Offer Your film to us
Yle is interested in acquiring broadcast and transmission rights to feature-length films, short films, documentary films and cinematic documentary series created by Finnish production companies. Most of the purchases made by Yle are made on a prebuy basis, where Yle serves as one of the funders of the production.
Yle Drama's film team, which operates under Yle’s Creative Content and Media unit, is in charge of Yle’s domestic film commissions. Yle’s films are shown on its channels and in Yle Areena.
The starting points for Yle’s film commissions: versatility and relevance
According to Yle's strategy: “The mission of public service is to serve everyone. Yle is available to all, but each individual experiences it differently.”
Our goal is to offer a selection of films that speak to a wide range of Finns and tell stories from a variety of Finnish perspectives. We believe that our viewers want to see meaningful films that can provide them with experiences and insight.
Relevance: Films impart essential, fresh and meaningful perspectives on the human condition and the world with the types of experiences and insights that only films can provide. Films create common ground for sharing and discussing our individual experiences
Insight: Films enrich our life experiences, feed our curiosity, provide surprising perspectives on familiar issues – or familiar perspectives on surprising issues. Films help us gain new insight and understanding of the diversity that is inherent to the world and to us as individuals.
Experiences: Films touch us at an intellectual and emotional level. Films provide unique and original experiences that are based on each author’s unique view, the stories they wish to share, and their ability to utilise the cinematic form.
Our process for evaluating prospective film projects emphasises the following factors:
the relevance of the film's content
Yle’s programming needs
the creators’ professional credentials and resources for implementing the project.
Yle's objective is that the gender equality standards are met in a long-term perspective when it comes to creative demographics. We believe in diversity and in providing equal opportunities when it comes to determining whose films are made, whose stories are told, and what types of films are made available to our audiences.
Film team commissioning editors
Elina Pohjola, team leader, commissioner, feature-length fiction films (children's films and international co-productions with a Finnish co-producer), elina.pohjola@yle.fi
Piia Nokelainen, commissioning editor, feature-length fiction films (excluding children's films and international co-productions with a Finnish co-producer), piia.nokelainen@yle.fi
Sari Volanen, commissioning editor, short films (fiction and documentaries), sari.volanen@yle.fi
Erkko Lyytinen, commissioning editor, documentary films (feature-length and series), erkko.lyytinen@yle.fi
Mikko Peltonen, commissioning editor, documentary films (feature-length and series), mikko.peltonen@yle.fi
Laura Lappalainen, the team’s dramaturge, is particularly involved in the evaluation of fiction projects.
For preliminary discussion: Submit presentation
Production companies may present their film projects to the Yle commissioning editor/commissioner of their choice even during the development phase of their project.
To submit your presentation, use Yle’s online form. Provide the basic details of your film and the necessary attachments. One presentation of the film is sufficient.
If the Yle commissioning editor wishes to know more about the project, he/she will invite the producer and creative team to discuss their plans, and may also provide feedback on the project. If the Yle commissioning editor decides to reject the project, another commissioning editor will also evaluate the project (with the exception of short films, which are the responsibility of one commissioning editor). If Yle is not interested in continuing the discussion, we will justify the decision to the producer. The team's target response time is within 5 weeks of a presentation.
For decision: Submit offer
When a production company wishes to know the decision on whether Yle will agree to pre-buy the film, the actual offer must be submitted using Yle’s online form. Please provide the basic details of your film and all the necessary attachments. Making an offer for the pre-buy is possible without any preliminary project presentation.
Feature-length fiction films:
we recommend to submit your offer by the August of the year preceding the year of production
Yle will aim to confirm the decision of the pre-buy by the beginning of October.
Documentary films and short films:
offers can be submitted all year round
Yle will aim to confirm the decision of the pre-buy within 5 weeks of receiving submission of the offer.
If the Yle commissioning editor decides to reject the project, another commissioning editor will also evaluate the project (this also applies to short films during the offer phase). If Yle is not interested in continuing the discussion, the decision will be justified to the producer.
Ville Vilén, Director of Creative Content and Media, is ultimately responsible for all programming commissions. Submitting a positive proposal for a decision to the Director requires that Yle has negotiated the terms of the contract with the production company, which are recorded in a joint "deal memo".
The agreement on the acquisition of a film can be signed once the entire funding of the film and other matters stipulated in the agreement have been met. Before signing the contract, the following items, among others, will be discussed with the production company: Ethical Guidelines for the Production of Programmes and Content and Responsibility commitment for content procurement.
The contents and production of a film can be discussed throughout the process, and even after the final decision and during the film's editing phase.
All publication and programming decisions are made by Yle’s media department, together with the film team.
If you wish to offer the rights to a finished film
If you wish to offer Yle the rights to finished domestic short, documentary or feature-length film, use the form of the finished programme.