HBO Max has announced the commissioning of its first series for the Finnish market.
The HBO Max Original has been created by Mia Ylönen and Aleksi Bardy (pictured) under the working title of ID. The 6-part Finnish crime series has been produced for HBO Max by Helsinki-Filmi.
The story revolves around Finnish art fraud investigator, Emma, who goes undercover to infiltrate an auction house in Stockholm to investigate the firm’s connection to a notorious money launderer known as “Blanko”.
Mia Ylönen, co-creator, Helsinki-Filmi said, “ID examines questions of identity, morality, and personal limits. We all live in the crosswinds of many identities. There’s the work-me, the private-me, the hero-me of our dreams, the victim-me hurt by the past, the happy and ideal me in social media. Who would you be if you could be anyone? Would you rejoice the chance to reinvent yourself, even if it meant abandoning your old self?”
Christian Wikander, executive producer, HBO Max added, “We are excited to greenlight our first Finnish series and give the local creative community an opportunity to showcase their talent at HBO Max. ID offers an insight into the billion-dollar black market of art. Shot over the Nordic summer months, the series will create a unique visual storyworld: we call it Nordic noir in colour”
Production is expected to begin in 2022, and the series will premiere exclusively on HBO Max.
At Home (Eristyksissä), an anthology series of Finnish short films was released in summer 2020.
