Kim Fupz Aakeson, the writer of Norwegian comedy-drama Velkommen til Utmark (Welcome to Utmark), speaks to DQ about the film origins of his quirky series and the open landscapes that make it a Nordic western. While HBO Nordic’s eight-part Norwegian comedy-drama Velkommen til Utmark (Welcome to Utmark) has its origins as a feature film, writer Kim Fupz Aakeson wasn’t initially convinced by the idea to turn his movie pitch into a series. “We had a short couple of pages; it was an idea for a feature film,” Aakeson tells DQ. “I’ve worked with [producer] Paradox in Norway on three feature films but on this one they said, ‘Why don’t we make it a series?’ I was like, ‘Oh man, why does everyone want to make series?’”