The History Of
The  Finellis

The TV Series
The Finellis was originally planned to be a 13-Episode television sitcom. In March 2016, Mark Janicello filmed a proof-of-concept episode of The Finellis . In September of that year, that episode was a featured presentation at the 2016 Berlin Serienale where it was screened out of competition. During the rest of 2016 and early 2017, audience testing was done at various events throughout Europe and the USA, with the series being recast and rewritten. Janicello then completed scripts for the entire first season of the sitcom, while at the same time, finding investors and raising funds.

In January 2019, the sitcom went back into production on location in and around Berlin, Germany with Joris Hermans, a television comedy expert, directing. During the 2020-2021 Awards Season, the completed episodes (Episodes 1, 2, 3) of The Finellis were nominated 64 times at film-, and television festivals worldwide. In total, The Finellis won 22 Awards in 12 different countries. For a complete list of The Finellis Awards and Nominations, click HERE.


The Finellis Movie
After stops, starts and a global pandemic, in the Summer of 2021, a distribution deal was signed with Premiere Digital Services in Hollywood. At Premiere's request, the decision was made to take the existing filmed material from the Sitcom and combine it with a newly-written, connecting storyline and turn all of the existing and newly-filmed material into The Finellis Movie. The movie was co-directed by Joris Hermans and Mark Janicello, and released worldwide in January 2022.