Finnish indies Intervisio, Take Two & Podzilla form strategic alliance

Joonas Hytönen

Finnish indie Take Two Studios has struck its first investment deal with Intervisio, the producer behind the Staraoke kids’ game show format.

Take Two launched two years ago, with a focus on “high-end, high-concept drama, documentaries and podcasts,” by former Aito Media co-founder Eero Hietala, alongside Lasse Koskinen and Sara Norberg.

Its first productions Dirty Snow, a 6 x 42-minute drama for Nelonen and a yet to be revealed docuseries for CMore, are already underway.

Intervisio, meanwhile, was founded in 2000 and is owned by Antti Seppänen and T&T Enterprises, which in turn is owned by Juha Tynkkynen and Saku Tuominen. The company focuses on documentary series and formats.

Intervisio will now become a minority shareholder of Take Two Studios and has made a further strategic investment in brand new start-up Podzilla Studios, founded by Joonas Hytönen and Suvi-Oja-Heiniemi, and set to launch on 1 October.

Hytönen has for the past 10 years served as CEO to some of Finnish-production companies, including Banijay Finland and most recently at Fremantle Finland. Oja-Heiniemi, meanwhile, was most recently head of sales and development at Warner Television Finland.

Podzilla will focus on producing non-scripted factual and entertainment programming and podcasts to Finnish and international customers.

The strategic alliance between the three entities will also see Take Two Studios and Podzilla Studios take minority shares in each other’s businesses with Intervisio’s Seppänen appointed as board member to both companies. Simultaneously, Joonas Hytönen has taken a seat on the Take Two board and Take Two CEO Lasse Koskinen now joins the newly formed Podzilla board.

The alliance is designed to improve the companies’ abilities to exploit opportunities and “weather the challenges of a rapidly changing audiovisual market.” The companies will work together on a case-by-case basis across development, sales, distribution, rights and production as well as sharing strategic understanding and market knowledge.

“We are very excited about the alliance formed by these three companies. For Intervisio the stake in Take Two Studios and Podzilla Studios offers an avenue especially to international drama, documentary and entertainment production through co-development and co-production. One of our central values is our focus on making sure fully Finnish companies’ IP stays in Finland.” says Intervisio’s CEO Antti Seppänen.