The Finnish psycho-thriller directed by 2 Nights till Morning’s Mikko Kuparinen  is produced by Warner Bros Finland in co-production with Wall to Wall Media in the UK.  Finland’s leading streaming service Elisa Viihde has commissioned the show and will launch it exclusively to its viewers in December. 

The 6-part series Man in Room 301 is based on a script by UK actress Kate Ashfield (Line of Duty, Secrets and Lies), co-creator of the BAFTA-award winning show Born to Kill.

Man in Room 301 tells the story of the Kurtti family whose lives irrevocably change one fateful, midsummer night. Years later, the secrets of that night start to unravel during a family holiday in Greece, forcing them to ask themselves how far they are willing to go for their loved ones. 

The stellar Finnish cast includes Antti Virmavirta (The Other Side of Hope), Kaija Pakarinen (Devil’s Bride, Love and Fury), Andrei Alén (Rig 45, Unknown Solider), Leena Pöysti (Laugh or Die) and Kreeta Salminen (All the Sins).

Filming is under way in Greece, with Athens-based Inkas Film & TV Productions handling the local shoot and acting as co-producer. The shoot will then move to Finland. 

Speaking to nordicfilmandtvnews.com, Elisa Viihde executive producer Alan Sim said: “Eleanor Greene [of London-based Wall to Wall Media] first came to me with the idea; then we got Kate Ashfield on board. She wrote the script and we sent it to Finland to make it work as a Finnish story. It’s a relationship drama with a strong psychological edge, about a family who breaks up through secrets and lies revolving around the death of a child.”

Sim continues: “It was really interesting to pull this off. When a story is good, it doesn’t matter where it comes from."  Ani Korpela, Elisa Viihde’s Head of Content said: “In a short period of time, Elisa Viihde has grown into one of the most important makers of original series in Finland, and it's these shows that are becoming our most popular content. It is wonderful to be developing Finnish drama on an international level, and we are extremely happy to be able to offer a fascinating and multidimensional psychological thriller like Man in Room 301 to our audience.”

The boutique Paris-based APC (About Premium Content) handles international distribution of the ready-made, with Warner Bros Finland keeping format rights. 

APC is representing another upcoming Finnish show commissioned by Elisa Viihde: the spy thriller Shadow Lines directed by AJ Annila.

APC’s co-founders Laurent Boissel and Emmanuelle Guilbart see Finland as “the new hotbed of Nordic drama”.  “Finland is a small market, but they are super creative and offer an amazing quality value for money,” adds Boissel.