Laura Birn Leads 'Disqualified', a Finnish Doping Drama Pitched in Rome

Laura Birn is leading a new television drama about one of Finland's most notorious sporting scandals. The series, called Disqualified, is being presented at the MIA Market in Rome, Deadline reported on 22 October 2026.

MIA is a television market where producers show new projects to potential buyers. Presenting a show there is a pitch stage. It comes before any broadcaster or streaming platform decides whether to commission, meaning pay for, the series.

Disqualified is a sports doping thriller made by Banijay Finland with journalist Johanna Aatsalo. Banijay Finland is part of Banijay Entertainment, one of the larger production groups in European television. Minna Virkajärvi is the executive producer at Banijay Finland.

The drama is inspired by real events. It follows a fictionalised version of Aatsalo's investigation into systematic doping within Finland's national ski team. "Systematic" here means organised and repeated across the team, rather than a single rule-breaking athlete. Aatsalo's reporting on the case later became a book, and the series is based on that work.

Birn is best known to many international viewers for her role in Foundation, the science-fiction series on Apple TV, in which she also starred. Her casting gives the new project a lead with a recognisable profile for buyers to consider.

For the people who make the show, the next stretch is about finding a home for it. A market presentation is where that search begins. Writers, directors and crew only start work once a commission is confirmed, so the pitch in Rome is the first public step rather than a finished production.

Anyone interested in the story can follow the project as it moves from pitch to buyer. Each stage brings its own news, whether a deal, a partner or a start date.