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“When capital grows, do the middle and working classes inevitably have to grow poorer?” asks Salla Nurminen, a smart economics student delivering her PhD dissertation on the need to control money markets.

Two years later, having gotten a job with Finland’s Bank Inspectorate, which investigates financial skullduggery, she returns to her native town, Pello, in northern Finland, brought to its knees by a Finland’s 1991-93 banking crisis, she is spat upon in the street.

How did Finland get to this pretty pass? A Finnish “Margin Call” but spread out over six episodes and two years, the Fremantle-distributed “The Invincibles” asks why, providing a beginners guide to banking malpractice, such as “cornering” – when a bank seizes control of a company via a cohort of straw parties, offering control back to its original owner at a higher price.

Co-written with Mikko Reitala (“Blind Donna”), “The Invincibles” also exposes money market mechanisms which,...

ITV Studios, Fremantle and Federation Studios, partnering with Apple Tree Productions, Elisa Viihde and TV 2 Norge, will go head to head with Nordic powerhouses Glassriver and Dr at next year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize which promises to underscore the large breadth of current Scandinavia scripted series.

Backed by the Göteborg Film Festival and Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the 7th edition of the Prize, awarded to series’ main writers, also looks set to shine a spotlight on high-profile and on-the-rise writing talent such as Icelandic thesp Anita Briem, who played Jean Seymour in “The Tudors,” and Finnish creator-director Matti Kinnunen, whose “Cargo” was reckoned one of the strongest contenders at the 2021 Prize.

Carrying a €20,000 cash endowment, the Prize will be presented on Feb. 1 to the winning series’ main writer at TV Drama Vision, the Göteborg Film Festival’s conference event and series market.

“Today there is a...

Leading Finnish streamer Elisa Viihde Viaplay has ordered financial thriller “The Invincibles” from “Cargo” creator Matti Kinnunen. The series is produced by “Black Widows”’ Moskito TV. Director and head-writer Kinnunen will co-pen the show with Mikko Reitala (“Blind Donna”).

Currently in development, the eight-part TV show is set in the turbulent Finnish banking crisis of the early 1990s. The smart and idealistic 28-year-old Salla Nurminen gets a job at the Bank Inspectorate and vows to fight corrupt bankers. Her core assignment is to check on Skopbank, which has masterminded a “strike and cash in” speculation technique. Salla soon launches a cat-and-mouse game with Skop’s charismatic financial wiz Christopher Wegelius. When she discovers that Skopbank is hiding vast sums of money in the Cayman Islands tax haven, the battle gives way to a new, mutual enemy.

Kinnunen said “The Invincibles” will be a character-driven drama, inspired by real events. The...

Box office blockbusters such as “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians” and small screen series including “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “One Day at a Time” and “This Is Us” are among the finalists for the 44th annual Humanitas Prize, Humanitas executive director Cathleen Young and president Ali LeRoi announced Tuesday.

“It’s always an honor and a privilege to lift up writers who are passionate about telling stories that entertain us, but also deeply explore what it means to be a human in a way that promotes peace and love,” Young said.

A total of 58 writers are nominated for their work in the 30-minute comedy, 60-minute drama, children’s teleplay, independent feature film, drama feature film, comedy feature film, family feature film and documentary categories. The prize was created to celebrate writers “whose work inspires compassion, hope, and understanding in the human family.”

“Humanitas enjoyed an embarrassment of riches this year,...

Disney/Marvel’s blockbuster Black Panther and NBC’s This Is Us are among the nominees for the 44th annual Humanitas Prize. Winners will be revealed in a ceremony February 8 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

The prize was created to honor film and TV writers whose work inspires compassion, hope, and understanding in the human family.

The February ceremony will also also honor Marta Kauffman with The Kieser Award and Kenya Barris

with the Voice For Change Award.

Here are the nominees:

60-minute Drama

God Friended Me, “Pilot” Written by Steven Lilien & Bryan Wynbrandt

Orange Is The New Black, “Be Free” Written by Brian Chamberlayne

The Good Doctor, “More” Written by David Shore and Lloyd Gilyard Jr.

This Is Us, “This Big, Amazing, Beautiful Life” Written by Kay Oyegun

30-minute Comedy

Dear White People, “Volume 2: Chapter VIII” Written by Jack Moore

One Day At A Time, “Hello, Penelope” Written...