Moskito CEO co-founds Fire Monkey

Roope Lehtinen

The founder and CEO of Finnish producer Moskito Television has linked up with the co-creator of Nordic scripted format Black Widows to launch a production outfit.

Fire Monkey, founded by Moskito’s Roope Lehtinen and Mikko Pöllä, is an independent drama development and showrunning company that will serve broadcasters and studios both in the Nordics and internationally.

Lehtinen and Pöllä said serialised drama would be “the backbone” of the producer’s operations but added that they were “open-minded and curious towards the rapidly changing world of entertainment.”

Lehtinen and Pöllä worked on drama
format Black Widows

Lehtinen will step back from his role as CEO at Moskito and be replaced by exec producer Riina Kullasvuori, but remain with the prodco as a consultant and oversee its scripted output as exec producer.

Lehtinen was previously CEO of Modern Times Group (MTG)-owned NICE Entertainment Group and worked with Pöllä on Black Widows (Mustat Lesket) and Hooked (Koukussa).

Pöllä has worked on shows including Easy Living (Helppo Elämä), which was remade by HBO Europe, and co-wrote the Angry Birds Movie story, adapted from the hit mobile game.

Black Widows, meanwhile, was adapted by MTG’s TV3 channels in Sweden, Norway and Denmark and its OTT service Viaplay and follows three best friends who decide to rid themselves of their husbands and change their lives for the better.

It was based on Mustat Lesket, the 12-part Finnish series that claimed a 30% share for local broadcaster Nelonen.

Fire Monkey already has projects underway, although details remain under wraps, and the duo said they were interested in working with global partners.