? At least in terms of foreign consulates there are 59 career consulates and 32 honorary consulates. (The term "career" means with paid staff and officers posted in L.A from the country's capital.) Most of the foreign consulates work with consular and trade/cultural related affairs and the daily work and problems you need to solve are quite similar no matter which country you represent.

After work last night I went to a networking mixer, organized by our US colleagues, with attending representatives from the UK, Mexico, Canada, Azerbadjan, Honduras, Australia, Turkey and many more. I ended up on a chair beside Costa Rica. It was a reminder of how extremely international Los Angeles is. According to statistics, more than 55% of the population in LA has other languages than English as mother tongue. However, noone can tell how many would mark "Swedish", if being asked about preferred language. In other words, what we would like to know is...:

Hur många i LA skulle förstå om vi skrev det här på svenska?

Reflections on SACC E-Days Funding Seminar

Mardi from the Beyond Blond Team reflects on one of last week’s SACC E-Days seminars, which focused on funding for start-up companies;

From what I could tell, there were about 50 attendees, many of whom represented Swedish companies, and I think there was some good information and tips for them.
For example, we learned from Mary Walshok, Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Programs a t UCSD that pointed out that building intellectual capital is key and with this in mind there is major funding at both the U.S. Federal and state level for research and commercial initiatives (e.g. $3 billion for stem cell research in California alone). At the state level universities are funded for such initiatives. Additionally, fellowships are also available for doctoral and post-doctoral “fellows” at universities.
David Hood, Senior Advisor for the Director of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command said there is $1.5 billion in funding available for “end-product” R & D through the U.S. Army (military research grants). Interest areas must have military relevance such as ER, trauma, sports medicine, infectious diseases, chemical geology and robotic surgery.
Jay Kunin, VP of BioMed Track, San Diego Tech Coast Angels, talked about Angel Investor funding. He said seed funding for tech companies is available, but investors are looking for opportunities to invest for a great return, resulting in a short time He mentioned life sciences as a particular area of interest. But, mostly for medical devices and biotech tools- “Angels don’t do drugs,” so from his standpoint, pharmaceuticals development did not sound like a good bet. Tom Siegel of Shepherd Ventures said that with the focus for life science funding now almost entirely on “bio-pharma” products, an new investment model has resulted. VCs stressed that when seeking Venture capital, have your product developed, and your team in place before approaching the VC. And, “think cross-border collaboration.” Merging and sharing technologies (e.g., Sweden and California) increases funding opportunities for companies.
Stan Fleming of Forward Ventures said his company will help start-up companies position themselves for VC funding. And the bottom line, “who you know” to introduce your deal makes the difference. And, isn’t that just the way life seems to be?

Sweet and Profitable Sixteen.....

Nina from the Beyond Blond Team says;

During the Entrepreneurial Days, organized by the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, in San Diego last week one of the topics for debate was: "Keeping California and Sweden Competitive". Among the panelists were several Swedish entrepreneurs with fresh ideas on how to make private business more attractive to young Swedes. One of them, Lars Henrik Friis Molin, had this original proposal:

- Give all Swedes a company start-up for their 16th birthday.

Swedish Singer/Songwriters

Lina from the Beyond Blond Team says;

I'm on my way to a meeting with a young Swedish songwriter who recently relocated to Los Angeles. Did you know that Sweden used to be the third largest music exporter in the world after the US and the UK? ...but since 2004 many other countries have had similar successes in terms of music export. Sweden is still very strong in the field of songwriting, though, and many of the most popular songs that you hear on the radio and in TV-shows have been written by Swedes.

Two weeks ago, we hosted a joint music event with the Swedish pop artist/songwriter Meja. She is in LA to record her new album Urban Gypsy and during the evening we tried to match the Americans and the Swedes that work in the music industry with the aim of giving birth to new collaborations. One of the guests, Swedish rock artist Jamie Meyer, got hired by another guest to perform at an upcoming event and other musicians/producers also made connections that will lead to joint projects. It reminded us of the importance to network in order to make sure that Swedish music remains on the turntables.

