By taking full control of one of Norway’s leading production outfits, the Scandinavian group reinforces its position in the Nordic market.

Founded more than two decades ago and currently run by director Erik Poppe, producers Finn Gjerdrum and Stein B. Kvae, Paradox has an outstanding track record, with films such as the children’s franchise Twigson, Hans Petter Moland’s In Order of Disappearance, Poppe’s Hawaii, Oslo, 1,000 Times Good Night, The King’s Choice, and Berlinale 2018 competition entry U-July 22.

Through its acquisition of Paradox, SF Studios is able to consolidate its Norwegian creative output, already active through the partly-owned Filmkameratene AS and Motion Blur AS, and to complete the creation in Norway of a full-scale studio - with integrated production and distribution activities - next to its existing operations in Sweden and Denmark.

Michael Porseryd, CEO at SF Studios who outlined in our interview his plan for a pan-Nordic production expansion, said he looks forward to working with Finn Gjerdrum, Stein B. Kvae and Erik Poppe, who will contribute to making SF Studios “the leading producer and distributor of feature films and TV series in the Nordics.”

Tim King, Executive Vice President Production at SF Studios added: “This [acquisition of Paradox] is a very important milestone for us as a company. Norway is an attractive market with several huge film and TV drama successes in recent years, and we have for some time been looking for a way to establish our own production activities and strengthen our position in that market. With the acquisition of Paradox and the very professional team at the company, I am convinced that we will achieve that.”

Kvae said: “In a market that is more exciting and more demanding than ever, we cannot imagine a better company [SF Studios] to take us forward on our new journey.”

Paradox’s current and upcoming films will be handled by SF Studios International, and its TV dramas by REinvent Studios, through a strategic partnership between the world distribution company and the Nordic giant.

Paradox’s upcoming drama projects handled by REinvent include the 8x45’ crime series Wilderness created by Kim Fupz Aakeson, set to start production in 2019. According to Porseryd, Finland is the next territory where Bonnier-owned SF Studios’ hopes to set up an integrated production and distribution studio.