A Year of Realism and Resolve – Looking Back at 2025 and Ahead to 2026

By Simon Kölle

2025 began with a question I could not let go of.

What happens when we stop pretending and start seeing things as they really are?

That question shaped my study of Swedish cinema, my public writing, and the way we structured every creative and business decision this year. It guided FrameSage’s launch, the reboot of Tulpa Creatives, and even the way I returned to composing music. Not just as a service, but as something essential. I will never stop being a film composer.

2025: A Year of Precision, Growth, and Pushback

This was the year realism became more than a word. It became a mindset shared across industries. A call to ground creativity in structure. To build trust through clarity. To show investors, collaborators, and audiences what film can become when treated with both passion and discipline.

My articles on realism and the need of data and new perspectives sparked wide debate across LinkedIn. It reached beyond film. Creators, producers, executives, and thinkers from different industries responded with powerful takes. Some emphasized realism as responsibility. Others described it as a system of seeing with honesty. It became clear that realism, as a mindset, is something many people are hungry for. Not because it is fashionable, but because it speaks to a deeper need for clarity in uncertain times.

Throughout the year, I continued to publish follow-up articles exploring structural problems in film. I questioned the use and misuse of data. I challenged inflated claims about the gaming industry. I explored the role of public funding in shaping genre access and audience strategy. I also wrote about the potential of transparency to shift investor confidence.

These pieces were not just shared widely. They started new conversations. Some became required reading in academic courses. Some helped bridge dialogue between policymakers, funders, and producers. They also brought a flood of new professional connections into my orbit. Thank you to everyone who reached out. I am grateful for the exchange.

The Study That Sparked a Shift

My major research project:Financial Viability and Investment Potential of Swedish Cinema (1965 to 2024). It analyzed 1,000 Swedish theatrical films and uncovered how return on investment correlates with genre, budget models, and institutional patterns. It became one of the most read and downloaded film studies of the year in Sweden. It led to a widely shared podcast episode and a public panel during Göteborg Film Festival.

FrameSage, the company I co-founded and chair, took this further. Our platform helps producers assess project viability and speak the language of capital. With tools like Quantify and Qualify, we enable creative projects to be evaluated on their own terms, but with financial clarity.

Realism in this context means something specific. Not reducing film to numbers, but using numbers to help build films that last.

Tulpa Creatives: A New Chapter

2025 was also a turning point for Tulpa Creatives. We restructured the company and welcomed four new partners: Filip Hammarström, Zishan Ahmad, Erik Bolin, and Tobias Moe. Together with our existing core, we built a stronger creative studio that spans from development to financing to production. We optioned major material, applied our new research model, and secured public grants to support long-term growth. Our slate is more ambitious than ever, and we now have the internal capacity to take it all the way.

Music: Still the Core

Through all of this, I never stopped composing.

This year I scored two new feature films: Frakturer and Kill Trip — both created in the fall. I also released several concept albums and collaborations, including Themes Retold Vol. 2, the sci-fi horror soundtrack Drifting Cathedral of the Outer Dark, and a new track for Clues of Reality, with a music video on the way.

I joined the action feature Tiger Spirit as composer. I also continued work on Klangstigar, a deeply personal album set for release in 2026.

I composed for the award-winning documentary I AM a Barista, contributed to the dark soundtrack album The Umbra City Vol. 1 with AMG, and worked with clients across Europe and the US.

Scoring remains where my artistic heart lives. And in 2026, I plan to go even deeper. I ended up winning a couple of awards, the more surprising ones were as the head of a team doing all the sound for I AM a Barista (the team consisted Simon Kölle as sound director, Axel Nygren and Molly Sandberg as foley artist / sound / sound mixers).

Filmbranschpodden and the Broader Conversation

Filmbranschpodden reached over one million unique listens this year. In Season 3 I released 15 episodes, each offering an unfiltered dialogue with key figures in the industry — from showrunners to strategists, from policy thinkers to rising talents.

This podcast continues to be a space where people from across the film ecosystem meet — not to repeat slogans, but to challenge ideas and explore what works. Several episodes have sparked public debate. Some have changed how people think about the future of Swedish film.

Looking Ahead to 2026

2026 will be about building on this momentum with focus and conviction.

I plan to:

• Finalize financing for the Tulpa Movie Slate

• Release my novel Gibraltar

• Compose for multiple features and expand my scoring collaborations

• Release Klangstigar and new music videos

• Launch Season 4 of Filmbranschpodden

• Expand FrameSage into more territories

• Write more articles that provoke clarity and accountability
  

Realism is not a slogan. It is a mindset. A discipline. A way of treating audiences, investors, and artists with respect. 2025 gave us the questions. 2026 is the time for answers.

Let us begin there.