Industry visionary, former President of Warmer Bros. Television and owner of Digital Content International (DCI), Michael Jay Solomon, together with Espen Huseby, owner and CEO of NordicWorld, Scandinavia’s leading distributor of television formats, announce the highly anticipated debut and unveiling of today’s most critically acclaimed short form scripted series by New Form Entertainment, as part of this week’s LA Screenings. The inaugural presentation of New Form’s catalogue marks the first industry showcase in the U.S by Solomon and DCI/NordicWorld since the Hollywood veteran’s stake in the Oslo-based distributor of television dramas and documentaries, resulting in the acquisition and merge of global operations back in October 2017.

DCI and NordicWorld have acquired exclusive multi-platform international distribution rights for 10 of New Form’s short form series, currently held within an esteemed portfolio of formats, serving the growing need for digital content among international audiences. NordicWorld recently penetrated the U.S market with the hugely successful creation of “Norsemen,” the NETFLIX series that has already been picked-up for a second season, as well as other top ten international productions, including “Maniac” – produced by Paramount TV for NETFLIX, with Emma Stone, Jonah Hill and Justin Theroux. Through the partnership and expertise held by DCI and Solomon’s global team of industry veterans, NordicWorld expands its presence in the U.S and around the world, with distribution rights for over 2000 titles across every genre and format.

During this week’s LA Screenings, Adeline Ferro (ex-Viacom), head of Latin America and U.S Hispanic distribution strategy for DCI/NordicWorld, will present a number of New Form’s series that include “Shitty Boyfriends” (co-produced by Lisa Kudrow, Sandra Oh, Melissa Hunter),“Dr. Havoc’s Diary” (Flula Borg, Grace Helbig) and “Lost Generation” (Katie Findley, Calum Worthy), to name a few.  Other titles in the impressive catalogue of formats by DCI and NordicWorld include “Hotel Ceasar,” the longest running series to-date in Scandinavia, with over 3000 episodes, “DAG,” the Norwegian comedy series with three seasons under its belt, as well as Radio Canada’s award-winning drama series “True North” (“Pays D’En Haut”) and “Olivier and Feux” (“Olivier and Fire”). NordicWorld has already signed significant partnerships with US Networks for the remake of series that include “Small Town Love,” ”Close To Heaven” and “The Stream.”

“The appetite and growth of digital consumption and OTT channels with domestic and international audiences is at an all time high and will eventually surpass traditional platforms,” says Michael Jay Solomon, founder and owner of Digital Content International. “Acquiring New Form’s world class catalogue of premium quality short form series puts DCI and NordicWorld at the forefront of digital content distribution. LA Screenings was created to showcase the next generation of programming alternatives and provide studios with insight into the progressive formats now being developed for the new age viewership. We look forward to further establishing our foothold, alongside NordicWorld, in the short form series genre as our partnership continues to grow year-on-year.”

Additional short form series in the New Form catalogue include “I Ship It”  (Helen Highfield, Riley Neldam), and “Oscar’s Hotel”  (Chris Kendall, Anna Akana).  Additional titles in the slate include “Replay”  (Lyndsy Fonseca, Tyler James Williams), Cold  (Analise Baso, Jim True-Frost), “Algorhym”  (Jesse Pepe, Craig Benzine), “Party Girl”  (Lisa Schwartz, Shaun Brown), “The Fourth Door” (Joey Graceffa, Monique Coleman) and “The Parallax Theory”  (Vincent Cyr).

“New Form’s catalogue of short form scripted series makes up a quintessential portfolio of shows that have a vast appeal to international audiences across the globe,” says Adeline Ferro, head of Latin America and U.S Hispanic distribution strategy for DCI/NordicWorld. “The U.S Hispanic market is increasingly becoming the early adopters of short form digital content, with Latin America potentially overtaking the rest of the world over the next five years. The New Form award-winning series of shows was developed as part of a pilot program and were featured on channels including Refinery29, CW’s The Seed, and go90. Our alliance with NordicWorld will introduce these shows for all channels and platforms globally. We look forward to our inaugural partnership presentation at LA Screenings to offer some of the most original content available today.”

Oslo-based NordicWorld, the leading Scandinavian distributor of television dramas, formats and documentaries gains a much-increased international footprint via DCI’s global distribution network and strategic worldwide alliances. With its stake in NordicWorld, DCI is now positioned to become a major independent content aggregator.

NordicWorld headquarters are based in Oslo, with executives also based in London and New York, while joining forces with DCI’s existing management team, whose sales and acquisition executives currently operate exclusively in Europe, Australasia, China, Africa and Latin America. A production unit in Los Angeles handles the companies’ strong portfolio of projects.  NordicWorld was recently at MIPCOM in Cannes to promote their format “Maniac,” and to introduce the second series of the NETFLIX drama “Norsemen” to the international market.

Categories: Press Releases