Profile Spotlight: Fredric Ollerstam

[Profile Spotlights]

Karl-Erik Konstantin Persson - An ordinary afternoon from Fredric Ollerstam on Vimeo.

Who are you and what is your profession?

I work as a producer at two different companies; Swedish Web Editors and Preamp. We produce corporate films and documentaries.

During my 37 years of walking on our beautiful earth I've lived in Sweden. I was born in the small village of Simrishamn in the Southern part of Sweden, I grew up in the sleep town of Vellinge and since 1996 I live in Sweden's third largest city, Malmö. 

Since 1992 I've run my own company with in IT, but my goal has always been to work within film and theater. In 1994 I decided to attend an acting school, but realized soon that I enjoyed everything around a production more then acting. So I decided to find my way into film and theater in a different way. In 1996 I studied to become a digital animator, but after one year I realized that the 3D-industry in Sweden was to small and I enjoyed everything around the production more then animating. So I continued to find the right way for me to work within film and theater. In 2007 I started my film company Preamp and quickly realized that this was the right way for me to work within the film industry, by just doing it!

Can you tell us a little about your background and upbringing?

At my 10th birthday I got my first computer - a Spectrum ZX81. At the age of thirteen I joined the computer club in my hometown and soon I became one of the youngest computer science teachers in Sweden. To this day I still teach and lecture, but these days the topic is film production.

As a boy I had a hard time sitting still and therefor I had many hobbies. Of course the computers, but also horseback riding, karate, theater acting, singing in choir and filming with my dads super 8. I had a big interest in finding out how stuff worked, resulting in many broken toys and electric appliances. When my own toys where investigated I continued with my kid brothers and then with my dads tools. I still explore the inner parts of cameras, computers and other gadgets. They rarely works afterwards.

I grew up with my two brothers and my parents. In school I had trouble sitting still in class and sadly I didn't really attend school from the age of fifteen and up. Today I know that what I needed was a different way of learning then the traditional way. Some brains work in different ways. These days I have great benefit of having a brain that works in a different way. 

 

What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

My grandfather Stig was a stills photographer and worked as a war correspondent in Sweden/Denmark during the second world war. Both before and after the war he was as a news correspondent and a photographer for the Swedish Royal family. Our house was filled with boxes containing pictures taken by him. Pictures of hanged nazi soldiers in the docks of Copenhagen, victims of the holocaust arriving to swedish harbors, the Swedish King proudly presenting a shoot duck and so on. 

His pictures has inspired me to tell a stories with out using words.

My grandmother Gullan, whom I never meet, passed away in her fifties. She has always been a bit of mystic woman for me, only described by parents and through photos. A small, but very strong woman with sweet, yet intensive brown eyes. The unknown around her has inspired me to find out more about people around me, but I always leave something to the unknown.

Both my grandfather Stig and my grandmother Gullan where variety artist in a young age and continued with singing and dancing though-out their life's. I guess the stories and pictures from their life inspired me to attend acting school in 1994. 

 

My grandfather Karl-Erik had different types of nine-five jobs through out his life. During the second world war he was stationed around Sweden practically all the war. Just waiting for the germans and the russians to come. Six years of waiting and gladly nobody came. 

My grandfather Karl-Erik may have live a quiet and still life, but he was a master of telling stories. He told the stories straight forward, just as they happened. The stories may have been simple, but the way he told them made them unique and very interesting. I will remember his stories as long as I live. His way of telling a story from something simple is one of my big inspirations.

My grandmother Anna-Lisa was a classic housewife grandmother, who poured her love over us all the time. Her way of giving unconditional love is not only an inspiration, its also the way I try to live my life.

 

Who or what do you most admire?

People who tell the truth and who has a good heart. I've always admired all my grandparents, but also my parents for their good heart and honest way of living.

Two people whom I never meet, but admire never the less are my great grandfather and great grandmother. They both achieved very much during their life. My great grandfather was blind, but managed to be a well respected opera singer and a theater play director. My great grandmother was a scriptwriter and also Swedens first female film director (second in the world). 

 

What did you film on 10.10.10?

I filmed my grandfather Karl-Erik during an every day morning coffee. We talked about his life and about his wife, my grandmother. This was my first own project, meaning I didn't have any of my co-workers to help me. I did everything by myself, nearly... I couldn't have done it without grandfather Karl-Erik. A couple of months later he passed away. All the way to the end he kept asking me if I heard something from the americans about our little film. He enjoyed the result very much. He became 94 yrs old.

 

What are you planning on filming for 11.11.11?

I'll probably film something thats close to my heart, but I am not really sure what to film...yet. One thing is for sure, I'll visit my grandfathers grave and have a coffee with him.