Some titles highlighted by YLE for Content Americas include the musical drama Swang, the school drama The Short Fuse, the LGBT comedy Limbo, the documentary Evacuating Tallinn 1941, and the miniseries Leap to Glory.
*By Luis Cabrera, Ana Carreira, and Fernando Moreno, reporting from Miami, USA
Finland’s Public Broadcaster YLE presented a diverse catalog of series, dramas, and documentaries at Content Americas, many of which have already succeeded in other territories and are now being showcased for the US and Latin American markets.
This was shared with ttvnews by Maria Kivinen, International TV Sales Manager at Finland’s Public Broadcaster YLE. “We have a catalog with various genres. The first series we showcase is a musical drama called Swang. We recently closed a deal for this series with KiKA, a channel by ARD and ZDF in Germany, and now we are presenting it for Latin America and the US,” she said.
Kivinen mentioned that they have a significant amount of new content for both young and adult audiences. “The Short Fuse is a drama about school bullying, but at its core, it’s a series about friendship—something far more important than all the negative things happening in schools with bullying.”
As for comedies, one standout title is an LGBT comedy called Limbo. “The name Limbo represents a small town you can’t escape from. It’s also a series about traditional relationships and tells the story of Elmo, who has big ambitions and wants to break free from the limbo,” Kivinen explained.
In their documentary catalog, a highlight for this market is the historical WWII documentary titled Evacuating Tallinn 1941 – Largest Naval Disaster in the Baltic Sea. “It’s a documentary about a battle in the Baltic Sea that is not very well-known, and it includes unique footage,” noted the YLE representative.
Lastly, they showcased the miniseries Leap to Glory, which had its premiere on Sundance TV. “It’s the story of a girl from Somalia who is also Finnish. She lives in northern Finland and dreams of becoming an Olympic high jump champion to represent her country,” Kivinen concluded.
