Wrecking campaign pays for Kaukomaa and Vuorensola

by Annika Pham

30/05/2008 - Blind Spot Pictures producer and CEO Tero Kaukomaa, who was in Cannes on a mission to find co-financiers for his Finnish sci-fi spoof Iron Sky, left with several deals in the pocket.

The film will be co-produced in Germany by Olivier Damian of 27 Films Production (Russian Ark [trailer]) and released in Poland by Kino Świat.

“Since we’re making a film about space Nazis, we’re going to need some really good German talent for the cast,” said director Timo Vuorensola, whose first feature film Star Wreck made history as the most watched Finnish movie ever, with over eight million downloads worldwide. “We’re also planning to shoot the majority of the film in Germany,” he added.

Kaukomaa said he was particularly pleased to have signed with a German partner “who understands the unique nature” of the project. The dark sci-fi comedy, currently in pre-production, will be shot in English for an estimated €3.2m. The script is written by Johanna Sinisalo, Finland’s most famous science fiction writer.

Vuorensola has applied his successful “direct link to Internet user” method to raise awareness on Iron Sky, using his wreck a movie platform to create a film community and exchange ideas on the project. For Kaukomaa, this initiative is the way of the future in terms of promotion and even production. “It’s a way to produce films with the community, to create a real interaction with the audience from day one,” he said.

Another genre film produced by Kaukomaa, Sauna by AJ Annila (Jade Warrior [trailer]), is using the same platform to stir up buzz.

The prolific Kaukomaa is involved in a handful of other, more traditional productions: two major European co-productions currently in post-production (Jan Troell’s Maria Larsson’s Everlasting Moment and Nana Djordjadze’s Rainbowmaker), as well as the Swedish film Rational Solution, starring Pernilla August and Rolf Lassgård, and Heikki Kujanpää’s Finnish film Falling Angels, currently shooting.