A drama-free business boost

Harri wanted to boost the prospects of his film production company in Finland and an ESF-backed media training course was just the ticket.
Filmmaker Harri Haanpää is a big fan of training and the knowledge it brings. “I’ve realised that you can never have enough knowledge,” he says. “This is a fast-moving sector and I need to be able to compete with new graduates.’
Originally a cook at sea, Harri first entered the media industry through a film studies course in 1995. Periods in Helsinki and Los Angeles brought great real-life experience, and a Masters in Multimedia and Audiovisual Business Administration equipped him with the business skills he needed to set up his own production company, DreamMill, in 2000.
Many people would have been content with this level of training and experience, but not Harri. When the opportunity to join a practical training course for media entrepreneurs came up, he jumped at the chance to expand his skills and business. “I wanted a more theoretical point of view,” he explains. “It [the course] was about running a business and how to produce.”
The training bought a range of benefits for both Harri and DreamMill. “It was great because I could immediately apply what I was learning and think how it could help my business.”
“I got a lot from the course,” he concludes. “I learned not to reinvent the wheel and to concentrate on keeping things simple.”
Want to find out more? Check out the links below:
About the project
Boosting business (ESF website)