Mobile 101

Mobile 101 (original title: Made in Finland) is a Finnish drama series chronicling the rise of Nokia to one of the largest mobile phone manufacturers in the world. It first aired in 2022 on C More Finland. The series focuses on the years 1988–1990 when the company was creating its first GSM phone, the Nokia 101.[1][2]

Mobile 101
Made in Finland
GenreDrama
Created byMaarit Lalli
Directed byMaarit Lalli
Starring
  • Satu Tuuli Karhu
  • Emil Kihlström
  • Aku Sipola
  • Oona Airola
  • Sampo Sarkola
ComposerKepa Lehtinen
Country of originFinland
Original languagesFinnish, English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producers
  • Minna Haapkylä
  • Olli Suominen
  • Petri Kemppinen (Aurora Studios)
  • Ari Tolppanen (Aurora Studios)
  • Jani Hartikainen (C More & MTV3)
ProducerTiina Pesonen
Running time50 minutes
Production companies
Release
Original networkC More
MTV3 Finland
Original releaseApril 14 (2022-04-14) –
May 12, 2022 (2022-05-12)

Historical background
Main article: History of Nokia § Global system for mobile communications (2G)

The series is set in 1988–1990 which was a turning point in Nokia's history.[2] The company's first mobile phone, the Mobira Cityman, came out in 1987.[3] The following year, Motorola sued Nokia for patent infringements[4] and the company's CEO Kairamo committed suicide[2] due to mental illness, leaving the company in difficult situation.[5]

Overview
Nokia 101

The series stars lawyers and engineers working at Nokia, as well as future CEO Jorma Ollila, played by Sampo Sarkola, who is at the time an up-and-comer in the company. His predecessor, CEO Kari Kairamo is played by Kristo Salminen.[2]

Newly graduated lawyers, Katarina Tammi (Satu-Tuuli Karhu) and Aki Makkonen (Emil Kihlström), are hired by Nokia. Aki suffers from panic attacks. They will have to defend Nokia in a lawsuit in the United States against Motorola for patent infringement.[2][6]

Meanwhile, a talented and introverted engineer from Oulu, Risto Salminen (Aku Sipola), is developing the world's smallest NMT phone on his own time and partly in secret, with the support of his wife and colleague Vuokko Salminen (Oona Airola).[2][6] Their mutual efforts result in the Nokia 101.[1]

Cast and characters

Main
  • Satu Tuuli Karhu as Katarina Tammi
  • Emil Kihlström as Aki Makkonen
  • Sampo Sarkola as Jorma Ollila
  • Aku Sipola as Risto Salminen

Recurring

Production

Script

Series creator Maarit Lalli became interested in how Nokia's success came about and its impact on the city of Salo. She decided to make a film on the subject in 2013 after hearing that Microsoft had bought Nokia's mobile phone operations. In 2018, producer Minna Haapkylä from Rabbit Films got excited about Lalli’s concept, and the two expanded the idea to a television series. Lassi Vierikko, Jyrki Väisänen and others worked with Lalli on the script[2] as well as Lalli's son Henrik Mäki-Tanila.[6]

The events in the series are based on real events, except for the characters' private lives. During the scriptwriting process, she interviewed countless prior and current Nokia employees.[7]

There are currently plans in motion for a second and third season.[6]

Funding

Mobile 101 is produced by Aurora Studios[8] and Rabbit Films, which also distributes the series internationally. The series received significant support during the scripting phase from MTV3 Finland , whose investment in the script was the largest ever.[9]

Filming

The filming of the series began in Oulu, in April 2021. Filming continued in various locations around Finland, such as Helsinki, Turku and Salo until the end of the year.[1] Many of the locations were the actual locations used by Nokia at the time. Filming also continued in Munich, Germany.[6]

The series was filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which created some challenges. For example, all group scenes had to be limited to 15 people.[6]

Sampo Sarkola and Aku Sipola described Lalli's directorial style as almost anarchistic. Satu-Tuuli Karhu and Emil Kihlström said that Lalli had given a lot of room for the actors’ interpretation.[6]

A minidocumentary about the making of the series called “The Making of Made in Finland” has also been released.[10]

Broadcast

The first two episodes were released on the C More VOD platform on April 14, 2022, after which one episode was released each week.[11] C More also premiered the series in other Nordic countries in May 2022.[9]

Episodes
Number Title Original release date
1 Leadership in Crisis 14 April 2022
2 Infringement
3 H 300 21 April 2022
4 Midsummer Magic 28 April 2022
5 Washington D.C. 5 May 2022
6 Nokia Mobile Phones 12 May 2022

References
  1. "Made in Finland -sarjan kuvaukset alkavat ensi viikolla - tässä ovat uuden C More -alkuperäissarjan tähdet!". MTV. 2021-04-07. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  2. "Nokian menestyksestä tehdään tv-sarja, joka alkaa dramaattisista tapahtumista – Ohjaaja Maarit Lalli haastatteli firman ammattilaisia siivoojista insinööreihin". Helsingin Sanomat. 2021-04-07. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  3. Taloussanomat (2014-03-15). "Kännykkäkauppoja tehty jo 30 vuotta – Nokia tuli perässä". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  4. Ap (1989-11-14). "Motorola Settles Lawsuits". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  5. "POIMITTUA | Sairaus oli syynä Kairamon itsemurhaan". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2001-11-23. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  6. "Upwardly Mobile". Drama Quarterly. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  7. "TV-rooli vietiin nenän edestä" (33/2021). Aller. 2021-08-06: 6–7. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. Niemelä, Armi. "Made in Finland rouhii Nokian vaiheita Kairamon kuoleman jälkeen – Minisarja toimisi ehkä paremmin elokuvana". Arvopaperi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  9. Elsa Keslassy, Elsa Keslassy (2021-11-29). "Nokia Origin Story Chronicled in Series 'Mobile 101': Inside the Making of a Finnish Tech Thriller (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  10. "Making of Made in Finland". Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  11. "C Moren huhtikuun kärjet: Alkuperäisuutuus Made in Finland, ruotsalaissarjat Hamilton ja LIKEA, tositapahtumiin pohjaava Joe vs Carole, trilleri Blackout, reality-sarja Paris in Love ja urheilussa pudotuspelikevät käy kuumana". MTV. 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
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