Blind Spot is exactly 10 years old this month (September). What have been the key developments and landmark films for your company?
First of all, all the films have been a great trip and a learning curve. One thing I have been doing from day one with Blind Spot is trying to be active outside of Finland. On this level, there have been some clear developments, but it was Jade Warrior as a production and financing jungle, that tripled our contacts and experience. Also, Aleksi Salmenperä's two films Producing s and A Man`s Job have been very good to work with from this point of view. The stories he wants to tell, and the way he is telling them, seem to work also with non-Finnish audiences.
All these films mentioned I did together with Petri Jokiranta, who was my partner in Blind Spot between late 2000 and January 2007. From him I learned a lot. He is now a freelance producer and I'm the sole owner of Blind Spot.
What is your current and future strategy for Blind Spot? Currently we are the TV film Jungle of Dreams by Esa Illi. We are in production with two international co-productions as a minority co-producer. We are trying to get two films off the ground in Finland and develop another 3-4 projects. Our next three features will probably be with first-time directors. Falling Angels which cost just over ?1m will be directed by Heikki Kujanpää, an experienced theatre director who has done quite a few one hour novel films for television. Punchline will be directed by music video expert Marko Jatkola. It will cost just under ?1m. Both films are almost ready to shoot and will be 100% Finnish productions. Then there is Iron Sky, a science fiction comedy by Timo Vuorensalo and his producing partner Samuli Torssonen.
Iron Sky will be our first English-language film. It does not mean that we will swap to English language, but we are very keen to try that to widen the international market potential of our films.
As a whole, our strategy is to keep working with quality films and good talent, but also to increase the quantity. Jade Warrior was our first genre film, and we are definitely going to make more.
The Finnish film industry is currently paralyzed by a strike. Was this inevitable, and what is the situation now?
I'm not sure it was inevitable, but I do hope it will help us gain a better position. The good thing is that now most of the politicians know better the topic and are talking about it more actively. This might help us get closer to our goal. So far the strike hasn't affected Blind Spot, but if it will last much longer, the situation will be quite interesting...
What can or should be done to improve feature film production in Finland?
I think there is a wide basis for new talents who want to make very interesting films for different kind of audiences. So, in addition to the eternal fight for better content in general, we definitely need more quantity. The more quantity, the more success stories, the more success stories, the more possibilities. There should also be a new system to finance debut feature films. Plus, depending on the project, in many cases you need bigger budgets to be more competitive in the market place. The average budget in Finland is far less than in the rest of the Nordic countries...so there is a way to go.
Personally I think that one very efficient way of enhancing the financing possibilities would be to consider different kinds of tax-incentives. The first kind would be aimed at the rising number of rich private investors in Finland, more willing to invest in film. One way to motivate them would be to offer them tax-deductions. The second one would consist of a set percentage of automatic refund on production spent in Finland for the increasing number of countries working with Finland.
You're currently working on two major co-productions: Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moment by Jan Troell and Rainbowmaker by Nana Djordjadze. How did you get involved in both projects? Regarding Maria Larsson; I knew Sigve Endresen from Motlys Film in Norway through ACE, (Ateliers du Cinéma Européen), and through him I learnt to know the main producer Thomas Stenderup (Final Cut in Denmark). As the Finnish actress Maria Heiskanen was in the lead, it was obvious they should have a Finnish co-producer. I don't know why they asked me, maybe because I don't speak Swedish...but I'm there and that's good!
Regarding Rainbowmaker; I met the main producer Oliver Damian in China during a trip organised by European Producers Club. He asked me to join the project as a Swiss co-producer because I am based there. I told Oliver that I was not the right guy from Switzerland, but after I read the script, I told him that maybe we could find some money from Finland.
How could co-production within the Nordic countries and within Europe be improved?
We all just have to be more active and more interested in each others activities. I think it is also good to keep co-financing as active as co-producing, because co-producing often leads to something unnatural...some call it ?euro-pudding'.
It is great that there has been more and more organised co-production meetings to help producers to pitch and network. These occasions should be continuously developed.