Juuso Syrjä

Juuso Syrjä is an award-winning director hailing from Helsinki, Finland.

He began his career directing music videos and quickly graduated to the commercial world. Juuso has directed over 500 commercials all over the globe for an impressive roster of clients and international brands. Those clients include McDonald’s, Finlandia Vodka, Bacardi, Snickers, Samsung, Nokia, Schweppes, and Adidas. He quickly established himself as the eminent “table-top” commercial director in Scandinavia. His work continued to garner a slew of awards and quickly caught the attention of the narrative world of film and television.

Due to his technical expertise with special FX and animation, Juuso was approached to adapt a beloved series of popular children’s songs into an animated film. Ella & Aleksi was an instant classic and has fallen into the Finnish tradition of holiday films, playing every Christmas day on national television.

Juuso continued to develop his narrative ability and his keen eye stunning visuals by directing a documentary, Cook it Raw, a film about a collection of the world’s greatest chefs, the likes of; Rene Redzepi (Noma, Copenhagen), Alex Atala (D.O.M., Sao Paolo), and David Chang (Momofuku, Ko) foraging, discovering, and executing a world-class banquet against the backdrop of Finland’s arctic circle.

Juuso’s particular style and talent led to his hiring on the critically acclaimed Finnish television series Bordertown, on which he served as series director. The series premiered in Finland 2016 and was presented with three Golden Venla (Finland’s Emmy Awards) for Best Drama, Best Actor, and Best Actress.

When the series premiered in Finland, one-fifth of the country (1.3 million) watched in awe. It’s raw power elevated the format of Nordic Noir. The format sold in over forty countries. Netflix quickly acquired streaming rights for the series to air in the United States, Great Britain, Sweden, Eastern Europe, Russia. Bordertown became the first production hailing from Finland acquired by the streaming giant that is Netflix.

Bordertown was an immediate hit and a second season was quickly ordered. The series was showcased at Cannes MipTV’s first MipDrama Screenings as the only Nordic drama. The series has been nominated for the Banff World Media Festival’s Rockie Awards in the Foreign Language Drama Series category.

2019 Juuso continued working as lead director for the third season of Bordertown.

Juuso’s signature visual style, love of storytelling, his deep technical knowledge, and his particular Scandinavian sense of humor, creates an exciting synchronicity that makes him not only a director on the rise but a profound storyteller that elevates any production he sinks his passion into.