Endemol Shine appoints HBO’s Hanne Palmquist as scripted chief in Nordics

Hanne Palmquist

Endemol Shine Group has bolstered its Nordic scripted team with the addition of HBO exec Hanne Palmquist and rejigged the senior management team at drama prodco Filmlance.

Palmquist will take up the newly created role of head of scripted for Endemol Shine Nordics from September and joins from HBO Nordic, where she has been commissioning editor since 2016 with a remit that included responsibility for original content across the region.

Palmquist, who reports to ESG’s head of scripted for EMEA Lars Blomgren, will have responsibility for all of Endemol Shine’s scripted programming from the Nordics, including series from Rubicon, Endemol Shine Finland, Metronome Denmark and Filmlance, where she will also serve as the company’s MD.

Her appointment at Filmlance comes after Anders Landstrom stepped down from the post. He continues as executive producer for the ESG-owned prodco, and will now focus on projects for the local and international market.

Caliphate

During his two-year contract as MD at Filmlance, Landstrom worked on shows including Caliphate and Tsunami for SVT in Sweden. He also helped to secure commissions on forthcoming series Beartown for HBO Europe and Top Dog for C More/TV4 and ZDF.

In related news, Helena Åkerman is joining the team as deputy MD at Filmlance and head of legal and business affairs scripted Nordics. She will support Palmquist in delivering a new slate of productions for the global market.

Åkerman was Swedish public broadcaster SVT’s head of business affairs for 10 years.

“Hanne Palmquist has an unparalleled knowledge of the creative landscape across the Nordics and paired with Helena Åkerman’s understanding of the Swedish market, we have an excellent leadership team in place,” said Blomgren.

“I would like to personally thank Anders for his fantastic work leading Filmlance and growing the business. We are thrilled that he will continue to focus on the creative, developing some exciting new series for the international market and producing our forthcoming hits. With this stellar team, Filmlance and the Nordics can meet all the fantastic opportunities for years to come.”

Palmquist added: “During many years and in various constellations, not least during my four great years at HBO Nordic, I have collaborated with Filmlance and Rubicon and have always admired their impressive, diverse, high quality slate and ways of working together.

“The Nordics have a long-standing reputation as a market leader and with the appetite for non-English language series growing, I’m excited to bring my expertise and lead the talented and passionate team. I’m looking forward to standing behind original, powerful and engaging content.”