Helsinki, Finland [Pexels/Tapio Haaja]
The report says that the production of the Apple TV+ psychological thriller “Constellation” did not pay off its bills in Finland, with more than a million euros ($1.08 million) in debt remaining unpaid months after filming ended.
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The Apple-commissioned show, tentatively titled Constellation, took place in Lapland in January and February, with a film crew of 200-300 people arriving in Ivalo and Inari for those two months.During this time, the film crew used many services from local entrepreneurs, but, apparently, the small business did not receive adequate compensation.
Constellation is considered one of the most expensive series produced in Europe and the largest TV production in Finland.
According to Helsingin Fanomat, more than one million euros in bills have yet to be paid.In documents seen by the publication, the largest denomination is about 300,000 euros (324,000 US dollars).
The unpaid bills covered expenses ranging from paying actors, food, fuel for transport, and hiring Siberian Huskies, among other things.
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Entrepreneurs have been trying to get money for more than six months by contacting the German branch of the production company Turbine Studios and Apple TV+.
“We funded this million-dollar project with our small business,” said Sirli Yllasjarvi of Aurora Estate Catering Services.“We have just survived the coronavirus, which has dealt a severe blow to the industry.We did everything we were asked to do and more.A big company took advantage of us rudely.How dare they?
In the case of Aurora, there were problems with the pre-agreed number of visitors: doubling the number of dishes unexpectedly required a doubling in the second week.It is claimed that all services in excess of the previously agreed budget have been approved by the German side of the production company, but this has yet to be corrected.
Turbine Studios and Finnish production company Film Service Finland are reported to be arguing with each other over billing responsibilities.Turbine Studios claims that it was aware of open accounts in March and April and began investigating unpaid bills at the time and that the original budget was paid to Film Service Finland.
“We were trying to get information from a local manufacturing service company and companies about how this could have happened,” explains a Turbine spokesperson.“It took a long time to investigate this issue and form some understanding of the use or possible misuse of the budget.At the moment we have no answer as to why the bills have not been paid.”
Film Service Finland believes that Turbine did not recover all production costs.“The manufacturing company incurred significant expenses that were not paid to us and our subcontractors.We fight for it all the time,” said FSF producer Jupe Louhelainen.
Business Finland has provided a production incentive of over 1.5 million euros (1.6 million US dollars) to attract more projects to Finland and expects it to return 25% of the money spent.However, because the production company did not submit a post-project cost and scope report confirming that all costs were paid, the grant remains unpaid.