Mikko Oskari Lehtonen

Father, Director and an overall Enthusiast

WORK

Mikko Oskari Lehtonen / Director reel

A sneak peak to what I've been doing with my life for the last few years.

Click images to watch videos ->

Finnish Goverment / Stronger Together

I'm really happy about how this add came out. I feel like we really nailed the visual side with the anamorphic and kind of old Hollywood style. Seela Sella is a true legend and it was a great honor to work with her. Ernest and I had been working together many times before and he was a great fit for Seela. Together they bring a great balance to the add and this way it speaks out a very wide and versatile audience.

Media : Television / Social media / Digital marketing

Client - Kaimana Agency 2022

Amazon Prime Video / The Bridge

I was amazed when Endemol Shine approached me with the opportunity to direct The Bridge for Prime Video. It was the all time first Nordic original series for Amazon and there for in great importanse to the streamer. The Bridge was a dream come true for me since the format itself was very cinematic and had a really movie-like feel to it. I can honestly say that i'm very proud and pleased on how the show looks, feels and has been received by the audience.

Media : Amazon Prime Video

Client - Endemol Shine Finland 2022

Janssen / Don't Waste Time

Sometimes I just really love to work in the studio. I really had my head pushed far with when working on how to shoot this one. We needed to show the fast passing of time in different scenes while shooting in slow motion. Especially the middle scene was a work of art technically, showing the passing of a whole day from morning to sunset in just 10 seconds and still being slow motion.

Media : Television / Social media / Medical Conventions

Client - Janssen Cilag 2022

MTV3 / Huuma

I really enjoyed the opportunity to work with some of Finlands most talented actors and performers through a variety of different setups. I worked as a performance director for the hosts in the live shows, Directed the shows Intro and commercials and as a cherry on top I got to direct my first mini comedy series Who poisoned Robin Packalen?.

Media : Television / VOD / Social media

Client - ITV Studios Finland 2019

Myllyn Paras / The beginning of all good

The dark moody nights of August. My favourite time of year and a perfect set up for filming. We found some amazing locations near Porvoo where we shot this brand add for Myllyn Paras. I really feel we managed to get a magical and pure feeling to the shots and did a really good job with casting. One of my favourite commercial shoots still this day.

Media : Television / Digital marketing / Social media

Client - Ida Fram 2020

GoGo / That feeling

Set design and costumes were the foundation of this commercial for GoGo. I really love the fact that the performers feel like characters and not just people. The goal was to create a very international and timeless set and that we feel like we really got going on in this one. The brand colors really pop out and the quirky cinematography creates a slight absurdism to the add.

Media : Television / Digital marketing / Social media

Client - Duran Creative 2021

HSY / See you in the next life

Sami Hedberg is propably the most known Finnish stand up comedian so it's no news that we had a blast on the set of this shoot. The classic set up of an angel and a demon trying to persuade you to their will was the starting point of this recycling campaign. Along side of directing it was my job to act Sami's characters back to him when he was playing another role. This campaign really pulled through and had an enormous amount of views in different social medias.

Medias : Cinemas / OOH / Social media / Digital marketing

Client - Merikallio & Son 2020

Who poisoned Robin Packalen?

I love to comedy so this one was a perfect fit for me. The entertainment show Huuma revealed a mystery series called Who Poisoned Robin Packalen?, which I also got to direct.At the time the series was MTV3:s most followed social media content ever and raised over a million views in Youtube and Facebook.The series stars a huge number of TV entertainment's favorite personalities and Finnish actors.

Media : Television / Social media

Client - ITV Studios Finland 2019

Motiva / Down a degree

I had the pleasure of directing this very viral campaigns videos for Motiva. There's a good chance that you can't find a single Finn that wouldn't have come across this campaign in some format. We really wanted to give space for the call-to-action of the campaign which was to get households to save energy in different ways. The videos were made with a slightly humorous touch and had a really easy going flow with minimalistic camera movement and set design.

Media : Television / Social media / OOH / public transport etc.

Client - Kaimana Agency 2022

The Red Cross - Accident Fortuneteller

For a day even I believed that you can perdict the future. The set design of this mystical add was a top notch and Heidi Remes was a great fit for the main role. This add was designed for Finlands national accident day.

Media : Television / Social media

Client - Drum Communications 2021

The Alchemist / Short Film

The Alchemist was made as a part of 48 hour film contest in Finland. Even though the time table was short we really got together a beautiful film that I can 100% stand behind of. I got to work with a set of legendary and rewarded actors and I truly had a blast doing it with no sleep.

Media : Film Contest U48 / Social media

You can find more projects on my vimeo account.


About me

I'm a 33 year old Director, husband and a father of two from Lauttasaari, Helsinki. I've worked in the industry for 10 years now and started my own production company Halla when I was 24-years-old.My roots are deeply in television but the last four years have brought me intensely to the commercial path as well. TV series might take more than six months of intensive work and at the other hand I have projects lasting six days from start to finish. For me the balance of these two suits just perfectly.I'm extremely intuitive and enthusiastic as a person and for me being on set is paradise. Even though I've directed shows for all the major channels in Finland and commercials to very established brands I always enjoy directing even in the very small projects. Being versatile is what I enjoy.Storytelling and a comprehensive understanding of all stages of production are my greatest strengths. I also love to play with dialogue. My previous background as a cinematographer and an editor creates a great foundation for utilizing rhythm and visuals. I've also worked and studied as a producer so I know my way around budgets.If you reach out I promise not to bite but be advised that my slightly bad humor and numerous dad jokes come along side with me where ever I go.

mikko@hallatuotanto.fi
040 541 41 38