Fredrik af Malmborg
2022 will be a year to remember for Eccho Rights. First, investment and co-production outfit Night Train Media has fully acquired Eccho Rights from Korean media group CJ ENM. Now, the company is celebrating its tenth anniversary. To recap Eccho Rights’ history, Señal News spoke with Fredrik af Malmborg, its CEO.
What does it mean for the company to celebrate its first tenth anniversary?
"It has been great fun to challenge existing assumptions and to see the breakthrough of new series. It has allowed us to build an amazing team of 40 people in five offices worldwide. Personally, I most clearly remember when we were about to launch 'Ezel' in Chile, and 'expert' friends called and expressed worries that it was almost irresponsible to launch this kind of content in Latin America. We had the same warnings when we launched 'The End' on SVT in Sweden. I believe we have contributed to challenging old assumptions that series from one country never will work in another one. To be a part of this cultural globalization has been great fun."
What are the company's most significant milestones during the past ten years?
"The development of Eccho Rights in the last ten years has been amazing, a lot of fun and progress. In 2012, we launched our first breakthrough Turkish hit series, 'Ezel,' and soon after, we brought the first daily series from Turkey, 'Elif,' which was a smash hit globally. Then we launched our slate of Nordic series, and just two years ago, we launched our UK office with six English language series launches this year. To build a company like this, going from just three people to the present team of 40, has been a great experience."
What role does Eccho Rights’ team have in the growth of the company?
“To recruit great people and to see them grow is very rewarding on a personal level. I believe we have taken team building rather seriously; combining fun and hard work is important. We trust people and see them grow. Then you get a lot of support back. It is also fun to mix people from different cultures and to make them understand that the future is not just a series from their home countries but a blend of influences from around the world. It is still very true that if you get inspiration and understanding of other cultures, you grow as a professional. Central in our development has been the belief that independent producers are the ideal form for TV productions, and they should not be packed into big corporate organizations but be given the tools they need to succeed, but with better terms. I believe trying new source countries and convincing reluctant clients to give it a try has been central. To find a drama series that is really good and break down old habits is a lot of fun. “
How do you evaluate the evolution of the content business in the past decade?
“The unexpected success of Turkish drama is a very interesting sign of globalization in the taste in popular culture in the last teen years. A new hit can come from anywhere, and more and more media companies, not just Netflix, have built success on this. Even though we are now doing more and more series in English, the truth is that a well-produced drama in any language may be a global hit.”
What will be Eccho Rights’ goals for the next ten years?
"We continue to build, and I believe the next big change is for producers to work with companies like us to build a profitable business by combining normal licensing with direct-to-consumer operations such as YouTube MCN and new upcoming video platforms. That will allow producers to keep IP and to develop new and very interesting programming slates, also in high-budget TV dramas. Our goal is to help producers to build such series and to launch them powerfully. If this can be combined with a strong creative development team, first-class distribution and financing operations, and marketing investments, we can build a really powerful model."
Eccho Rights is now part of Night Train Media. How will this new structure open a new era for the company?
"Night Train Media is a perfect home for Eccho. We have a very skilled financing and development team and a sister company in the factual distribution in the group. With some additional investments, we can build the dream company for the future."
By Diego Alfagemez
