The 10x22’ series produced by Noora Haatainen of Yellow Film & TV (Nurses, Arctic Circle) is based on the graduation film from ELO Helsinki Film School of former students-writer/director Paula Korva (Konttori) and writer Anna Brotkin (Idiomatic).

Selected respectively in 2016 and 2017 for Copenhagen’s Nordic Talents pitch event, Korva and Brotkin caught industry interest with their 25 minute satire The Principal, which tells of a middle-aged principal struggling to keep her school under peaceful control.

Korva said her and Brotkin’s graduation short was “a kind of pilot episode for the TV series”, which convinced both Yellow Film & TV and CMore/MTV to come on board. In the sitcom Terhi Suorlahti (Bordertown) reprises her role from the short film, as the awkward middle school principal Sari Valjakka. School teachers are played by Elmer Bäck (Eisenstein in Guanaguato, The Spiral), Mikko Penttilä (Putous), Sara Paasikoski, Pia Andersson (Pientä Laittoa), Lotta Lindroos (Konttori), Kaarina Hazard (Love & Order) and Misa Lanader (Nurses).

“The series is a workplace comedy, revolving around the middle school’s principal, the teachers and their relationships. It’s also a satire about the world-class Finnish education system we in Finland are so proud of,” explained Korva who used a mockumentary-style format.

“My vision as a director was to make it feel as life-like and as realistic as possible. This is why the series is shot completely in a real middle school and it also consists of documentary material shot during school semester,” she adds.

The full series just finished its full run on the streaming service C More and will premiere on MTV3 January 18, 2020. Yellow Film & TV handles global distribution.