Finnish Farm Comedy 'Crème de la Crème' Gets Global Sales Deal
A struggling dairy farm and a sperm bank startup. That is the pitch now travelling the world.
ORF-Enterprise has acquired international distribution rights to the Finnish comedy drama "Crème de la Crème," Variety reported on 14 October. That kind of deal means the company will offer the show to broadcasters, streamers and other buyers outside its home country.
The buyer is the sales arm of Austrian broadcaster ORF. Its Head of Content Sales International is Armin Luttenberger. The seller is Whatever Pictures, a Finnish production company whose labels include Whatevergroup and Mutant Koala Pictures.
The series was commissioned by Finnish broadcaster YLE, which ordered and paid for the show for its home audience first. It runs to eight episodes of 30 minutes and is made in Finnish. Its original title is "Ylä-Savon Kerma," according to Whatever Pictures.
The story follows Joonas, a young farmer living on his childhood dairy farm. The farm is close to collapse. With friends, he starts a sperm bank business to try to save it.
"Crème de la Crème" is written and directed by Jukka Vidgrén, Topi Koljonen, Henna Rinnekangas, Juuso Laatio and Anna Heinämaa. Vidgrén produces alongside Antti Kaarlela.
Filming got under way in Finland in the summer, with the shoot continuing through the season, Whatever Pictures said in July.
The deal also shines a light on what else Whatever Pictures has in the pipeline. The company is developing "Silent Herd," a scripted crime series made with Norway's Rein Film. Scripted means a fictional drama, as opposed to documentary or reality.
Whatever Pictures also brought two thrillers to Mipcom, the international television market in Cannes. They are "Three Fires," a border thriller set in North Karelia, and "Ice House," an international assassin thriller.
For viewers outside Finland, this means the farm comedy has cleared its first hurdle to travelling. A global sales deal does not guarantee a broadcast slot. It puts the show in the catalogue that buyers browse, and decides whether Joonas and his friends get seen beyond YLE.
