With its management team staying on board, the high-profile Scandinavian production group behind the series The Thin Blue Line is expected to keep control of its creative decisions.

Newen Studios' majority stake in Anagram announced October 6, is part of its strategy to expand its footprint in the Nordic region.

The subsidiary of TF1 Group which controls 40 production brands in eight territories, first entered the Nordics in 2018, by taking a minority stake in the well-established Nimbus Film. The strategic move was followed in 2021 by a partnership with Oscar-nominated documentary producer Sigrid Dyekjær, in her newly established Danish company Real Lava.

Set up in 2002 by Swedish comedians Anders Jansson and Johan Wester, Anagram is one of Scandinavian’s regular providers of high-quality original feature films and drama series.

The group managed by CEO and Chairman Mads Alders since 2013, consists of three labels: the film and drama series production outfits Anagram Sweden and Anagram Norway, headed respectively by producers Miira Paasilinna and Anne Kolbjørnsen, and the comedy and live entertainment brand Anagram Live, headed by producer Kajsa Jönsson.

Commenting on the acquisition, Newen Studios CEO Romain Bessi said: “We are thrilled to welcome Anagram, headed by Mats Alders and his team. This is a perfect match for us since Anagram and Newen Studios have already forged strong links through successful cooperations. Anagram will greatly complement & reinforce our already strong presence in Scandinavia, an essential region for drama & storytelling in Europe.”

Speaking to nordicfilmandtvnews.com, Paasilinna said: “We’re very happy to be part of the major European group Newen Studios. A crucial element is that our management stays on board and continues to be shareholders in Anagram. This means that we will still have full creative control, and at the same time, greater financial muscle to deliver the highest quality content to local and global audiences. “

The French and Scandinavian groups had existing collaborations in production through Nimbus Film which co-produced Anagram Norway’s series Between Us, and in distribution through Newen’s global distribution arm Newen Connect, which handles Anagram Norway’s latest series Ammo, set to premiere on TV2 Norway this fall and internationally at the MIPCOM market.

Although Anagram itself is shareholder in the sales company Yellow Affair, Paasilinna said its new French ownership would not affect its stake in Yellow Affair.

Anagram Sweden which also comprises among its key staff members producer Martin Persson and scriptwriter Erik Ahrnborn, has delivered a slew of award-winning and critically acclaimed films such as Eat, Sleep Die, Yarden, the SVT series Thin Blue Line (Best Drama Series, Best Programme at the Kristallen 2021), and Viaplay’s The Machinery. Both series were recommissioned for a second season.

Anagram Sweden’s upcoming series Keeping it Together (Hålla samman) is due to premiere on SVT in the fall 2023.

Anagram Norway set up in 2017 by producer Kolbjørnsen (Lilyhammer, Maniac) and scriptwriter/creative director Ole Marius Araldsen (Maniac) delivered among others the series Kieler Street, nominated for the 2019 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize-Best Screenplay, Nordic drama series- and the romantic drama Between Us. Their latest production, the arm dealing crime show Ammo co-written by Ole Marius Araldsen, Nicolai Cleve Broch, Øyvind Holtmon, Steven Uhlander and Jesper Sundnes, is due to premiere on TV2 Norway October 13, 2022.​