WRITTEN BY: Annika Pham
The new Nordic in-house production arm of the streaming house Viaplay is the result of the merger between the Swedish and the Norwegian divisions, effective since June 1.
The news was first broken by trade online publication Deadline.
Ørjan Karlsen, head of Viaplay Studios Norway has been promoted to the role of CEO of Viaplay Studios Nordics, based in Oslo and will be reporting to Azra Osmancevic, VP Operations Nordics at Viaplay Group, who recently joined the group’s Nordic management.
Karlsen, former Head of Drama at ITV Studios- is credited as producer of Viaplay’s series R.I.P Henry and seasons 4-5 of Wisting.
Reporting to Osmancevic will also be Alos Erdos, CEO of Paprika Studios, Viaplay’s label active in Central and Eastern Europe, which will be operating as a separate entity within Viaplay Studios Nordics.
According to Viaplay’s press office, the merger of Viaplay Studios Sweden and Viaplay Studios Norway has led to “single digit” job losses. Among the casualties is the head of Viaplay Studios Sweden Alexander Tanno.
Viaplay’s spokesperson underlined that Viaplay Studios’s restructuring occurred June 1st and is separate from the group’s decision to name Jorgen Madsen Lindemann as new CEO in replacement of Anders Jensen, and to downgrade its short-term outlook for 2023 - see our separate story: Viaplay CEO Anders Jensen steps down amidst downgrading of group performance.
“The production industry is continuously changing and as a major player, we always need to adjust to market developments and the needs of our customers. We wish the employees affected by this change all the best and thank them for their contributions to Viaplay Group. The change does not affect any of our ongoing productions or our content offering,” said the streaming group in an official statement.
Among the major productions spearheaded by Viaplay Studios Sweden are Lasse Hallström’s Hilma and Mikael Håfström’s upcoming Stockholm Bloodbath.
RELATED POST TO :
PRODUCTION /
FILM & TV /
NORDICS