In that perspective, the music brunch that is being organized in cooperation with Export Music Sweden on April 27th (when MusExpo starts) couldn't come more timely. We will tell you more about it as we get closer to the event...

We´ve Reached the Half Way Mark!

Sara from the Beyond Blond Team says:

So we started off this morning´s weekly promotional meeting with a quick review of the past Beyond Blond related events, including our Bergman Retrospective, SACC E-days and our Entertainment reception. Half-way through our program we still have some great events coming up.

There´s a huge Swedish Spotlight at Newport Beach Film Festival on April 29th, with director Jens Jonsson attending to present his award-winning film The King of Ping Pong followed by a party at the store Design Within Reach. We also have several Swedish bands hitting the LA music scene - so go to www.beyondblond.org for all the details so you don´t miss out!

..and the water and waste discussion continued.

It is an extremely hot Saturday in LA. The Team is off work, most of us trying to escape the heat wave by going to the beach or find a pool. Our search for water fits well with Mardi's continued reporting from yesterday's lunch;

Water issues were discussed as well, focusing on increasingly limited supplies that are forcing us all to rethink our use of water in Los Angeles and southern California-at-large.

Göran Eriksson, president of esi Techtrans, Inc., who represent’s Sweden’s Purac/Läkeby Water Group, talked about biogas to pipeline quality as very energy-efficient, and he noted that Southern California Gas Company-affiliated Sempra Energy Utilities has a new pilot project that will initiate incentives for California drivers with an aim to cut the “carbon footprint.”

Robert Longo of Waste Management Company, based in Scottsdale, said that clarity is needed now to find solutions for companies, and he talked about innovative new technologies that utilize waste to create energy. Kevin Best, CEO of Real Energy in northern California, cited California’s issues of regulatory certainty and inefficient waste water plants. He added that California is now ripe for investment, and that cow manure and animal waste conversion to energy is the new “liquid gold,” overriding solar energy in effectiveness.

Coby Skye of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works said that Los Angeles is at the forefront of developing new technology to turn waste into energy and fuel products. He noted that AB 32 (on Global Warming) is now the “driving force in California for every regulation and decision leading to immediate and significant action to reduce greenhouse gases.” IVL’s president Björn Lundberg had the final word, stating that waste as a resource, especially organic waste, including restaurant waste, to produce biogas “is good business.”

Luncheon on Renewable Energy Cites Waste as Good Business

Mardi and Anna Carin from the Beyond Blond team report on today’s working luncheon on Waste Water and Renewable Energy, hosted by the Consul General;

Fifteen movers and shakers in the California and Swedish “know” on biofuels and renewable energy joined us today for a lively discussion on related topics, including the synergy between California and Sweden, and opportunities for cooperation. The luncheon was held in the Swedish residence in Beverly Hills to introduce the principals from the Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL) who have been visiting California the past few days to attend a round of meetings both in San Diego, in conjunction with Swedish American Entrepreneurial Days, and in Los Angeles. Anna Carin, who is the Swedish Consulate’s expert on energy and environmental matters, highlighted the “Memorandum of Understanding” (MoU) signed between Sweden and California in 2006. There was a general consensus that it has stimulated an unprecedented exchange of knowledge and cooperation in this area and has opened the doors for Swedish companies with the technology know-how to do business in California. In fact, several new ventures are in process or have recently started up. Mike Mullen, senior analyst on energy and the environment at Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa’s office commented that local renewable energy is vitally important and ambitious new goals for Los Angeles include that 20 percent of energy consumption will be from renewable sources. Mardi will continue the reporting tomorrow...

What do American Film Productions look for when choosing film locations?

Two-time Oscar winner for best Sound Per Hallberg with Consul General Nina Ersman at our cocktail reception.
Film music composer Elia Cmiral & Swedish screen writer Soni Jorgensen.

