In April 2021, Variety picked up the story of Nokia’s rise and fall becoming a drama series called Mobile 101. That story is still continuing, and the first of six seasons is being filmed. The first season will cover the late 80s when Nokia switched from making rubber to making phones and networking equipment. The budget for the series is quite high at around €3.75 million ($4.23 million) and covers a total of 160 roles.
The cast is full of well-known Scandinavian actors such as Sampo Sarkola (“Bordertown,” “Shadow Lines”), Kristo Salminen (“Bordertown”), Rafael Edholm (“Peacemaker”), Aku Sipola (“Secret Lives”), Satu-Tuuli Karhu (“Eden”) and Emil Kihlstroem. International cast members include Adam Bond (“Maleficent”), Jonathan Harboe (“Darkland”) and Carmen Gloria Pérez (“Young Royals”).
The makers said Nokia itself was cooperative, giving the production the rights to use the Nokia logo, providing the team with videos of the meetings and needed documents to recreate the company’s rich and turbulent history.
The plot should be interesting, as the director draws on conversations with Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia’s 2006 CEO who led the company to the top, as well as notes from various books and interviews. After reading Risto Siilasmaa’s Paranoid optimist, I wonder where the views of two great CEOs will differ.
Finnish Rabbit Film is producing and representing the series, while broadcaster MTV3 Finland will air the series in the Nordic countries through its streaming company CMore.
The premiere date for the first season has not yet been announced, but we do know that the second season will be about Nokia going up against its American rivals.
Check out the international trailer!
Variety
Big thanks to Kaizer Allen and SirFaceFone for the tip 😉