NENT GROUP APPOINTS NEW CEO, ALEXANDER BASTIN FOR ITS STUDIO OPERATIONS

Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group), the Nordic region’s leading streaming company, announced a few adjustments to its management. Alexander Bastin has been appointed as SVP and CEO of NENT Studios starting 1 September, Morten Mogensen was appointed as SVP and Head of the NENT Studios businesses, which are currently being sold. Both will be part of NENT Group’s extended Group Executive Management team, together with Kim Mikkelsen, who is SVP and Head of Sport, My Perrone (SVP and General Counsel), and Roberta Alenius (SVP and Head of Corporate Communications). The company’s Group Executive Management team has eight members and is unchanged.  “The main reason that we own production studios is to produce great content for Viaplay, both on our own and in partnership with other companies, and to sell this content to international customers,” Anders Jensen, NENT Group President, and CEO. “Viaplay premiered 21 high-quality original productions in 2019 and we will premiere 30 original productions this year, with the ambition of 40 per year in the future. The realization of this ambition requires a complete focus, which is why we are reorganizing our studios' operations, seeking investment partners and now making these leadership changes.”

NENT Group announced its plans to reorganize the studio’s businesses to focus on the growth of its Viaplay streaming service and demand for high quality scripted drama, and it is in ongoing discussions with potential partners to invest in the accelerated development of its scripted drama output and operations. The new and focused scripted production business will comprise NENT Studios Nordic’s, Brain Academy, Nice Drama EPIQ, NENT Studios Animation, NENT Studios Central & Eastern Europe (Paprika), NENT Studios UK, the UK-based joint venture with FilmNation Entertainment; and NENT Group's investment in Los Angeles-based Picturestart.

The organization will be focused on developing a comprehensive slate of new formats for Viaplay and selling existing ones internationally. The company is also in the process of divesting its non-scripted production, branded entertainment, and events companies, which primarily work with external clients, and has received encouraging levels of interest from potential buyers.

Alexander Bastin joined NENT Group in 2013 to work in the Group’s content production businesses, and has subsequently held various leadership positions in the Group’s advertising- and subscription-funded streaming businesses, most recently as Viaplay Chief Commercial Officer and then Vice President of NENT Group’s subscription video-on-demand operations. Morten Mogensen originally joined NENT Group in 2005 and has held various senior programming and content production roles, most recently as SVP and Head of NENT Studios Nordics and Central & Eastern Europe.  “Alexander’s background in content creation and depth understanding of our streaming operations make him the perfect candidate for the new leadership role. He will work closely with our Content function and external partners to ensure that we deliver a stream of high-quality drama series, films, and documentaries on Viaplay. Our originals have proven that they can travel internationally, having been picked up by broadcasters and streamers around the world, and Alexander will build on this further moving forward. Meanwhile, Morten will have a full focus on completing the divestment of the other parts of NENT Studios, which are attractive and successful businesses but have very limited synergy with our streaming strategy and ambitions. We have already received encouraging levels of interest in these companies.”