Richard Ulfvengren from Traktor and Consul Lina van der Weyden

President of Fox International Tomas Jegeus and actress Maud Adams

Sara from the Beyond Blond Team says:

What do American film productions look for when choosing film locations?
That was the topic of discussion when several of Sweden’s film commissions gathered at Fox Studios yesterday to meet with American producers. Hosted by Fox International´s President and fellow Swede, Tomas Jegeus, the day featured top speakers James Riley, VP Business Development, Stargate Films, Sanford Panitch, President of Filmed Entertainment, New Regency, Fred Baron Executive Vice President of Feature Production, Twentieth Century Fox, Richard Ulfvengren, Partner & Producer, Traktor and several others. From Sweden we had Film i Väst, Öresund Film Commission, Stockholm Film Commission, Filmpool Nord as well as some Swedish production companies.

From an American perspective the top questions that come up when deciding on choosing a location were: creative requirements in the script; proximity to major metropolitan area; how skilled is the production force and how deep is the crew base; stage facilities; possibilities for simultaneous shooting; what other films have shot there and last and certainly not least what are the tax incentives. Examples of shooting in Japan were given, where crews are much smaller and non-union and films are shot at a fraction of the costs of an average US production – which at Fox Studios lies around 70-80 million dollars.

Following the presentations at Fox was a cocktail reception at the Swedish Consul General´s residence in Beverly Hills. Over 90 guests from the entertainment industry mingled and networked to the sounds of pianist Mikael Sandgren, who played the grand piano throughout the evening.

Joint efforts for a greener California

Lina from the Beyond Blond Team says;
Finally back in L.A. where the SACC E-days' cluster on Entertainment has a one-day program in Fox International. We will soon head over to the residence for the film networking reception, but I wanted to share some interesting numbers with you that James Boyd, vice-chair of California Energy Commission gave in his speech in San Diego on Monday: 8, 37, 27, 2, 12 and 3. (No, the speech was not about the next Super Lotto...)

According to James Boyd, California is currently the world's 8th largest economy with a population of 37 million people and 27 million (!) motor vehicles. The pollution from transportation vehicles has led to California becoming the 2nd largest emitter of greenhouse gas in the US and the 12th largest in the world. Because of this problem, the governor and his administration developed a 3-part strategy to encourage a) reduced travel, b) advanced technology and c) alternative fuels. That is why they are interested in working with Sweden in the field of environment and energy.

In June 2006, California and Sweden signed a Science and Technology agreement for cooperative RD&D. (In our internal office lingo we call it a MoU, which is short for "Memorandum of Understanding"). Another agreement followed in June 2007. Anna Carin in our office has been working actively on the implementation of the agreements and will give more information on the MoU at a later stage.

Now we must hurry to the film reception in Beverly Hills. It is a 30 minute drive from the office in Westwood, so we should all try to car pool...

The Networking continues at the European Super Mixer in Century City

Sara from the Beyond Blond team says:

While half of our promotional team, including our Consul General, is down in San Diego for the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneurial Days, I will be heading to the European Super Mixer here in LA at X-Bar in Century City tonight. The Mixer is a Welcome Networking Event, also part of the Swedish-American Entrepreneurial days 2008, intended for Swedes as well as Americans who have business interests in LA and overseas. There will be several of the Swedish Film Commissions and production companies attending, who are all in town for the big Media and Entertainment program that kicks off at Fox studios tomorrow. The whole thing closes with an evening networking reception tomorrow night at the residence of the Swedish Consul General in Beverly Hills. More updates and pictures coming soon...

LIVE from E-days in San Diego continues

Lina from the Beyond Blond Team says;
Half of the Beyond Blond Team is still in San Diego today, where we are reporting live from the matchmaking activities at the SACC (Swedish American Chamber of Commerce) Entrepreneurial Days. The various clusters of E-days are focused on sustainable energy, life sciences, IT, the entertainment industry and venture capital. There seem to be about 80-90 companies present and many high-level participants. At the dinner last night Harvey White, co-founder of Qualcomm, gave a speech on his experience and lessons learned from being an entrepreneur in California. As you might know, he is also the founder of Leap Wireless.

