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NENT Group’s Brain Academy, Nice Drama absorbed into Viaplay Studios

Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT) is merging its companies Brain Academy and Nice Drama and bringing them together with Viaplay Studios Animation and Paprika Studios in a new organisation called Viaplay Studios.

Alexander Bastin

Viaplay Studios will focus primarily on delivering original content for NENT Group’s streaming service Viaplay, which is set to roll out in around 15 territories by the end of 2023.

Viaplay Studios comprises NENT Group’s Swedish production companies Brain Academy and Nice Drama, which are 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 and Eastern Europe-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 named as Viaplay Studios Sweden’s CEO and Helena Sandermark, previously CEO of Brain Academy, has been made head of production for Viaplay Studios Sweden.

Jens Köpsén and Akos Erdos will continue in their current roles as VP and head of Viaplay Studios Animation and Paprika Studios CEO respectively.

Bastin said: “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 & Disappeared, Thicker Than Water, The Perfect Patient and Max Anger.

In July, NENT Group announced an agreement to sell 12 production companies operating across non-scripted, scripted and factual content to Fremantle. The sale of NENT Studios’ UK distribution business to All3Media was completed in June.

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