23 May 2022

Rights & Brands and Qvisten Animation form Norwegian licensing agency

Swedish licensing agency Rights & Brands has established itself as one of the most successful licensors of Nordic content in a global market. Together with the Norwegian high-quality animation studio Qvisten Animation, the companies have jointly founded Rights & Brands Norway.

Rights & Brands was recently named number one licensing agent in Europe by the 2021 License Global report. The company represents some of the Nordic region’s most beloved literary children’s characters and has had great success with its development of the Moomin universe, which today holds a retail revenue of over 750 million EUR globally 2021.

Qvisten Animation has successfully positioned itself as the Nordic supplier of high- quality animation since nearly 30 years. Qvisten has had adapted the stories of some of Norway’s most beloved authors into block-busting movies, creating a strong stable of animated character evergreens.

A recent agreement between Qvisten Animation and Swedish Rights & Brands opens up a new world for Norwegian rights holders through Right & Brands Norway. The company’s first partner will be the Aukrust Foundation, the proprietor of the multi-talented author and illustrator Kjell Aukrust. Aukrust is perhaps best known outside of Norway for his creation “FlaÌklypa” and its characters Solan and Ludvig.

“I am very proud to establish Rights & Brands Norway together with Qvisten Animation”, says Patrick Ullman, CEO at Rights & Brands in Stockholm, Sweden. “Norwegian nature, literature and brands have spiked international interest for years and this, together with the fact that the Norwegian licensing business has grown over 40% in the last couple of years, is a perfect fit with Rights & Brands’ vision to take Scandinavian brands to a global arena. Together with Qvisten, we will be a unique licensing agent with extensive experience in multi-platform content and in all product categories.”

Fredrik Kiøsterud, CEO at Qvisten Animation, continues: “The establishment of Rights & Brands Norway literally opens up a new world both for us and the rights owners we work with. With Rights & Brands’ licensing expertise and commercial forces and Qvisten’s craftsmanship and genuine desire to further develop cultural heritages for new generations, R&B Norway we will develop local treasures to global resources.”

Rights & Brands Norway is actively recruiting a Sales Director as well as more Norweigan brands to join the strong line-up already in place with Aukrust, Marius of Norway and PURENorway.

Rights & Brands Norway was founded in April 2022, officially opening June 1st 2022.

About Rights & Brands

Rights & Brands is a 360 licensing and publishing agency bringing Scandinavian rights and brands to a global arena. R&B represents iconic Scandinavian brands, artists and authors and is the worldwide master agent on behalf of the Moomins. Other representation includes Astrid Lindgren and Ilon Wikland, Stig Lindberg, Marius of Norway, PURENorway and many more.

With headquarters in Stockholm, local branches in Helsinki, Oslo and Tokyo and sub-agents in 12 territories, R&B offers a network of over 900 clients worldwide.

Rights & Brands was recently named the number one licensing agent in Europe by License Global Magazine.

www.rightsandbrands.com

About Qvisten Animation

Founded almost 30 years ago, based on the vision to gather and entertain the whole family, while telling stories with emotional depth and educational value.

Qvisten has worked with many authorships, including Astrid Lindgren, Tove Jansson, Thorbjørn Egner and Kjell Aukrust. Qvisten’s animated films have received seven Amanda awards over the years. The company also produces commercials, games, learning tools and attractions, and was award the first prize at the 2021 TEA Award for best park attraction under 10 million USD for the “Hyper Accelerator” for Hundefossen Amusement park, based on “FlaÌklypa” by Kjell Aukrust.

www.qvisten.no