Some of us are heading back to LA this afternoon. It is a 3-5 hour drive between San Diego and Los Angeles, depending on traffic, and we hope to make it in time to also attend the SACC European Super Business Mixer that starts in LA at 6 pm. The entertainment companies of E-days have been invited to participate as part of their E-days program in LA, (organized by SACC with the support of Tomas Jegeus, vice president of Fox International). As part of their program we will host a reception tomorrow night with focus on film industry. Also location scouting will be discussed, since many of the Swedish film commissioners are in California this week.

We will get back to you with more information on the many interesting speeches we have heard in San Diego in a later post, while you enjoy the pictures below from this weekend's Bergman screenings in Los Angeles.

We appreciate that some of you have started commenting. Always nice for us to know that someone has found our blog... Thank you!

Photo credits- Ampas Hosts Salute to Bergman and Opening of Beyond Blond

Mardi from the Beyond Blond team says;
We want to credit and thank Matt Petit for Friday night's photos. I also wanted to add the "Bergman team" group shot here with the Swedish Institute's delegation Lars Hedenstedt, Anders Rabenius, Anmarie Kastrup, Marie Nyreröd, Börje Ahlstedt; and Consul General of Sweden Nina Ersman, Ellen Harrington of AMPAS.

AMPAS Hosts a Salute to Bergman and the Opening of Beyond Blond

Mardi from the Beyond Blond team says;
Friday night, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosted the opening of our Bergman Weekend "An Academy Salute to Ingmar Bergman" and Beyond Blond 2008 at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. The Academy’s lavish cocktail buffet reception included bowls of green apples, symbolizing this year’s Beyond Blond and, as a special tribute to Ingmar Bergman, crushed gingersnaps and sour cream, his favorite on-the-set snack. AMPAS Executive Director Bruce Davis opened the evening with an enthusiastic welcome. It was great to see Michael and Pat York, James Karen, Alba Francesca, and other local notables there. Our delegation from Sweden included Lars Hedenstedt, project manager for films and the Bergman Program at the Swedish Institute, Annmarie Kastrup and Anders Rabenius, project leader and architect, respectively, of the biographical exhibition of “Ingmar Bergman: The Man Who Asked Hard Questions” that was displayed for the first time over the weekend at the theatre. People commented on the innovative circular design surrounding a tree-shaped structure to which several screens displayed personal interviews and clips from several of Bergman’s classic films. You had to stand right in front of each screen to hear - state-of-the-art technology I learned called "sound shower." This installation will be shown next in San Francisco, before traveling to the east coast and beyond. Swedish TV producer and documentarian, Marie Nyreröd was also there, and she introduced a clip of her new documentary “Bergman Island,” which preceded the featured Bergman screening for the evening, Fanny & Alexander. Swedish actor Börje Ahlstedt, who played “Uncle Carl” in the film, had everyone laughing out loud in the packed theatre with his entertaining remarks and spontaneous greetings and interaction with members of the audience. The theatre was virtually full all three nights. I attended Saturday and Sunday night screenings (Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, Cries and Whispers and Autumn Sonata) as well and it was thrilling to see the overwhelming response to this program. We're excited to be collaborating again with the Academy in 2010 for a major tribute to Bergman in Los Angeles.

Live from SACC E-days

Lina from the Beyond Blond Team says;
Right now we are blogging from a conference business center in San Diego, where the Entrepreneurial Days are taking place. The E-days conference is organized by the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce and an inauguration VIP-reception (co-hosted by our Consulate) was held in San Diego last night. This morning, at the opening of the E-days conference, the Swedish Ambassador to the US Jonas Hafstrom gave some introductory remarks about the relation between Sweden and the US. (See picture above.)

We also heard an interesting presentation from Andre Heinz, who is the founder of Sustainable Technologies Fund. He had four explanations to why Sweden is a leader within Renewable Energy; the research base, the political support/devotion to address the problems, the high literacy/education and the strong identification with environment/development issues among the population. Another interesting speaker this morning was Doug Pennington from Private Capital Network, who gave the Swedish companies that are present advice on what they should do to become attractive to an angel investor. He also explained the different funding stages of a company and exactly where in that chain an investor would prefer to invest in order to attain the best profit.

