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A scene from the Finnish TV series “The Paradise.” Courtesy of MHz Choice

The first season of the Finnish crime drama “The Paradise” offers a swirl of languages, locations and plot lines in eight 50-minute episodes. The star is a middle-aged police detective, Hilkka (Riitta Havukainen), on leave to care for her dementia-afflicted husband, Aarne (Risto Tuorila). Most of the family-related script elements are set in her native Finland; the crime stuff mostly in Spain’s lovely Costa del Sol.

The series opens with a nice Finnish family of four driving their camper to Spain for vacation. Don’t bother getting to like them, since they don’t last long enough. Shortly after their murders, another old Finnish woman is found dead in her nearby home. It seems that region is a popular emigration destination for many Finns. That latter death is what brings Hilkka to Spain, reluctantly leaving Aarne in the care of others.

Following the Venice Film Festival premiere of her Biennale College Cinema title “Palimpsest” – about two people that start to age backwards – Finnish helmer Hanna Västinsalo will continue to play with sci-fi elements in “Space Hobos: How to Bum a Ride from Sector B12 to Module C9.”

“It’s about workers like plumbers, welders or cleaners, trying to make their way in the world of space travel,” Västinsalo explains to Variety in Italy.

“The core of the story is drawn from my own experience of being a starving artist and trying to make it. Not always knowing how to pay rent or having money to buy groceries.”

Västinsalo is also eyeing longer formats, developing “Heaven”: a series about a nun who, after being estranged from her father, inherits his male brothel.

“I would love to explore the world that revolves around female pleasure and the bonds of a family that ends up working together,...

In this week’s International TV Newswire, Ampere’s five-year post-Covid report looks ugly for everyone but the streamers, ViacomCBS makes moves in Latin America, Orange TV is racing up its scripted commitment, beginning with The Medipro Studio, and Channel 4 announces a new true crime series.

Ampere Report Paints Bleak Five-Year Picture for Entertainment Industry

According to an updated study by U.K. firm Ampere Analysis, the Covid-19 crisis will cost the global entertainment industry $160 billion over the next five years.

Gross losses will hit advertising hardest in overall dollars lost, although when viewing the impact against the size of the sector, theatrical will be the sector most impacted. Pay TV, suffering heavily due to the loss of live sports, will drop significantly in value in an already difficult market. Ampere predicts around 4% of its previously forecast value.

The report points to the “intimately interconnected” nature of industry value...

GÖTEBORG, Sweden: “All the Sins”’ Finnish co-writers and creators Mika Ronkainen and Merja Aakko, winners of last year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for outstanding Nordic screenplay, are developing for Mrk Matila Röhr Productions an adoption drama set between Finland and Guatemala.

Based on a true story, the six-part series “Act of Telling” (a working title) will examine child adoption through the story of a young Finnish couple and their Guatemala-born son. The respectable father has harbored a secret for seven years -a crime he committed when he travelled alone for the adoption. When a journalist friend starts to ask questions about the son’s biological parents, the mystery threatens to come to light.

Producer Ilkka Matilä said that Finnish public broadcaster Yle has ordered the concept from the writing duo. He’s now looking for a “potential co-production partner who could facilitate the Guatemala shoot.”

In early development,...