tove screen

Source: LevelK

‘Tove’

Finland’s Aurora Studios has acquired independent production company Helsinki-filmi, which has credits including Tom Of Finland and Tove.

Helsinki-filmi will continue its operations independently while becoming a subsidiary of Aurora.

Aleksi Bardy, the majority owner of Helsinki-filmi, will become a partner at Aurora and join its executive board while continuing to serve as CEO of the production company. No redundancies will be made as a result of the acquisition.

Previous Helsinki-filmi shareholders Annika Sucksdorff and Dome Karukoski will no longer be part-owners of the company after the acquisition.

Aurora Studios will distribute all future films produced by Helsinki-filmi as well as manage the catalogue of titles made since the company was founded in 2002, which includes hits such as Tove, the biopic of Moomins creator Tove Jansson, Heart Of A Lion and Lapland Odyssey.

Upcoming projects include a film based on the life of Marimekko fashion house head Kirsti Paakkanen, and a TV series adapted from a Thomas Oscar novel.

Aurora will also continue to develop its own projects and cooperate with other production companies as a financier, co-producer, and distributor.

Former Nordisk Film & TV Fond CEO Petri Kemppinen steps in as Aurora CEO from August 1. The key team there includes head of distribution Hanna Lajunen, head of creative Roosa Toivonen and CFO Joni Ihantola.

Aurora also manages the Finnish Impact Film Fund and recently acquired Lajunen’s distribution company Cinemanse.