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Media Resources Management. 22 Zakrevsky St., Kiev 02660, Ukraine Media Resources Management, ул. Закревского, 22, Киев, 02660, Украина Mediawww.mrm.ua Resources Tel.: Management. +380 (44) 459-4610; 22 Zakrevsky e-mail: St., [email protected] 02660, Ukraine 11 Тwww.mrm.uaел.: + 380 44 Tel.: 459 +380-4610 (44) Фак 459-4610;с: + 380 44 e-mail: 459-4611 [email protected] [email protected] www.mrm.ua production production production №21, December 2014

series You Will Be Mine!

Ukrainian prodco 1+1 Production has commenced shooting of Producer: Elena Vasylieva. 1+1 Production 4-episode romance You Will Be Mine! The series premiere is Director: Aleksandr Tymenko. set on 1+1 TV channel in 2015. Script: Yaroslava Segal. Cast: Stanislav Boklan, Valeriya Synopsis: A classical love triangle story. One woman and two Khodos, Elena Stephanskaya, men: one rich, but icicle, and another poor, but loving. Whom to Aleksandra Popova. choose? Number of episodes: 4. Genre: Romance.

series KGB Vs. MVD

Russian production centre Gorad started filming multi-episode Producers: Ekaterina Gordets- GORAD historical detective KGB Vs. MVD. The project is commissioned kaya, Andrey Rad’ko. by Russian Channel One. The series is produced by Movie Pro Director: Ilya Kazankov. company. Shooting takes place in Ivanteevka. Script: Renat Khairullin, Yury Stu- kalin. Synopsis: In the 1970-80s wave of corruption sweeps across Cast: Karina Razumovskaya, Kyrill the USSR. The most powerful politicians are involved, so KGB Zaporozhskyi, Oksana Akinshina, becomes the only one government service which can stop this. Sergey Gorobchenko, Sergey Bu- runov, Sergey Barkovskyi. Genre: Detective.

series Russia Bar

Ukrainian TV channel ICTV started working on new sitcom Rus- Producer: Andrey Partyka. ICTV sia Bar, an adaptation of the US TV series Cheers aired on NBC Director: Dmitry Surjikov. from 1982 (11 seasons in total). The project is currently in pre- Cast: Andrey Djedjula. production period. Its premiere is planned for fall 2015. Format: Cheers. Genre: Sitcom. Synopsis: The show is set in a bar. Main characters are: a former football player Vlad who works as a bartender, and a barmaid Marta, postgraduate of Literature faculty, who seems to know nothing about the real life.

series Law and Order Avengers

Russian production centre Ivan wrapped up shooting on 4-epi- Director: Anastasia Popova. Ivan sode romance detective Law and Order Avengers commis- Script: Anastasia Demidova, Alek- sioned by Russia-1 channel. Filming started in August and took sey Demidov. place in Yaroslavl. The series premiere is set for 2015. Cast: Vera Voronkova, Aleksandr Ivashkevich, Andrey Zavodyuk, Synopsis: Having once revealed the fraud Margarita and Georgy Aleksandr Naumov. decide to re-establish justice everywhere they can. They have no Number of episodes: 4. money, no supernatural powers. But they are kind, concerned, Genre: Detective. intelligent and full of ideas how to fight with the criminals without breaking the law.

Media Resources Management. 22 Zakrevsky St., Kiev 02660, Ukraine 2 www.mrm.ua Tel.: +380 (44) 459-4610; e-mail: [email protected] production production production №21, December 2014

series The Black Pea Jackets

Russian prodco Lunapark started shooting 4-episode war dra- Director: Vitaly Vorobiov. Lunapark ma The Black Pea Jackets. The project is commissioned by Number of episodes: 4. Russian Channel One. Filming takes place in Crimea. Series Genre: War drama. premiere is set for May 2015.

Synopsis: It is the story of Soviet marines fighting Nazi in the re- gion of the Kola Peninsula.

series Attention, Moscow Is Speaking!

