Baltic TV Shows – and Locations – Are on the Rise: ‘Our Appetite Is Growing’

variety.com:

Marta Balaga The Baltic States — Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania — are ready for a boom in local TV productions, and international partners are invited. “It’s an intriguing environment — contemporary and innovative, but we carry tons of Soviet heritage,” says Toomas Ili, head of content at Elisa Estonia. “Our scenery and architecture has yet to be seen by the world, so Hollywood productions are looking into the Baltics.

Then there’s our ability to do more with less.” His latest show, the Ukrainian-Estonian drama “My Dear Mother,” about a woman forced to deal with her mother’s tragic death, will premiere at Berlinale Series Market Selects. “I was asked which series it resembles.

The answer is none,” he says. “Writer Raoul Suvi has delicately stitched together all the elements as the story unravels, keeping the viewer — and the characters — in the dark until the end.” When Elisa Estonia started producing dramas six years ago, Estonian series were “in a really bad shape,” he observes, due to “extremely low budgets and nonexistent production value.

Now, our appetite is growing. We’re looking outside to find like-minded production partners.” In Estonia, all eyes have been on the period crime drama “Von Fock,” the first local show to be co-produced “at a high scale” with Italy, Latvia and Germany, points out director Arun Tamm. “In our region, it seems like a unicorn,” says Tamm, crediting producers Toomas Luhats, Jevgeni Supin and Helen Lõhmus with instilling the series with ambition. “The hope is that it paves the way for other projects with international potential, showcases local talent and encourages filmmakers to think big.