Valerie Edwina Saunders is the founder and CEO of the film and tv series production company Metropolitan Film.
Valerie Edwina Saunders established the company to tell bold and innovative stories with an international perspective, aiming to entertain audiences with engaging and inspiring films and tv series rooted in Nordic culture and history.
Valerie Edwina Saunders is currently producing and co-directing the international feature film Prima Ballerina with the acclaimed German cinematographer and director Hagen Bogdanski. This marks their first directorial collaboration.
Valerie Edwina Saunders developed the film Prima Ballerina together with Danish screenwriter Ole Meldgaard, and they continue their collaboration on the animated series Wild Danish / Vildbasserne, a children’s animation series for ages 3-6, currently in development. Wild Danish was presented at Cartoon Forum in 2022 through her animation company Zebra Animation Studios. Her first collaboration with Ole Meldgaard was the World War II film Into the White, for which he also wrote the screenplay. She produced it through Zentropa International Norway alongside Peter Aalbæk Jensen. For Into the White, she assembled a Norwegian and international creative team with the Oscar-nominated Norwegian director Petter Næss at the helm. Rupert Grint from the Harry Potter films, David Kross, Stig Henrik Hoff, Lachlan Niebohr, and Florian Lukas played the lead roles.
Valerie Edwina Saunders’ experience in the arts began at the Royal Danish Theatre, the Danish National School of Performing Arts, and the Royal Danish Ballet. One of the first productions she worked on was the revival of Flemming Flindt’s Triumph of Death, with music by Savage Rose. The ballet proved to be a significant source of inspiration for creating more works about ballet in the world of film. Valerie Edwina Saunders began her career in the film industry by directing the documentary about the ballet icons Flemming and Vivi Flindt, Cowboy & Angel. Her next project was producing and directing the short live-action film Sofie’s Heart and the animated short film Ballerina. And now, the international feature film Prima Ballerina, which will be Metropolitan Film’s first feature film.
Valerie Edwina Saunders is a member of the European Film Academy.