How Japan-Finland co-production ‘Blood And Sweat’ overcame workplace differences

The challenges of a Japan-Finland co-production were laid bare at a TIFFCOM seminar, which highlighted lengthy script development, differing working hours and sourcing suitable crew.

Tomomi Takashima of Japanese broadcaster Wowow and producer Daniel Toivonen of Nippon-backed streamer AX-ON revealed both the challenges and successes of making detective drama series Blood And Sweat with Finland’s ICS Nordic.

Starring Finland’s Jasper Pääkkönen and Japan’s Anne Watanabe, the series began from a collaborative, multi-lingual approach. This meant that one of the biggest challenges was the extended script development process, said Toivonen.

The script was first written in English before being translated word-for-word into Japanese. It was then shared with the actors to identify awkward or unnatural phrasing. This necessitated a longer script development time compared to Japanese domestic series production. Despite beginning in March 2024, the continuous feedback process led to near-constant adjustments just before shooting began in Finland in December 2024.

There were also differences that needed to be overcome once production got underway, not just from a work style perspective but a logistical, shot-planning one as well. The Finnish production strictly adhered to union rules, creating what Toivonen described as a “sustainable working environment”. This contrasted with Japan, where working hours are much longer and often can go over the allotted schedule.

On production in Japan, which took place in May 2025, the Finnish crew had to adapt to these longer hours. Similarly to the script development process, there was extensive cultural oversight on location in Japan, to ensure the scenes were authentic to a Japanese audience, said Takashima.

Toivonen, who also wrote and directed, said the director’s vision in Japan is often deferred to on most aspects of production. In Finland, however, there is a greater delegation of responsibility to heads of department. These diverging styles were something to which Toivonen’s fellow co-directors Riku Suokas of Finland and Marie Iwasaki of Japan needed to adjust respectively.

Additionally, finding English-speaking crew in Japan proved difficult and added to the budget.

However, both said the collaboration was built on a foundation of mutual respect. The production was a success in large part due to the establishment of a clear division of responsibilities from the outset, identifying the “ultimate decision-makers” for each aspect of production.

The series is set to air in Japan in spring 2026. Wowow, which recently launched international production service arm Wowow Bridge based on its work on HBO’s Tokyo Vice, recently produced suspense feature Sai: Disaster, which played in competition at San Sebastian before screening at Busan last month.

This story originally appeared on Screen’s sister site Screen Global Production

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