Red Arrow builds Swedish Snowman

ProSiebenSat.1-owned Red Arrow Entertainment has followed its acquisition of US-based Kinetic Content with the launch of a new Swedish outfit, Snowman Productions.

Red Arrow, a holding company charged with expanding ProSiebenSat.1 internationally, has hooked up with Jarowskij executive Pontus Gårdinger to launch Snowman. The company will produce shows for the local market, to which ProSiebenSat.1’s distribution arm, SevenOne International, will get exclusive worldwide distribution rights.

Gårdinger will head up Snowman, headquartered in Stockholm, as CEO. He has brought former Silverback chief operating officer Sjöfn Blöndal onboard in an unspecified role while assembling a full production team.

Gårdinger himself joins from Zodiak Media Group’s Swedish prodco Jarowskij, where he was head of executive production. He is well known in Sweden as the host of Kanal 5’s Beat the Star, and also has credits on shows including Grattis Världen (Kanal 5) and Var fan är Mitt Band (SVT), and local versions of Dragons’ Den, Survivor and Fort Boyard.

“Just as we have done in other territories, we based our Nordic expansion plans around finding the right leadership,” said Red Arrow group MD Jan Frouman. “Pontus is an exceptionally versatile, smart and driven production executive.”

Gårdinger added: “The Nordic media market is more vigorous than ever and Red Arrow’s recent and ongoing expansion activities reflect exactly the sort of determination and ambition one looks for in a dedicated and strong partner.”

The move comes after Frouman last month told C21 that Red Arrow is seeking to launch in Scandinavia, with Sweden’s large TV market an obvious starting point. The prodco will now look to expand into the rest of the region.

Last month, Red Arrow took a 51% stake in former RDF USA boss Chris Coelen’s Kinetic Content for an undisclosed sum. It also bought Belgium’s Sultan Sushi and expanded the company into the Netherlands earlier this year. It also owns Producers at Work, Magic Flight Film and Redseven Entertainment.

In Australia, it coproduces programmes with Granada Media and in Israel has a development partnership with television exec Omri Marcus.

Frouman may next launch Red Arrow in the UK, as previously reported by C21, though the fact ProSiebenSat.1 doesn’t own channels there could prove a stumbling block, he said.