Endemol Shine Finland’s MD Tarja Pääkkönen to exit

Endemol Shine Finland’s (ESF) managing director Tarja Pääkkönen is to depart the company after 12 years and will be succeeded by Nelonen Media exec Unne Sormunen (pictured).

Sormunen joins ESF in March and will report to Karin Stjärne, CEO of Endemol Shine Nordics, will work closely with Pääkkönen over the coming weeks to ensure a smooth handover.

At Nelonen Sormunen acted as head of domestic programming and was responsible for commissioning and successfully launching The Wall and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, as well as other primetime hits.

Prior to that, Unne worked as executive producer at Nelonen Media, overseeing 15 television productions across a range of genres, as well as sports producer at MTV Media and program manager at SBS Finland.

Endemol Shine Nordics is the Nordic region’s largest film and TV production group with 9 production companies and 1 broadcast facility divisions in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway.

Stjärne said: “Tarja has been an incredibly inspiring colleague and has led our team in Finland expertly these past years, growing our business locally and creating incredibly strong relationships with the key broadcasters. We will miss her dearly and wish her all the best in her personal adventures.

“While I am sad to see Tarja go, I am extremely pleased to welcome Unne Sormunen as our new head of Finland. Unne is a very talented and bright leader with lots of very relevant experience, as well as drive and focus, making him an excellent addition to our Nordics leadership team. I look forward to working closely with him and Tarja over the coming weeks to ensure a seamless transition.”

Pääkkönen added: “Endemol Shine has been a home for me over these past 12 years and I am very proud of what we have achieved together as a team. But after 25 years in the TV industry, I would like to take some time to enjoy life and see what it brings. So while I am of course sad to be leaving, I am confident that I leave the business in excellent hands with Unne at the helm.”