FOREWORD

It was a Wednesday afternoon. Peter took off his pants.

“To a certain extent, fear can make you more creative. It helps me enforce chaos and a feeling of ongoing revolution amongst my employees.” Peter Aalbæk, CEO of the Danish award-winning film company Zentropa, is known for his close collaboration and partnership with film director Lars von Trier and for encouraging his employees to get a tattoo of the company logo and to swim naked with him in the pool at company parties. When former employees are asked about his management style, they refer to the number of times Peter either undressed or let young female employees do the same. No wonder he is somewhat of a charismatic and controversial figure.

One autumn evening Peter agreed to let us interview him about the continuous work of creating an innovative film company. Peter is a provocative figure. He is often pictured in Danish magazines with a big cigar and a naked butt. It is all about enforcing madness and disruption to make the employees find their creative passion. In Peter’s words, his first encounters with artists took place in childhood. His father, a minister and author, suffered from mood swings. When his writings went well, he was caring and loving, but when he encountered crisis, he was unpredictable. It was difficult to handle as a child, but it made Peter pay attention to how very creative people work. Furthermore, his father taught him to follow passion.

We will come back to the story of Aalbæk and von Trier, but first let’s dig into the reasons for writing a book about creativity and letting Danish examples form the core of the book. This small Nordic country with no other resources other than its people and their ability to tell good stories, work creatively and add value to its products.