LEGO animation head credits visual flair to Danish tradition

Mads Munk, founder and CEO of the M2 Group, explains how his Danish ethos mirrors that of the LEGO Group.

The M2 Group is a production and advertising company that has worked with the LEGO Group to produce the NEXO KNIGHTS and Legends of Chima animated series, as well as content based on Friends, CITY and Star Wars. In a lifestyle interview with the Daily Telegraph, CEO Mads Munk has talked about his Danish ethos and collecting eclectic items.

Before going on to found the company that would become an external partner, he worked for the LEGO Group himself.

Munk has been immersed in the upbeat fantasia of pop culture for decades. He earned his wings in the development department at Lego before setting up the multimedia company M2Group, which has created advertising for some of the world’s biggest brands.

A minimalist arrangement of white boxes provides the ideal backdrop for its owner – who makes animated films for Denmark’s famous toy company – to display his glamorous and kitsch collection

Its rapidly growing animation studio has made hit TV series as well as a feature-length film for Lego, and Munk’s home in Aarhus demonstrates the kind of visual flair that would appeal within the coloured-building-brick universe.

‘Lego is Danish and I’m Danish, and there’s a tradition here,’ he says. ‘You grow up with it. You carry that in your heart from your youth – it’s close to you.’

Munk splits his time between Denmark and Los Angeles, where he keeps a second home. The profile feature explains that his Danish house is a minimalist affair, whereas his house in California is more traditional in style.

Many of us fantasise about living in the perfect white box – a light-suffused dream home with sleek surfaces, invisible cabling and minimal clutter. Danish media mogul Mads Munk wanted all of that, but he wasn’t looking for serenity: he was on a quest for a blank canvas. Or rather, a gallery.

‘I collect a lot of things,’ he says, sitting behind the gleaming iMac at his desk, flanked by an antique bronze statuette of Themis, Greek goddess of justice, and a framed poster of the first Technicolor, Christopher Reeve-era, Superman movie. ‘If you have simple, white square rooms, you effectively have an exhibition space, so everything I own looks like it’s curated, even though all the objects are so totally different.’

The full article is worth a read for anyone interested in learning a little more about the self-made Danish media mogul.