Yellow Film & TV Appoints New CCO

Yellow Film & TV has appointed Jani Hartikainen as its new chief content officer.

Hartikainen will be overseeing Finnish domestic and Nordic content, working out of Yellow’s Helsinki hub and reporting directly to Olli Haikka, CEO. During his time in production, Hartikainen has managed projects such as Estonia, Hautalehto: Kylmä syli, Sunday Lunch and Reindeer Mafia.

Having previously held positions at brands such as Nelonen, Telia and MTV3, Hartikainen was also formerly head of drama and development at MTV Oy. There, he was responsible for securing deals with Warner Bros., 20th Century Studios, NBCUniversal and CBS.

Yellow Film & TV has expanded in other ways as well, recently adding players to its drama team. The studio hired Eveliina Mauno as development producer and promoted Janne Lähteenmäki to junior producer.

Mauno joins from her last appointment where she was a production manager for the HBO documentary series Viisi valittua (The Chosen Five). Her previous short film Hei hei Tornio (Goodbye Tornio) won the Jussi Award for Best Short Film in 2022.

Mauno said: “It’s vital for us to focus on future talent and search for young and interesting creators. It’s a great opportunity to bring fresh, new ideas.”

Lähteenmäki will be reporting to Yellow’s Lotta Westerberg, head of scripted and domestic series. The junior producer is set to join the producing team for the second season of 66 North Precinct, a crime series by Yellow Film & TV.

“I grew up watching Yellow’s productions, and now I am part of creating them,” said Lähteenmäki. “It’s a joy to produce content that is meaningful and inspiring.”

Hartikainen commented: “I’m excited to join Yellow’s next phase and look forward to sharing my experience with our already super successful team, especially with our new young hires.”

“Jani and the other new hires will introduce a fresh perspective to the company,” added Haikka. “By merging the expertise of Yellow’s experienced members of the team with new innovative thinking, we will fortify the company and maintain its strong standing as Finland’s leading studio.”