NENT Group reorganises studios operations as Viaplay Studios

• Brain Academy and Nice Drama to merge and join Viaplay Studios Animation and Paprika Studios in new Viaplay Studios organisation
• Viaplay Studios to focus primarily on delivering original content for NENT Group’s Viaplay streaming service
• Studios slate includes Lasse Hallström’s ‘Hilma’ and Adi Hasak’s ‘The Box’

Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group) has reorganised and rebranded its studios operations, previously known as NENT Studios, as Viaplay Studios. Viaplay Studios will focus primarily on delivering original content for NENT Group’s fast-growing Viaplay streaming service, which will be available in at least 15 countries by the end of 2023. The new organisational set-up is effective immediately.

Viaplay Studios comprises NENT Group’s Swedish production companies Brain Academy and Nice Drama, which are currently in the process of merging into a single entity named Viaplay Studios Sweden that will produce original content exclusively for Viaplay. Viaplay Studios is also home to Viaplay Studios Animation, previously called NENT Animation, which will produce animated content exclusively for Viaplay.

Paprika Studios, a Central & Eastern European-focused production company headquartered in Budapest and with a presence in nine markets, will operate as part of Viaplay Studios while retaining its current structure and branding. Paprika Studios will continue to work with third-party productions.

Viaplay Studios will also manage NENT Group’s UK-based joint venture with FilmNation Entertainment and investment in Los Angeles-based studio Picturestart.

Alexander Bastin, previously NENT Studios CEO, has been appointed Viaplay Studios CEO. Alexander Tanno, previously Nice Drama CEO, has been appointed Viaplay Studios Sweden CEO, and Helena Sandermark, previously Brain Academy CEO, has been appointed Head of Production, Viaplay Studios Sweden. Jens Köpsén and Akos Erdos will continue in their current roles as VP & Head of Viaplay Studios Animation and Paprika Studios CEO respectively.

Alexander Bastin, Viaplay Studios CEO: “Our reorganised studios business will be key in fuelling Viaplay’s growth in the years to come. Viaplay Studios already has an outstanding slate of upcoming Viaplay Originals, including Lasse Hallström’s ‘Hilma’ and Adi Hasak’s ‘The Box’, and we are now set up to deliver even more unique stories. This is an important step in securing Viaplay’s long-term content pipeline while providing a home for the most talented creators and producers in the Nordic region and beyond.”

Titles produced by companies now part of Viaplay Studios include ‘Midnight Sun’, ‘The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared’, ‘Thicker Than Water’, ‘The Perfect Patient’ and ‘Max Anger’, recently nominated for the Best European Drama Series award at the Festival de la Fiction TV.

In July, NENT Group announced an agreement to sell 12 production companies operating across non-scripted, scripted and factual content to Fremantle. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in Q3 or Q4 this year, when NENT Group will report the financial impact of the transaction. The sale of NENT Studios’ UK distribution business to All3Media was completed in June.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

Nordic Entertainment Group AB (publ) (NENT Group)’s Viaplay streaming service is available in every Nordic country, in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and in Poland. Viaplay will launch in the US in 2021 and the Netherlands in 2022, followed by additional markets by the end of 2023. We operate streaming services, TV channels, radio stations and production companies, and our purpose is to tell stories, touch lives and expand worlds. Headquartered in Stockholm and with a global outlook, NENT Group is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (‘NENT A’ and ‘NENT B’).

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