Yellow Film links with WME, hires Larkin for international expansion plans

Helsinki-based indie producer Yellow Film is teaming up with global talent agency WME Independent to produce English-language features and has hired producer Jackie Larkin to steer its expansion plans.

Jackie Larkin

Under the deal, the two firms will unveil a slate of comedy projects with details to be announced soon, according to a joint statement.

The venture will be headed up by Irish film producer Larkin, who has previously worked on projects including BBC dramas Mrs Wilson, Little Women and Strike, based on novels by J K Rowling.

Larkin said: “It’s the perfect time to be joining the company and expanding on their existing success in the Nordic region. We’ve already started putting together a truly distinctive slate of English-language film and TV projects with international talent attached, which I’m sure, with a powerful independent production company like Yellow behind it, will attract new creative partnerships around the globe. And we’re just getting started.”

The partnership comes as Yellow reveals plans to produce projects outside the Nordic market. It previously coproduced English- and Swedish- language biographical sports drama film Borg vs McEnroe with SF Film, which starred Americana actor Shia LaBeouf.

Led by CEO Olli Haikka, Yellow has produced more than 600 hours of film and TV content since 1994, including primetime thrillers Arctic Circlek, hospital drama Nurses and half-hour comedy Sunday Lunch.

Meanwhile, Yellow’s forthcoming family film Super Furball Saves the Future will be sold by Attraction Distribution at Cannes and will screen at the Sydney Film Festival in June.

Next up for Yellow is TV series 66 North Precinct, a character-led procedural crime series set in Lapland, the world’s largest police precinct. The series is directed by Teppo Airaksinen and series produced by Larkin.

Haikka said: “In partnership with WME Independent, our new international team will be able to tell engaging, significant stories with bigger budgets and global talent attached. We are excited to expand our connections in both the US and across Europe.”

Gerren Crochet, agent at WME Independent, said: “We had a great experience selling Yellow’s action comedy Supercool and through that formed a great relationship with team Yellow, and were keen to work more closely with them. We are currently packaging projects for the feature film slate and are looking forward to what the future holds with Jackie on board.”