Katja Marika Makaroff is a content creator,

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

and creative director. She is the founder and CCO of Gutsy Animations. She was the creative director in Fremantle Media and Filmlance International and the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

in Fremantle Media Finland and Friday TV. Makaroff produced Finnish versions of TV shows such as ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

, Dragons Den, Idols,

Top Model ''Top Model,'' also called ''Next Top Model,'' is a fashion-themed reality television show format produced in many countries throughout the world and seen in over 120 countries producing over 200 seasons, which are referred to as "cycles". T ...

and X Factor''. She has also produced drama and sold content to over 70 countries. Marika won the One Show's Silver pencil award for branded content in 2015 for her format ''Buy this''. Makaroff is the executive producer and creative director of the TV-series ''

Moominvalley Moominvalley ( sv, Mumindalen, fi, Muumilaakso) is a fictional place, where the Moomins live in the tales by Finnish author Tove Jansson. Especially in the early books Moominvalley is depicted as a beautiful place with green slopes, rivers, f ...

'' (2019). The series' first episode was the most watched program on Finnish national broadcaster

Yle Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...

's streaming service, Yle Areena.

Career

Makaroff became known for her work as a journalist in both television and radio. She worked in series such as ''

Jyrki Jyrki is a Finnish masculine given name and may refer to: People *Jyrki 69 (born 1968), the lead vocalist for Finnish rock band ''The 69 Eyes'' * Jyrki Blom (born 1962), retired Finnish javelin thrower *Jyrki Hämäläinen (1942–2008), Finnish m ...

, Wild bunch'' and ''Under construction Finland''. In 2003 she hosted a political talk show series, ''Makaroff & Modig','' together with journalist

Silvia Modig Anna Silvia Modig (born 8 July 1976) is a Finnish politician; and a former journalist, and radio and TV host. She was a member of the Parliament of Finland 2011–2019, representing the Left Alliance, and was elected to the European Parliament in ...

. In 2005 Marika became the CEO of Fremantle Media Finland. In 2011 she became the Creative director of the company, overseeing all creative development in the Nordics. In 2014 she moved to Stockholm to become the CEO of

Friday TV Friday TV creates and distributes television formats. Friday TV also provides production and consulting services to television production companies and broadcasters worldwide. History Friday TV AB is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and was founded ...

. In 2015 she became the creative director of Filmlance international, that is known for creating original format of the TV-series

The Bridge The Bridge may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Art * ''The Bridge'' (sculpture), a 1997 sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia, US * Die Brücke (''The Bridge''), a group of German expressionist artists * ''The Bridge'' (M. C. Escher), a lithograph ...

. In 2016 Makaroff founded the production company Gutsy Animations. Makaroff is the creative director and executive producer in an animated TV-series ''

''. The series is based on the beloved Moomin books and comics by the Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson and her brother Lars Jansson. The first two seasons are directed by the Oscar® winner

Steve Box Steven "Steve" Royston Box (born 23 January 1967) is an English animator and director who works for Aardman Animations. His early work in animation included the popular British claymation television series ''The Trap Door'' for Bristol-based a ...

(2006 ''Best Animation feature'' ''Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the were-rabbit''). The third season is directed by Nigel Davies, Sara Barbas, Darren Robbie and Jay Grace and additionally, the fourth by Nigel Davies. ''Moominvalley'' premiered globally in spring 2019. The first episode of ''Moominvalley'' jumped up to a league of a million when it premiered in Finland's Yle TV2 in February 2019. The same episode also became the most watched television series episode of all time in Yle's streaming service, Yle Areena, bringing the total viewership of the first episode in Finland to over two million. Gutsy Animations is currently producing the series' fourth season. In 2019 Moominvalley was awarded the ''Best Animated Kid's Programme'' at TBI's Content Innovation Awards. The series was nominated for an International Emmy Kids Awards in 2020. Moominvalley won a ''

Golden Venla The Finnish Television Academy (Televisioakatemia RY, which comprises MTV3, Yle, Sanoma and SATU ry) organizes the Golden Venla (Kultainen Venla) competition and gala. The Golden Venla Awards recognize the year's best Finnish television programs, ...

'' award for Best Children's Program in 2019 and again in 2020. Moominvalley was nominated for the

Annie Awards The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally desig ...

in 2023 in the category of Children as well as

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

in 2021 in the category of TV Films in Competition. In 2023 Moominvalley won the award for Best Animation a
Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Awards
and the Best Animated Image a
Golden Panda
Moominvalley was nominated for the Best Kids Animation at the International Emmy Kids Awards again in 2023.

References

External links

on IMDB {{DEFAULTSORT:Makaroff, Marika Living people Finnish producers Year of birth missing (living people)