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Finland’s industry is ready to appeal to the government as the future of a film and TV production incentive is under threat, with a 25% cash rebate levied on spend on foreign and Finnish shoots in the country conspicuously absent from a provisional budget for 2024, announced Monday.

“People have been hopeful, so they didn’t want to believe in what the government has been saying. For the whole autumn, we kept hearing they will cut the incentives altogether and that our budget at the Foundation will be cut by a few per cent. The final decision was made on Monday,” said Finnish Film Foundation CEO Lasse Saarinen.

“All these years when we had the incentives, we had opposition in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. These officials just didn’t like the idea,” he noted.

But the fight isn’t over just yet.

“I will speak to the Minister...

REinvent International Sales has inked a raft of deals across its slate of high-concept series, including “Transport” (pictured) and “Enemy of the People,” rolling off of MipTV.

The company has sold both “Transport,” which is penned by Auli Mantila (“Silver Stars”), and the Icelandic comedy series “Ordinary People” to AMC Networks Southern Europe for Spain and Portugal.

“Transport” is an eight-part TV show following a young journalist investigating a chip found in baby food. She crosses paths with an insurance investigator and a bank manager who are both connected to the case. The series stars Emmi Parviainen (“Shadow Lines”), Maria Heiskanen (“Everlasting Moments”), Pirkko Hämäläinen (“Devil’s Bride”) and Geert van Rampelberg (“De Infiltrant”). Miia Haavisto (“Tom of Finland”) and Tia Talli (“Nurses”) at Tekele are producing “Transport.”

“Ordinary People,” which is produced by Glassriver, follows the ups and downs of a friendship between two young women entering adulthood and...

Versatile Finnish helmer A.J. Annila is on board to direct the thriller series with a working title of “ID” which marks HBO Max’s first commission of a Finnish premium TV show.

Set in the art fraud world, the six-part series is co-created by seasoned writer Aleksi Bardy and Mia Ylönen for Finnish production powerhouse Helsinki-Filmi, a subsidiary of Finland’s Aurora Studios.

“ID” revolves around art fraud investigator Emma who goes undercover to infiltrate an auction house in Stockholm in order to investigate the firm’s connection to a notorious money launderer known as Blanko. Under her new identity, the quiet Emma morphs into a different person, the party animal and hot-headed socialite Annika. Her change of persona triggers long-hidden memories to resurface, forcing Emma to confront her past.

Annila, who contributed earlier to HBO Nordic’s anthology series of short films “At Home” (Eristyksissä), said he is thrilled...

“You’re a horse person?” a Belgian stable owner asks Johanna, a young Finnish journalist delving into the discovery of a microchip in a baby’s meat patty at a Helsinki daycare center. Only creator-director Auli Mantila’s own horse affiliations as a qualified farrier may explain in part one of the most singular of entries at this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize: “Transport.”

This is Scandinavian crime drama, but “ordi-noir,” Mantila told the Nordisk Film & TV Fond newsletter, in that it “happens in broad daylight, involves people with no special talent or trauma, and takes place in locations anyone could just walk in.”

It also addresses a massive but little explored subject, turning on pan-European food fraud which embroils three women: Marianne, a by-the-book bank loans exec forced to money launder earnings of a sinister food import company; an insurance investigator checking the disappearance of a...

Helsinki-based Tekele has unveiled the international trailer of its first premium crime drama “Transport”, which is in the running for this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for best Nordic TV screenplay. The prestigious award will be handed out Feb. 2 during Göteborg’s two-day TV Drama Vision confab.

Created and directed by Prix Europa winner Auli Mantila (“Silver Stars”), “Transport” is repped by REIvent International.

The eight-part series delves into the criminal activity of horsemeat trafficking and money laundering in Europe. It’s about ordinary people, under pressure, who somehow get involved, while a young journalist investigates the case of a microchip found in baby food. Toplining the show are Emmi Parviainen (“Shadow Lines”), Maria Heskanen (“Everlasting Moments”), Ville Virtanen (“Bordertown”) and Geert van Rampelberg (“De Infiltrant”).

“Transport” is the first major European premium TV show produced by fast-expanding Tekele, founded by seasoned producer Miia Haavisto. Speaking about her Belgium co-production partners Jonnydepony,...

