Under the deal, Anima Vitae’s founders Antti Haikala, Jani Kuronen and Olli Rajala will retain 60% of the company, with the remaining shares now under Aurora Studios’ ownership.

Set up in 2000, Anima Vitae is one of the Nordic region’s top provider of quality animation content, with an expertise in 3D and a workforce split between the Helsinki and Kuala Lumpur offices.

The company is credited for the successful Niko movies- Niko & The Way to the Stars sold to 120 countries - and its sequel Little Brother, Big Trouble. A third instalment is in development.

Most recent service works also take in the international-Emmy nominated series Moominvalley, produced by Gutsy Animations for Yle and Sky, and Rovio’s Angry Birds: Stella.

Anima Vitae’s forthcoming international project as producer is the feature Fleak, currently in the financing stage.

Meanwhile the fast-moving Aurora Studios, involved in the development, production, financing and distribution of quality audiovisual content, has turned into a key Finnish player since 2020. Recent major announcements were the launch of a €5.5m Finnish Impact Film Fund, the strategic acquisition of the arthouse distributor Cinemanse and Helsinki-filmi production house, two labels now under the Aurora umbrella.

Commenting on the Anima Vitae partnership, Aurora Studios’ CEO Petri Kemppinen said:

“We’re fortunate to add to our team the creative professionals at Anima Vitae and beyond thrilled to be working closely with Anima’s visionaries to create, realise and distribute Nordic IPs together for the international market.”

See our separAte interview with Petri Kemppinen: CLICK HERE.


Antti Haikala, CEO & co-founder of Anima Vitae added: “With this strategic partnership with Aurora Studios, we will be able to further develop our capabilities and services and guarantee that our studio stays at the forefront of our industry. The partnership gives us a unique opportunity to develop future success stories. This is the natural next step in the direction we embarked on over 20 years ago.”