The new association for Finnish content producers in the film and television industry, called Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI, is tasked with representing the interests of producers in the field of audiovisual content production, promoting internationalisation, and organising industry events and competitions. It is also responsible for the collective management of copyrights.
The association is the result of several representative and copyright associations for audiovisual producers – the Association of Independent Producers in Finland (SATU), Finnish Film Producers (Elokuvatuottajat/COFFPA), Audiovisual Finland and the Collective Society for Audiovisual Producers in Finland (Tuotos) – joining their operations into a single association in March 2018. The establishment of the new association grew out of the industry’s increasing needs. Continuous market development, the promotion of competitive conditions, and the industry’s internationalisation require increasingly efficient and competent services for the association’s members, customers and stakeholders.
APFI’s operations and organisation will be reorganised so as to be better able to meet the needs of its members and customers. In technical terms, the new association was set up on the basis of Tuotos. More than the mere sum of four predecessor associations, however, APFI is a new kind of association with its own goals and ways of working.
“This is nothing short of a historic event – at last industry producers are represented under the same roof! Luckily, we’re a strong association – a single negotiation and cooperation partner for our stakeholders. This will raise collaboration within the audiovisual industry to a completely new level. By joining our forces with all producers we are developing the industry’s business to a more competitive direction, making Finnish content increasingly well-known in the international markets”, says Mika Toivainen, Chair of the Executive Board of APFI.
APFI’s Executive Board is composed of some of the most successful professionals in the audiovisual field in Finland. Ordinary members consist of Riina Kullas (Moskito Television), Jarkko Hentula (Yellow Film & TV), Riina Hyytiä (Dionysos Films), Elina Pohjola (Pohjola-filmi), Katariina Lehtonen (Otto Production) and Martti Sivonen (Banijay Finland), and deputy members include Jonathan Tuovinen (Rabbit Films), Antti Seppänen (Intervisio), Pertti Veijalainen (Illume) and Mikko Räisänen (Lucy Loves Stories). The Chair of the Executive Board is Mika Toivainen (Endemol Shine Finland), and the Deputy Chairs are Nina Laurio (Solar Films) and Lotta Backlund (Warner Bros. International Television Production Finland).
“It’s great to have a chance to work with a Board as professional as this one is. We expect quite a lot from the new association. The expansion of the operating environment of the Finnish AV industry, the development of contractual conventions, and increasingly international operations set challenging requirements for our operations. I’m happy to be able to serve our members and customers even more efficiently and professionally than before”, adds Toivainen.