EXCLUSIVE: Long-serving Amazon exec Martin Backlund has become MD for Prime Video Nordics, we’ve learned.
He is exiting his post as Prime Video’s Head of Content for the UK and Nordics to take the post. Replacing him in the UK is Tushar Jindal, who is being upped from his Head of Movies for Prime Video UK role.
Backlund now has a remit to lead the Prime Video teams across the Nordics in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland. He’ll work closely with Karin Lindström’s Nordics originals team, Andreas Hjertø’s content acquisitions division and Amazon’s channels business, and on future customer features.
He’ll have control of investment, programming, marketing and partnerships. Prime Video Nordic’s line up includes U.S. titles such as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Boys and The Grand Tour and Nordic originals.
Prime Video Nordics has been ramping up its investment in original shows such as LOL: Last One Laughing Sweden, The Bridge, Good Luck Guys and Toppen. Amazon was relatively late to streaming in Scandinavia but Lindström said last year in an interview with Deadline that there was space for more entrants into the market. “This is not a streaming war, it’s a streaming party — and the last guests are always the most interesting,” she said at the time.
Amazon sees Backlund’s new role as a further signal of “continued, long-term investment in the Nordics.” In total Prime Video Nordics has ordered 18 originals to date.
The exec has been with Amazon for 11 years, joining its nascent streaming video business as Senior Content Acquisitions Manager for the UK and Ireland back when it was LoveFilm. Amazon took full control of LoveFilm in 2011, having owned just under half go the UK-based streamer from 2008. Before LoveFilm, Backlund worked at MTV Networks.
Jindal, meanwhile, takes on the Head of Content, Prime Video UK role. He’ll oversee UK acquisitions and work with Dan Grabiner’s Amazon Studios UK team on its original program slate. He joined Amazon in 2017.
The changes are the latest at Prime Video Europe, closely following Grabiner’s promotion to Head of Originals for the UK and Northern Europe, a role that gives him responsibility for Nordics originals, along with those in his home in Britain, Germany and Eastern Europe (should Amazon begin commissioning there). Georgia Brown left her role as Amazon Studios Director of European Originals, while Kaspar Pflüger exited Prime Video Germany in October.