Trom creator Torfinnur Jákupsson unveils Red Herring Story, a new London-based development company launched ahead of Series Mania. As a UK affiliate of GRÓ Studios—the first Faroese film and television studio founded in 2022—Red Herring Story will focus on developing high-end scripted and unscripted thrillers, with an emphasis on international co-productions.
With a slate of socially conscious crime narratives, the company will explore political, environmental, and investigative themes set in distinctive global locations. Among its first flagship projects is a corporate crime thriller set in London’s Canary Wharf, delving into greenwashing, global finance, and political influence — a so-called Nordic Noir in the City.
Red Herring Story is already in talks with international co-production partners with further announcements expected later this year.
As part of its UK expansion, Red Herring Story is also introducing its Faroese equivalent Roykstovan, a reimagined writers’ room inspired by Faroese storytelling traditions. Historically, the ‘roykstova’ was the communal heart of the home, where people gathered to spin yarn (literally) and tell stories for both entertainment and survival. This spirit of collaborative, immersive, and socially conscious storytelling is at the heart of Red Herring Story’s development process.
Torfinnur Jákupsson explains: “For the past three years, we’ve been developing an exciting slate of high-end Nordic and international thrillers. Red Herring Story gives us a direct London base to foster closer collaborations with UK broadcasters, streamers, and co-production partners to bring those projects to market, as well as to expand our UK slate. Red Herring Story aims to bridge the Nordic storytelling tradition of atmospheric investigative thrillers with the sharp, dynamic intensity of British drama. Our focus is on culturally relevant stories with a strong sense of place that also resonate beyond borders.”