Almost anyone over 30 has owned a Nokia phone at some point in their lives, but not many people know that the iconic brand was created at a Finnish company formerly specializing in rubber boots.

Once the world’s biggest mobile manufacturer at the turn of the 21st century, the company was nearly wiped out of the smartphone market by Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android well before 2010, and ultimately sold its handset division to Microsoft in 2013.

When news broke of Microsoft’s takeover on TV, Finnish director Maarit Lalli’s first thought was, “There’s going to be only one [drama] on Nokia in Finland: It will either be me or someone else, and it’s most likely going to be made by a man,” she told Variety during a set visit in Helsinki.

The next morning, Lalli called Finnish TV channels and the Finish Film Foundation to check if...

Paris-based Apc (About Premium Content) has acquired world sales rights on the six-part Finnish thriller “A Good Family,” currently filming in Estonia before moving back to Finland.

The high-end drama about love, marriage and parenthood is based on Finnish author and screenwriter Petri Karra’s 2019 novel “The Dark Light” (“Musta Valo”). The creative team takes in creator/producer Minna Virtanen, creator/writer Antti Pesonen and helmer Pete Riski, behind the crime show “Bullets,” which won the MIPDrama Buyers’ Coup de Coeur award in 2018 and launched on Walter Presents in the U.K. in January.

Virtanen said she started collaborating with Karra on the TV show concept even before his novel was published. Then Pesonen’s screenplay was polished by script editors Matti Laine (“The Paradise”) and Charlotte Lesche.

Seasoned actor Maria Sid and actor/singer Samuli Edelmann are toplining the TV show as police officer Anna and her husband Henrick,...

France’s Apc (About Premium Content) has acquired international sales rights to “Blackport,” an Icelandic political thriller set in a small fishing village and inspired by true events.

“Blackport” won the Series Mania Award at the Berlinale Co-Pro Series pitching event in 2018 and was teased at this year’s virtual TV Drama Vision, part of Sweden’s Goteborg Film Festival, the biggest film-tv event in Scandinavia, where the producers showcased footage highlighting the forthright confrontation between lead characters and a bohemian scene from a boom-time iceland.

Co-written and co-directed by Gísli Örn Garðarsson (“Ragnarök”) and Björn Hlynur Haraldsson (“The Witcher”), “Blackport” filmed during the pandemic through the summer in Reykjavik and in the Westfjords.

The series opens in the early 1980s when the fishing industry was booming in Iceland and follows a young married couple who build a small fishing empire in a village along with a group of friends,...

First Look Media’s niche streaming service Topic has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to the second season of the Nordic thriller “Arctic Circle,” which just started shooting in the icy wilderness of Lapland.

Lagardère Studios Distribution, which was recently acquired by Mediawan Group, is handling international sales on the series and participated in its financing. “Arctic Circle” was produced by Yellow Film & TV for Elisa, the leading Finnish streaming service.

The series’s second season will be filming until March and will launch on Elisa at the end of the year. Lagardere Studios previously sold season one of the show to Topic, as well as Polar+ (France), Rts (Switzerland), BeTV (Belgium), Videotron (Canada), Npo (The Netherlands), Ivi (Russia), Canal Plus (Poland), Rtp (Portugal), Cosmopolitan TV (Spain), Elisa (China) and Ftv Outre-mer 1e (France overseas), among others.

The show is headlined by Iina Kuustonen, Pihla Viitala, Mikko Leppilampi and Max Brückner.

The Berlin Festival’s Finnish Shooting Star 2015 Emmi Parviainen (“Shadow Lines”), seasoned actor Maria Heiskanen (“Everlasting Moments”), Pirkko Hämäläinen (“Devil’s Bride”) and Belgian actor Geert van Rampelberg (“De Infiltrant”) are headlining the eight-part TV show “Transport.” Prix Europa winner Auli Mantila will serve as its showrunner.

Lensing the show is veteran DoP J-p Passi, multi-awarded for the film “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olly Mäki” and second unit DoP on “Chernobyl.”

Veteran producer Miia Haavisto (“Tom of Finland”) and Tia Talli (“Nurses”) of Tekele are producing for Finnish pubcaster Yle. Belgium’s Philippe de Schepper (“Black-Out”) and Jonnydepony’S Helen Perquy, an executive producer on “Tabula Rasa,” are co-producing. Nordic global distributor REinvent Studios picked up the show in February.

