Newen Studios’ Anagram Widens Scandi Footprint With Acquisition of ‘Money Shot’ Finnish Shingle Just Republic (EXCLUSIVE)
Fast-expanding Scandi production group Anagram, credited for the first Disney+ Nordic original series “To Cook a Bear” and hit series “Thin Blue Line,” has taken a stake in Helsinki-based Just Republic, becoming the largest owner of the Finnish production outfit, Variety has just learned.
Recently founded by producer Sasu Norhomaa and creator/writer Jemina Jokisalo – formerly at Solar Republic – the banner is in the limelight at Canneseries with the porn biz comedy “Money Shot,” due to world premiere April 9 at the TV festival’s short form competition.
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With this acquisition, Newen Studios-owned Anagram, has added Finland to its Swedish and Norwegian production divisions and consolidated its position as a heavyweight provider of quality films, series and live entertainment in the Nordics.
“Our aim is to be a true pan-Nordic operation,” said Miira Paasilinna, Anagram COO and Anagram Sweden’s managing director. “We are active in Sweden and Norway and through Newen Studios and its scripted production banners in Denmark – Nimbus Film and Tall & Small – we also have access to the Danish market.
“As Finland has become increasingly important because of its pool of talents and attractive production incentives [via Business Finland], we had been looking for a potential Finnish partner for a while, and Just Republic seemed the perfect fit,” she added.
“They are a lean and young company with experienced people running the show. They are also very good at reaching younger audiences, and therefore bring more breath to Anagram’s output.”
Norhomaa, managing director at Just Republic added: “We are ready to take the next step and are enthusiastic about starting this new phase with Anagram, the best possible partner in the Nordics. At a time when the industry faces challenges, we want to continue with the successes already achieved and keep creating fresh and bold series that truly stand out.”
The eight-part half-hour “Money Shot” which plays out at Canneseries, is a sassy comedy ordered by Elisa Viihde and created by Jokisalo who serves as co-writer with Daniel Hakulinen (“Girl Picture”). “It’s a comedy about making feminist porn. It’s sweet and daring, and it makes you laugh”, Jokisalo told Variety.
According to Paasilinna, Just Republic and Anagram have a couple of projects in development and are co-producing, together with Slovenia’s Staragara, the sports thriller “Guts”.
Set in the world of elite athletes in cross country skiing, “the series deals with perseverance, envy, guts and what it takes to be the best”, said creator and head-writer Jokisalo. The show, which is due to start filming in November, has an LOC with Finnish pubcaster Yle.
In a banner year for Anagram Sweden, the production outfit is also present in its own right on the pink carpet at Cannes as a co-producer of the Canneseries Spanish comedy pick “This is No Sweden,” which has scooped a Prix Europa for best fiction and wowed audiences in Spain via 3Cat, RTVE and on Yle.
Anagram Sweden’s next event series ready to launch include Disney+’s “To Cook a Bear,” an epic period crime drama starring Gustav Skarsgård, and Season 3 of the Malmö-set realistic cop series “Thin Blue Line” (“Tunna blå linjen”), due to air in September on Swedish pubcaster SVT.
Meanwhile the political thriller “8 Months“ (“Doktrinen”), which played last month at Series Mania’s International Panorama strand, is set for a November premiere on TV4 in Sweden.
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