Mikael Hed and team of Rovio veterans form a new startup and buy a part of the animation business from Rovio Entertainment
March 7, 2017—Los Angeles-- Mikael Hed, a former CEO of Rovio Entertainment, who helped to build the Angry Birds franchise, has formed a new startup, Kaiken Entertainment.
Kaiken, comprising of a dream team of seasoned creators from Rovio, is an entertainment company specializing in storytelling through film, apps, streaming video and publishing with a broad portfolio of story-based properties.
Kaiken Entertainment has purchased Rovio's TV animation studio in Vancouver and Rovio's book publishing business as well as certain non-Angry Birds properties. The transaction is part of the ongoing reorganization of Rovio's Animation Division.
Mikael Hed will serve as Executive Chairman of Kaiken Entertainment. Kaiken Publishing CEO Laura Nevanlinna will be Head of Franchise & Portfolio Development. Veteran Rovio producer Ulla Junell has been appointed Head of Animation and President of Kaiken Canada. Another Rovio veteran, producer Joonas Rissanen will serve as Kaiken's Creative Director. Former Rovio, Aardman and DreamWorks senior executive Steve Pegram and Rovio's President of Animation, previously of Disney and DreamWorks, Tommy Korpinen have both joined Kaiken Entertainment's Advisory Board.
"This team has been integral in building the hugely successful franchise around Angry Birds," says Mikael Hed, Executive Chair, Kaiken Entertainment. "With this amazing team of experts and storytellers, we are thrilled to be pursuing the next big hit."
Kaiken will continue to partner with Rovio on certain projects including producing Angry Birds content and serving as the master licensee of the Angry Birds brand in books publishing.
"We are happy to announce this transaction and look forward to a continued partnership with Kaiken in animation series productions and books publishing," says Kati Levoranta, CEO of Rovio Entertainment Ltd.
About Kaiken Entertainment
Kaiken Entertainment is an entertainment company based out of Los Angeles, Helsinki and Vancouver specializing in storytelling through TV, film, apps and publishing with a team that has achieved the impossible many times over. Creating stories. Building worlds. www.kaiken.com
About Rovio Entertainment Ltd.
Rovio Entertainment Ltd., based in Espoo, Finland, is the creator of Angry Birds, the casual mobile game that changed the industry and became an international phenomenon. Today Angry Birds is not only the most downloaded series of games of all time, it is a renowned entertainment brand that has branched out into animation, licensing and more. The Angry Birds Movie was released in May 2016. www.rovio.com
PRESS CONTACT:
Mintie Das, mintie.das@kaiken.com, (+358 45 185 7078)
Kaisu Karvala, kaisu.karvala@rovio.com (+358 40 571 5990)