Written by Anne Laurila on Dec 29, 2011. Posted in Production News

South Korean feature Love Fiction doubles north Finland for Alaska

Finland saw its first South Korean feature shoot when romantic comedy Love Fiction shot its last scenes in October in Kuusamo, northern Finland. The film is directed by Gye Soo Jeon and produced by Samgeori Pictures Co Ltd.

Kevin Chang, International Co-ordinator and Local Unit Producer in Kuusamo, visited Kuusamo in 2009 during a seminar run by the North Finland Film Commission. Thanks to the positive image he had of Kuusamo, he decided to see if a possible location for the film could be found in Finland.

Local production services were offered by Janne Niskala from Vaski Filmi: “I did the production services as a whole package, so I had a lot of roles. I was helping all the way from the Location Scout to fixing things during the shoots.

“I also worked as a Location Manager and Assistant Producer. So my role was to fulfil all the needs of the production both on and off the shoots, like negotiating with the Finnish partners about prices and finding the most cost-efficient solutions. Naturally, Vaski Filmi also offered the employer services for the local crew.”

Luckily we managed to get a special effects company to help us at very short notice and we created a winter scene from fake snow.

Janne Niskala, Vaski Filmi

The late arrival of snow this year caused some problems for the shoot, but the collaboration with Kevin and Janne worked very well. Janne comments: “The crew was very professional and there were no major difficulties, besides the snow that was missing from Europe altogether.

“Luckily we managed to get a special effects company to help us at very short notice and we created a winter scene from fake snow. Everything went perfectly and we managed to do the shoot in two days. Working with Kevin is a privilege!”

Love Fiction is scheduled for a release in spring 2012.

(Images courtesy of Janne Niskala/Vaski Filmi)