Banijay Nordic announced its intentions to strategically reorganize a portion of its production offering in Sweden to build two supercharged labels. Unifying the strengths, and building on the heritage of three of its entities, the regional group unveiled the scripted brand, Jarowskij/Yellow Bird, and non scripted entity, Meter/Jarowskij.
In building these new brands, Elin Kvist, previously VP/Creative Director at Yellow Bird, steps up to Chief Executive Officer of Jarowskij/Yellow Bird, and Madelene Hansson, who served as CEO at Meter, will lead Meter/Jarowskij. The latter will be joined by Magnus Gustafsson, who takes up the Chief Creative Officer role, bringing his expertise from Jarowskij.
Following its repositioning, Jarowskij/Yellow Bird will house acclaimed scripted series like “A Nearly Normal Family,” “Wallander,” “Riding in Darkness,” “The Playlist,” the upcoming landmark drama “A Life’s Worth,” as well as feature film “Off Track 2.” The new entity will combine Jarowskij’s strength in popular comedy and drama, with Yellow Bird’s knowledge in epic suspense and international co-productions. Under Kvist’s leadership, the label will focus on creating ambitious and powerful television, and feature films, that resonate with a broad audience, leveraging the Nordic's best creative talent.
Meanwhile, Meter/Jarowskij unites iconic global non-scripted brands, “MasterChef,” “SAS: Who Dares Wins,” “Good Luck Guys,” “LEGO Masters,” “Fort Boyard,” and locally created titles like “Wild Kids” and “Luxury Trap.” Working with the best on and off-screen talent to acquire, adapt, produce, and deliver the hottest new international formats for the Swedish market, the label will also invest in local creativity to bring new, own devised shows to the nation and beyond. With Hansson’s leadership at the helm, and Gustafsson’s creative nous, the company will look to strategically grow its healthy slate of large-scale, impactful content.
Jacob Houlind, CEO, Banijay Nordic said: “Since its inception, Banijay Nordic has built a far-reaching collective of labels with unique DNA and talent at their core, ambitiously driven by entrepreneurialism and creativity. As our market adapts to a new local reality following the influx of streamers and the dramatic change of the business model by our traditional clients, so must we, and in unifying these exceptional companies, we are proactively positioning ourselves to better deliver against demand, and in doing so, are safeguarding the group for a healthy future. Championing the creativity, expertise and know-how of Elin, Madelene, and Magnus, together with the rest of the existing team members, we are confident these content powerhouses will thrive alongside our fantastic teams at fellow brands, Mastiff and Filmlance.”
Elin Kvist, CEO, Jarowskij/Yellow Bird added: “By uniting these two iconic scripted brands into our new label Jarowskij/Yellow Bird, we will be able to present an extremely powerful and ambitious slate to the market, in collaboration with the region's best creative talent. With the collective knowledge and experience of Jarowskij/Yellow Bird, we are well-positioned to continue our drive as one of the Nordic region's strongest producers of high-quality, impactful drama.”
Madelene Hansson, CEO at Meter/Jarowskij mentioned: “This new chapter brings together the best of non-scripted entertainment with a team empowered to push creative boundaries, ensuring we have a future slate of authentic formats to spark conversations and unite audiences. With a strong foundation in reimagining global hits, and innovating locally-born titles, Meter/Jarowskij is set to expand its diverse slate of first-class entertainment.”
The shift sees current Yellow Bird CEO, Jakob Feeney, take on a consulting role as COO/Head of Business Affairs for Jarowskij/Yellow Bird. Given his invaluable work to date with the company, Jacob Houlind went on to say: “We are thankful to be continuing a partnership with him in this new capacity, as he has proven to be a huge asset, and strong business partner, in building Yellow Bird’s scripted slate over the course of the last three years.”
Meanwhile, Malin Lancha takes on the role of Head of Production, and Johannes Jensen, interim CEO at Jarowskij, will refocus on his broader executive position within Banijay Nordic, as Group Head of Scripted.
Banijay Nordic’s other Swedish labels, Filmlance and Mastiff Sweden, will continue to operate independently.
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