Yle Drama expands international projects with Italy and Canada

Jarmo Lampela, the head of drama at Yle, is expanding Finland's international drama projects. He is attending Series Mania in Lille, France, to promote new collaborations with Italy and Canada. One of the new projects is "Torna a Surriento," the first co-production with the Italian broadcaster RAI. This four-part romantic drama is about a Neapolitan hustler who inherits a remote estate in Finnish Lapland. It explores his adventures with the Sámi community and a reindeer herder. The series is co-written by several international writers and is in pre-production. Lampela is also working on "Thirst," an environmental sci-fi thriller from Canada. It follows a biology expert investigating water contamination in Quebec. A character in the story is Finnish, prompting Yle's involvement early on to include local talent in the writing team. Yle Drama is focusing on international projects to broaden its storytelling. Lampela notes that this shift aims to create relatable content for diverse audiences. He mentions past successful series that have opened new avenues for Finnish storytelling. In recent years, Lampela has developed new media partnerships, resulting in several projects across Europe. Yle's first series with partners New8, "Queen of Fucking Everything," has gained immense popularity, with millions of views. At Series Mania, Lampela is also looking for collaborators on two upcoming Finnish shows. "Plan Flat Naked" is a love story set in small-town Finland, while "Good Sport" explores power dynamics in figure skating through personal experiences related to abuse. This spring, Yle will release new seasons of several shows, including the procedural "66 North Precinct" and the dramedy "Hormones." There is also a romantic drama titled "Everybody Loves Horses," a collaboration with Icelandic producers.