A trio of well-experienced Finnish producers, Eero Hietala, Lasse Koskinen and Ilkka Hynninen, have joined forces to launch Take Two Studios, a production company which will focus on premium drama, documentaries and podcasts.
Hietala and Hynninen previously co-founded Aito Media in 2003 and produced more than 1,700 hours of programming during their 18-year run as co-CEO’s. Their recent credits as executive producers include the series “Almost True” and “Pirjo,” half-hour comedy “Mother-in-Paw” and procedural crime drama “Lakeside Murders.”
“After a long, successful stint growing a Finnish generalist production company to exit stage, now in this second chapter of our entrepreneurial careers we have decided to become a strong international specialist in drama and documentary production,” said Hynninen and Hietala. “We are full of energy and enthusiasm to bring stories we are passionate about to international screens,” added the pair.
Koskinen, who will serve as Take Two Studios’ CEO, has worked for more than 21 years in the film, games, digital media and advertising industries, among others. He notably worked at FS Film, Svensk Filmindustri (now SF Studios) and Fox’s Finnish theatrical & video distribution operation. During his tenure at FS Film, he worked on some blockbuster franchises such as “Lord of the Rings,” “Star Wars” and “Die Another Day.” He also launched two Finnish production hubs that produced five local feature films. In 2008, Koskinen left the film industry to run Chat Republic Games, where he presided over the launch of MMO star Superstar Racing. Over the past 11 years, Koskinen has worked for Coronaria Group, running a total of nine different companies for the group.
Take Two Studios is kicking off with a development slate of 10 projects that will co-produced by Aito Media and were created under Hietala and Hynninen. These include “506 Grams of Ural Snow” and “Saturday Society.”
“506 Grams of Ural Snow” opens with the disappearance of a young man in Russia. His father, a Finnish police inspector, arrests a Russian drug lord in Helsinki, and is swiftly drawn into a deadly mission that leads to the discovery of a surprising truth about his son. The show is being produced by Hietala and Hynninen with Aito Media’s Ella Piesala and Aito and Haapasalo Entertainment’s Ville Haapasalo.
“Saturday Society,” produced by Aito Media’s Ella Piesala and Hynninen, is a political thriller telling the true story brave reporters who risked their careers to prevent the rise of a Soviet-backed alcoholic man from becoming the next president of Finland. “Saturday Society” is based on true events of early 1980s politics and the media scene, when a group of journalists confronted the pervasive self-censorship of the Finnish press by writing an exposé book about the main presidential candidate.