Banijay’s Global Head of Scripted Christian Wikander on Stepping Down From Role: ‘It’s a Time of Market Correction’ (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comElsa Keslassy International Correspondent Christian Wikander, the well-respected Swedish executive who joined Banijay nine months ago as global head of scripted, will be stepping down from his role on Feb.
2. Speaking to Variety shortly after news broke of his upcoming exit, Wikander said he was “sad to be leaving” the company, but sees as as a “reflection of these times in the business.” “We see these types of changes happening in the business, because we’ve gone from a very high position across many territories and we’re going through a time of correction that affects buyers and everyone involved,” Wikander told Variety.
The executive, who joined Banijay from HBO Max Nordic where he was commissioning editor and VP of original programming, said he doesn’t expect his role at Banijay to be replaced.
Commenting on factors behind his exit, he said the business was tougher due to “changes in commissions and production volumes, as well as the timing from pitch to green light becoming longer.” Wikander also spoke about the crisis hitting Scandinavian companies, such as the streamer Viaplay which have scaled down massively their output of original scripted content, while global streamers like Netflix have also reduced local commissions. “The Scandinavian industry will get through this difficult time because good storytelling will remain good.” The executive, who will attend the Goteborg Film Festival later this month, isn’t yet thinking about his next career move but is keeping an optimistic outlook. “With every cloud comes with a silver lining!” he said.
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