ProSiebenSat.1s Red Arrow Entertainment Group partners with Pontus Gårdinger to launch "Snowman Productions" in Nordic region
Launch of Swedish headquarters to be followed by regional expansion
Gårdinger to lead Snowman's operations throughout the Nordic footprint
Exclusive worldwide sales of Snowman's content via Red Arrow's distribution arm, SevenOne International
Munich, October 14, 2010. Red Arrow Entertainment Group today announced its partnership with Pontus Gårdinger to launch Snowman Productions. Headquartered in Stockholm and led by Gårdinger, Red Arrow expects to quickly expand Snowman across the Nordic countries. The founding of Snowman follows Red Arrow's recent acquisitions of Kinetic Content in the US and Sultan Sushi in Belgium, the roll-out of Sultan Sushi to the Netherlands, and the Group's co-production partnership with Granada Media in Australia.
With more than 15 years of experience in the television business, Gårdinger has been enormously successful as a producer, creative executive and TV presenter. Before partnering with Red Arrow, he was Head of Executive Production at Jarowskij (Zodiak), whilst also hosting the hit show Beat the Star on Swedens Kanal 5 this Fall. Previously, Gårdinger was Executive Creator and Producer at ITV-owned production company Silverback, and hosted programs on Swedish public channel, SVT. Among his co-development and production credits are Grattis Världen (Kanal 5, 2005),Var fan är mitt Band (SVT 2008), Draknästet (Dragons Den) (SVT 2008-2009), Robinson (Survivor) (TV4 2009), and Fångarna på Fortet (Fort Boyard) (TV4 2010).
Gårdinger is in the process of assembling Snowman's core team of production and creative executives. First on board is Sjöfn Blöndal, former COO at Silverback and recently Head of Digital Media / Moving Images at PR company, Jung Relations. Blöndals impressive track record includes positions as Head of Production at Strix Television, where she was responsible, in particular, for the rapid expansion of production operations to Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, and Head of Production (Entertainment & Scripted Drama) at Jarowskij.
Jan Frouman, Group Managing Director of Red Arrow, said: "Just as we have done in other territories, we based our Nordic expansion plans around finding the right leadership. Pontus is an exceptionally versatile, smart and driven production executive. He combines a keen creative sense with outstanding managerial and leadership skills. We are proud to call him our partner and know that Snowman Productions couldn't be in more capable hands."
Pontus Gårdinger, CEO, added: "The new venture is very exciting. The Nordic media market is more vigorous than ever and Red Arrows recent and on-going expansion activities reflect exactly the sort of determination and ambition one looks for in a dedicated and strong partner. Launching Snowman Productions together simply feels like a perfect match.
About Red Arrow Entertainment Group
Launched in January 2010 as a ProSiebenSat.1 Group company, Red Arrow combines a dynamic and growing group of international television production companies with powerful creative partnerships and a leading program distribution house. Alongside the launch of Snowman Productions, Red Arrow Group production companies comprise Producers at Work, Magic Flight Film, Redseven Entertainment, Sultan Sushi Belgium, Sultan Sushi Netherlands and Kinetic Content. Also included in its portfolio are partnerships with Dick de Rijk (Deal or No Deal and Set for Life), Omri Marcus and between Redseven Entertainment and Phil Gurin ("Miss USA and "Singing Bee"), accompanied by the talent agency Redseven Artists and the worldwide distribution company SevenOne International.
For more information about Red Arrow Entertainment Group, please visit
www.redarrow.tv
Contact:
Martina Schubert
Corporate Communications
ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG
Medienallee 7
D-85774 Unterföhring
Tel. +49 [89] 95 07-11 65
Fax +49 [89] 95 07-911 65
E-mail: Martina.Schubert@ProSiebenSat1.com