Exclusive: NENT’s ex-head of drama development & ‘Litvinenko’ exec departs

Close To Me

Nordic Entertainment (NENT) Group’s former head of drama development and Litvinenko producer Josephine Zapata Genetay has departed the company, TBI has learned.

Genetay was an exec producer of international scripted content at NENT and had worked on a raft of shows for the company, including its upcoming ITV and Viaplay drama Litvinenko.

The series, which stars David Tennant and has been written by Lupin’s George Kay, tells the story of UK detectives who worked for 10 years to prove who was responsible for KGB officer’s death.

She also had credits on Hilma, M/S Estonia, One Bad Apple and The Holiday, as well as Viaplay’s miniseries Close To Me.

Genetay joined NENT in 2019 and before that was a writer and producer, having also worked in theatre. Her next move is not yet known but she will formally leave 31 July.

Departures & hires

Genetay becomes the latest exec to leave Viaplay Studios over the past year, with former VP of international scripted content Fredrik Ljungberg joining Middle East streamer MBC Group last summer.

Nanna Mailand-Mercado then departed the streamer earlier this year, having held roles overseeing originals and international drama.

She is set to start a new role heading up originals across the Nordics for Disney+, starting in April.

Recent hires, meanwhile, include Tomas Axelsson becoming EP of international scripted content, while Małgorzata Jurczak, took up the EP role for scripted in Poland and Kennard Bos was named EP for scripted in the Netherlands, where the streamer recently launched.

NENT continues to ramp up Viaplay’s scripted originals output too, with 70 shows in the works this year, as well as recent recommissions for Danish duo Those Who Kill and Face To Face.