Jacob Houlind Named Group CEO of Banijay Zodiak Nordic

COPENHAGEN/STOCKHOLM: Following the completion of the Banijay-Zodiak merger, Jacob Houlind has become group CEO of the company’s Nordic operations.

Johannes Jensen has been appointed to the roles of VP and deputy group CEO at Banijay Zodiak Nordic and CEO at Yellowbird. Mikael Royson has become Banijay Zodiak Nordic’s group CFO.

Banijay Zodiak Nordic encompasses a combined collection of production entities that includes Nordisk Film TV Denmark, Mastiff Denmark, Jarowskij Sweden, Mastiff Sweden, Mastiff Norway, Nordisk Film TV Norway, Nordisk Film TV Sweden, Banijay Finland, Zodiak Finland, Pineapple, Respirator and Yellowbird.

Houlind commented, “We are happy to be able to announce a true merger with an equal mix of former Zodiak and Banijay Nordic people. Both Banijay and Zodiak have been highly successful over recent years in our region, so the good thing is that no part could or should feel any better than the other. We start on the same exciting new page together. We will continue to emphasize real competition between our local affiliates to secure the highest level of creativity, maintain our strong brand identities and the ability to continue to retain and inspire the very best TV makers from our part of the world. On a personal note I feel like my mom and dad have finally come together again, since Zodiak was where I took my infant steps in television back in the last century, before leaving to build Nordisk Film TV ten years ago.”

Jensen added, “Our joint brands will enable us to cover all genres and complement each other in the best way possible across all the Nordic territories. We will continue to invest in development of formats and ideas at an even higher level than before, which will allow our clients to become even more successful. Personally I’m very excited to focus even more on drama, but also to continue to evolve our business in the very dynamic digital market. Jacob and I know each other from many years as colleagues and friends, and we even spent many days trying to sell reality shows to U.S. networks back at the beginning of the century. We have been hardest competitors during many years and I know we both feel great about being on the same team again instead.”