Producer Haavisto said “Transport” stands out as a crime drama set in the food trade. “It’s the tale of ordinary people under immense pressure, all of...

Leading Finnish streaming company Elisa Viihde is partnering up with A+E Networks on a new original series, “Next of Kin,” a mystery drama set in the near future.

The eight-part series is scheduled to begin filming this week in Helsinki, Finland, and will be distributed worldwide by A+E Networks. “Next of Kin” will the first original drama to bow on Elisa Viihde Viaplay, the upcoming streaming service that will be jointly launched by Nordic Entertainment Group (Nent Group) and Elisa Viihde this fall.

“Next of Kin” takes place in Helsinki and poses some fundamental questions about humanity. The series follows Liv, who decides to discover what happened to her DNA sample when it was stolen from a biobank, but she unknowingly ends up being pursued.

“Next of Kin” is headlined by a strong Nordic cast, including Nika Savolainen (“Shadow Lines”) and Elmer Bäck (“Idiomatic”), as well as Matleena Kuusniemi...

Nordic Entertainment Group, the company behind Nordic streamer Viaplay, and Elisa Viihde Aitio are joining forces to combine their streaming services in Finland later this year.

The two companies will launch Elisa Viihde Viaplay in the fourth quarter of 2020, a single platform that will house the two services’ original series, movies and kid’s content.

Elisa Viihde Viaplay will have the power to better compete with global streamers, such as Netflix, which continues to make inroads into Nordic content after partnering with Denmark’s Dr in April to revive political drama Borgen.

Elisa Viihde Viaplay will be stocked with original shows including Arctic Circle, All the Sins and Shadow Lines, which was acquired by AMC streamer Sundance Now earlier this month.

Elisa CEO Veli-Matti Mattila said: “We expect viewers to embrace this innovative combined service that provides extensive content and represents excellent value for money. We look forward to working together.

Nordic Entertainment Group (Nent Group), a leading streaming company across the Nordics, and Finland’s top local streaming service Elisa Viihde have joined forces to launch a new service in Finland.

Named Elisa Viihde Viaplay, the new platform will combine Elisa Viihde Aitio’s content and the films and series package from Nent Group’s Viaplay, beginning from the last quarter of this year.

Set to launch June 30, Elisa Viihde Viaplay will boast a selection of local and Nordic original content, as well as international movies, classic series and kids’ content in Finland.

The alliance between the two services makes sense as Elisa Viihde Aitio (“Arctic Circle”) and Viaplay (“Love Me”) are among Finland’s most popular streaming services. By combining their strengths, they will be able to rival global services such as Netflix.

“By joining forces with Nent Group, we are able to offer Finnish customers an exciting combination...

In this week’s packed International TV Newswire, as newsflow quickens, Movistar Plus’ first U.S. co-production, with Telemundo, gets release details and a first teaser, Finnish drama “Shadow Lines” sells in the U.S., U.K. and other key territories, Fremantle announces its first steps into kids programming with partner 720 Creative, Red Arrow sells “Vienna Blood” in Europe and Asia, Moonbug brings cartoon “Mia’s Magic Playground” to the Sky in the U.K., and Blue Ant Media launches Smithsonian Channel in South Korea.

Movistar, Telemundo’s “Tell Me Who I Am” Gets First Trailer, Broadcast Details

Movistar Plus, the pay TV and production arm of Spanish telco giant Telefonica, has released the first trailer for its ambitious new series “Tell Me Who I Am,” the company’s first-ever U.S. co-production, following a strategic deal struck with Telemundo at last year’s Natpe, which also guaranteed U.S.

AMC Networks streaming service Sundance Now has picked up its second international drama in as many days after taking the U.S. rights to Tim Minchin’s Australian show Upright.

The eight-part series will premiere on August 6 and tells the story of Lucky Flynn (Minchin) as he travels across Australia to see his dying mother with just an upright piano for luggage. Along the way, he meets runaway teenager Meg (Milly Alcock) and they forge an unlikely relationship.

Upright is made by Australian producer Lingo Pictures and was commissioned by Foxtel and Sky UK. eOne distributes the drama, while funding was provided by Screen Australia in association with the South Australian Film Corporation, Create Nsw and Screenwest.