There seem to be some interesting business opportunities during E-days for the various Swedish and American companies that are present. They are right now busy conducting matchmaking and business-2-business meetings, but we will get back to you with more updates from the conference as soon as the program continues...

Börje Ahlstedt launches Beyond Blond

Lina from the Beyond Blond Team says;

What you see above is a picture of actor Börje Ahlstedt taken at the opening ceremony of Beyond Blond last night. Mardi, who was organizing the Bergman events in cooperation with the Swedish Institute and AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), will tell you more about this weekend's screenings at a later stage....

Welcome to the Opening Night Screening

Lina from the Beyond Blond Team says;

Our team has been spread out all over the state this week. Nina just came back from San Francisco, Mardi and the delegation from the Swedish Institute have been working on the Bergman installation in the theater where the screenings will take place. Many Swedes have now arrived in L.A. to attend the Opening Ceremony tonight, eg, Börje Ahlstedt, Marie Nyreröd and Lars Hedenstedt from the Swedish Institute.

We had problems with the internet connection yesterday, so I couldn't show you the picture I had downloaded to the post below. Well, here it is! It shows all the five different Beyond Blond designs and illustrates how the project has evolved from a small project to a mature five-year old in the shape of an apple.... We bought the apples at 3 a.m. this morning (Yes, in L.A. the supermarkets are open at night.) Little did the surprised night guard know that buying a shopping cart full of apples in the middle of the night, is not a sign of insanity, but a sign that Swedish Lifestyle Month is about to start in a few hours...:-)

For those of you that are in L.A., we hope to see you at the screening tonight - Welcome!

Happy 5th Birthday, Beyond Blond!

Lina from the Beyond Blond Team says:

Tomorrow it kicks off again. It will be the fifth time we launch the Swedish Lifestyle Month and every year we have gone through the same struggles with setting the program, finding sponsors and cooperation partners, organising all the events, guest lists, invitations, deciding on media strategy and design of the printed program.

Especially the design has been discussed extensively over the years. When we first came up with the Beyond Blond idea, in 2004, we asked one of our waitresses, who had a degree in web design to design the program. In 2005 we turned to StockholmInteractive that came up with a look to fit the "Swedish Design Year". In 2006 a group of students at "Art Center College of Design" got the design project as an assignment within their education. Their efforts gave birth to the blond wig printed on a steel blue background.
The theme in 2007 was ResponsAbility and the program was given an environmentally friendly recycled look, created by ACNE.

This year StockholmInteractive created the apple in which we present the four main elements. It doesn't describe every single event, but instead it directs the audience to read the full program on the website. We hope you have found all information you need and like this year's apple. If there is time before the opening ceremony tomorrow we will buy apples to hand out at the screening. It might come in handy since the special version of Fanny & Alexander that will be screened is said to last almost four hours...

The count down continues...

Sara from the Beyond Blond Team says:

Well we´re only two days away from the big Bergman Tribute and official kick-off for Beyond Blond 2008 and we are all crazy busy with preparations. Last night the first group of Swedes arrived from Stockholm to start building the incredible Bergman Installation at the Academy´s Linwood Dunn Theater. Rumor has it that it looks absolutely amazing and I can´t wait to see the end reslut on Friday... the rest of the group arrives today and tomorrow and the incredible Börje Ahlstedt arrives on Friday with his wife.

Beyond Blond will soon kick off...

Beyond Blond Team says;

Three days left before Beyond Blond kicks off! Our team has gathered to learn how to use our new blog.

We are super busy preparing for the events that are taking place this weekend; The Opening Ceremony of Beyond Blond on Friday will coincide with weekend-long screenings of Bergman classics at the Academy's Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. We are so excited that legendary Swedish actor Börje Ahlstedt, who played in "Fanny & Alexander", will be here Friday night to introduce the film. The screenings will start 7 pm each night. Check www.beyondblond.org for ticket information.

This page will be launched in April 2008, when Beyond Blond and the daily blog reports start....

Meanwhile, check out the Beyond Blond program on http://www.beyondblond.org/