Sweden's TV4 Teams Up with Entertainment One, Syskon and FLX to Commission First-Ever English Speaking Comedy Series Executive Produced by Amy Poehler and Greg Poehler Entitled, "Welcome to Sweden"
Created By and Starring Greg Poehler with Cameo Appearances By Amy Poehler, Aubrey Plaza and Rock Legend Gene Simmons
LOS ANGELES, CA - May 8, 2013 - Sweden's TV4 is pleased to announce it has closed a deal with siblings Amy Poehler and Greg Poehler under their brand new production banner Syskon to produce the half-hour comedy series, WELCOME TO SWEDEN. Local Swedish producer FLX, who produce TV4's hit comedy Solsidan, now in its fourth season will be producing the series along with leading independent studio, Entertainment One (eOne) who will also handle worldwide rights to the series in all media. The series will be shot in both Sweden and New York with production slated to begin filming on Monday, May 13th.
WELCOME TO SWEDEN is a fish out of water comedy series based on Greg Poehler's true life story about a New York accountant, Bruce (Greg Poehler) who falls in love with a Swedish girl, Emma and follows his heart to Sweden. Making his acting debut, Greg will star in the series along with Josephine Bornebusch (Solsidan) who will play Emma, Lena Olin (Chocolat, The Ninth Gate) as Emma's mother Viveka, and Illeana Douglas (Easy to Assemble, Grace of My Heart) and Patrick Duffy (Dallas) as Bruce's parents.
"This show has been a real passion project for eOne! It's been thrilling to work with TV4 on their first English language co-production that organically explores a cross-cultural world," said Carrie Stein, Executive Vice President, Global Production, Entertainmnet One. "Greg Poehler is a talent on the rise, both as an actor and writer and he has created a series rife with humor as his lead character, Bruce, tries to navigate a different culture, a foreign language, his grilfriend's quirky family and a life-changing romance."
"I'm overjoyed to work with everyone involved to create what we hope will be a uniquely international show. Mostly, I'm happy to finally start profiting from my strange Swedish experiences," said Greg Poehler.
"I'm so happy to work with my talented brother Greg and the terrific Swedish actors who have joined us. Hopefully this helps us decide once and for all who is our parents' favorite child," commented Amy Poehler.
"It was easy to fall for Greg Poehler's self experienced story of an American that follows his heart to Sweden," said Asa Sjöberg, director of Programs at TV4. "When Greg teamed up with Felix Herngren and his excellent team at FLX, there was no doubt that this series had a unique and huge potential to reach further than the Swedish comedy audience. We are so excited to join forces with eOne and to follow the story of Bruce and Emma, in our first English language co-production."
"Welcome to Sweden is not only a multinational comedy series, but also in terms of the way it is being financed and produced. FLX is very proud to be a part of this collaboration with eOne and TV4 and we believe this model will open up new opportunities of making great content," commented Pontus Edgren, Managing Partner FLX.
WELCOME TO SWEDEN is created by Greg Poehler. Executive producers include Amy Poehler and Greg Poehler; Fredrik Arefalk for TV4; Carrie Stein for Entertainment One; and veteran Swedish TV helmer /creator Felix Herngren (Solsidan) for FLX.
Entertainment One is currently pitching the series to U.S. broadcasters and cable networks.
# # #
About TV4
The TV4 Group is Sweden's largest commercial tv company and has delivered engaging news, grand entertainment of great variety and quality, live sport and top-class drama to Swedish viewers for more than two decades.TV4 Group is one of the Nordic region's leading tv companies. In addition to the main channel TV4, which over a number of yers has been Sweden's largest TV channel, the group's portfolio includes more than 40 TV channels in the Nordic region - in the free-TV, basic cable and premium segments.
About Entertainment One
The company's comprehensive network extends around the globe including Canada, the US, the UK, Ireland, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Benelux, France, Germany, Scandinavia, South Africa and South Korea. Through established Entertainment and Distribution divisions, the company provides extensive expertise in film distribution, television and music production, family programming and merchandising and licensing. Its current rights library is exploited across all media formats and includes more than 35,000 film and television titles, 2,700 hours of television programming and 45,000 music tracks.
http://www.entertainmentonegroup.com/
About FLX
FLX is a leading Stockholm based comedy production company in the areas of TV, feature film and adverts. In addition to Welcome To Sweden, FLX currently produces e.g. the Swedish hit sitcom Solsidan, comedy for the Eurovision Songcontest Finals in Sweden as well as the feature The Hundred-Year-Old who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared, based on the international best-seller, which has sold over 6 million copies worldwide. FLX is owned by director Felix Herngren, Pontus Edgren, Niclas Carlsson and Swedish media group Bonnier.
About Syskon
Founded in 2013, Syskon (Swedish for "Sibling") is a joint production venture owned by Amy and Greg Poehler. It is intended to be a collaborative joint venture dedicated to development and production of television comedy formats and programming targeting the international community.
|