Minchin, who co-wrote and executive produced Upright, said: “The reactions to Upright in the UK and Australia have been like nothing I’ve ever experienced, and I can’t wait for Americans to see it.

Boutique co-producer and distributor About Premium Content (Apc) has agreed a raft of international sales for season one of its Cold War drama series “Shadow Lines,” including to AMC Networks’ streaming service Sundance Now in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

A second season of the 1950s Helslinki-set spy thriller has been commissioned by Finnish streaming service Elisa Viihde and is currently in development.

As well the Sundance Now deal, Apc has also secured sales for the series to Sbs in Australia; Viasat World’s Epic Drama Channel across Central and Eastern Europe, Baltics and Cis; RTP2 in Portugal; Proximus in Belgium; AMC’s Sundance TV in Spain; and in Switzerland both public broadcaster Rts and cable channel Upc.

Produced by Zodiak Finland for Elisa Viihde, “Shadow Lines” is a period spy thriller written by mother and daughter team Kirsti Manninen and Katri Manninen and directed by Aj Annila and Alli Haapasalo.

AMC streamer Sundance Now has acquired the first season of Finland’s 1950s Cold War drama Shadow Lines for the U.S., Canada and UK.

Co-producer and distributor About Premium Content secured the Sundance deal for the Zodiak Finland-produced show, alongside other sales in territories including Australia (Sbs), Central and Eastern Europe (Viasat World’s Epic Drama Channel) and Spain (Sundance TV).

Shadow Lines was commissioned by Finnish streamer Elisa Viihde and a second season is now in development. It is written by mother and daughter team Kirsti Manninen and Katri Manninen and directed by Aj Annila and Alli Haapasalo.

The Finnish, English and Russian language drama is set in 1950s Helsinki, where the Kgb and CIA battled for control of Finland. It centers on Helena, a student who returns home from America and is recruited by her godfather to help stop the U.S. and Russia meddling in...

Finland’s top streaming service Elisa Viihde has ordered “Summer of Sorrow,” a high-concept mystery thriller series that’s being produced by Rabbit Films and will be sold by Keshet Intl. around the world.

The 10-episode show, created Jani Volanen (“M/S Romantic”) and set in the early 1980s, takes place in an idyllic Finnish suburb of Munkkivuori where a small child disappears. With little support from the police, concerned parents take justice into their own hands and launch a desperate hunt for the child.

The events will be depicted from the perspective of the local children, who are eavesdropping on the adults, gossiping and drawing their own conclusions about what happened to the missing child.

“Summer of Sorrow” is expected to start shooting in May in Helsinki. Rabbit Films’ Minna Haapkylä and Olli

Suominen will be serving as executive producers.

“Finnish fiction is emerging as the hotbed for distinctive drama from the Nordic region,...

When the Nordic entertainment group, one of Scandinavia’s largest media groups, announced last month during the Goteborg Film Festival that it was pulling out of non-scripted content to focus on scripted drama, and film production and distribution, it underscored two market trends in the Nordics: Subscription-based services, whether local or global, are driving the region’s booming drama business, and going forward, the investment into content will be more evenly split between Scandinavia series and movies.

Since Scandinavia is one of the first overseas markets where Netflix and HBO Nordic launched as early as 2012, local streaming services such as Viaplay, CMore and Elisa Viihde reacted fast and stepped up their investment in drama in order to compete. It paid off: Today, unlike in other European regions where local Svod services have either shut down or struggled, the Nordics are home to several powerful local streaming services that are coexisting alongside Netflix and HBO Nordic.

Elisa Viihde, the popular Finnish Svod service behind “All the Sins” and “Shadow Lines,” is developing “Bad Apples,” a daring psychological drama series, with Lagardere Studios Distribution.

The concept for “Bad Apples” was created by Marja Pyykkö who will also be directed the eight-part show. Fire Monkey Productions is producing the series with Mia Ylönen (“Moscow Noir”) on board to write.

“Bad Apples” is set in 1970’s Finland when women unwilling to conform to society were considered damaged and sent to an asylum on an islolated island for treatment. Away from the world, these women seemed to have found a way to be themselves until a strange rumour started spreading about a secret ward. The series will follow a student activist, Onerva, who is committed to an experimental psychiatric program for women at a 1970s sanatorium.

Anni Wessman, the head of international at Elisa, said “Bad Apples” will be headlined...