C More takes Nordics & Baltics VOD rights for Finnish Nokia drama

Nordic streamer C More has acquired the first-window VOD rights for the Nordics and Baltics to a new drama series charting the rise and fall of Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia.

Helsinki-based Rabbit Films is producing and internationally distributing the six-part series, which has the working title of Mobile 1.0, and will launch in early 2022 on C More, with the linear premiere to follow on MTV3.

The series will be available in both Finnish and English, and is being shot in Finland and the US. It is being produced with additional funding from the Finnish Impact Film Fund

Mobile 1.0 is written and directed by Maarit Lalli (Almost 18, The Sixth Time), with Tiina Pesonen and Minna Haapkylä from Rabbit Films attached to produce, alongside co-producers Petri Kemppinen and Ari Tolppanen for Aurora Studios. Satu-Tuuli Karhu, Emil Kihlström, Aku Sipola and Oona Airola head the cast.

The first season of the show will focus on the years 1988-1990, when the technology for mobile phones was just starting to be developed and follow a team of engineers, lawyers and business leaders who are willing to take on their counterparts at deep pocketed multinational competitors.

“Behind Nokia’s well-known narrative, there are the untold stories of the people whose passion for their work made immense success possible. But there were also personal losses and moments of despair,” said Maarit Lalli, creator and director of Mobile 1.0. “Now, 30 years on from the first GSM call, and based on first-hand accounts from those most intimately involved in Nokia’s story we can tell the full, dramatic story of the extraordinary events behind its remarkable rise and fall.”