Russian film company Mars Media Entertainment is working Producers: Ruben Dishdishyan, Mars on 8-episode period-biographic drama Attention, Moscow Is Aram Movsesyan. Media Entertainment Speaking!. The project is currently in pre-production now. Prin- Director: Aleko Tsabadze. cipal photography is scheduled to start in early 2015. Script: Sergey Yudakov, Aleksey Gravitsky. Synopsis: This is the story of a Soviet radio announcer Yuriy Levi- Cast: Konstantin Khabensky. tan, famous for his wartime reports of the battles on Radio Mos- Number of episodes: 8. cow, which usually began with “Attention, Moscow is speaking!”. Genre: Historical drama, biopic. His voice announced battlefield victories, air raid warnings, and the surrender of Germany to the Soviets on May 9, 1945. He also announced the first public acknowledgment of Stalin’s death, and the first manned space flight.

series The National Guard

Ukrainian filmmaker Alexey Shaparev started shooting 12-epi- Director: Alexey Shaparev. President Film Ukraine sode drama The National Guard commissioned by 2+2 chan- Script: Nikolay Rybalka. nel. The series is coproduced by President Film Ukraine prod- Cast: Alexey Gorbunov. co and 2+2 TV channel. The project will be aired in Ukraine and Number of episodes: 12. Poland. Genre: Drama.

Synopsis: Everything began with the 2013-2014 Maidan, when the drama heroes – the Berkut special forces’ men and the revo- lutionaries – ended up on opposite sides of the barricades. How- ever, when the spring came the former opponents were enlisted into the National Guard. Alexey Shaparev

series Shards of Happiness

Russian film company PRIOR Production started filming 4-epi- Producer: Rodion Pavluchik. PRIOR Production sode romance Shards of Happiness. Shooting takes place in Director: Aleksey Prazdnikov. Saint Petersburg. Script: Ekaterina Latanova, Bella Pribylova. Synopsis: Happy family, four charming children, love, peace and Number of episodes: 4. harmony…And everything ruined in a flash, when wife dies in a Genre: Romance. car accident. Her husband does not realize how to live further, but he cannot lose heart as there is no one else to take care of children.

Media Resources Management. 22 Zakrevsky St., Kiev 02660, Ukraine 3 www.mrm.ua Tel.: +380 (44) 459-4610; e-mail: [email protected] production production production №21, December 2014

series A Dog

Ukrainian film company PRO-TV is working on 28-episodes de- Producer: Artem Prikhod’ko. PRO-TV tective A Dog commissioned by ICTV channel. The series pre- Director: Nikolay Kaptan. miere is planned for spring 2015. Cast: Nikita Panfilov, Olga Oleksiy, Andrey Saminin. Synopsis: Once Maksim was one of the best police investiga- Number of episodes: 28. tors in the city. But then he lost his grip, left the service and tried Genre: Detective. to work alone. Until he saves a dog, an aggressive canine, who suddenly becomes his best friend and a partner. There is no case they cannot solve together!

Nikita Panfilov series The Closer

Russian-Ukrainian production company Star Media wrapped up Producers: Darya Lavrova, Vlad Star Media shooting on 16-episode detective The Closer, a local adapta- Ryashin. tion of the US TV series, aired on TNT in 2005-2012. The project Director: Dmitry Brusnikin. is commissioned by Russian Channel One. Currently the series Script: Vladimir Arkusha, Denis is in post-production period. Filming took place in Gelendzhik. Chervyakov, Sergey Stepanov. Cast: Anna Banshchikova, An- Synopsis: Lieutenant Colonel Aleksandra Kushnir is transferred drey Kazakov, Dmitry Kulichkov, from an office in the city to a modest office in a seaside town, Vladislav Pavlov, Vladimir Niko- where she heads up the crime investigation branch for Internal laenko, Eduard Chekmazov, Alek- Affairs. Initially, the male officers are wary of their new female sandr Makogon, Denis Burgazliev. boss, however, Kushnir is good at her job, and after she suc- Number of episodes: 16. cessfully solves a number of serious crimes, she quickly wins the Format: The Closer. respect of her new colleagues. Genre: Detective.

series Cossacks

Russian-Ukrainian production company Star Media is working Producers: Darya Lavrova, Vlad Star Media on 16-episode adventure detective Cossacks. Filming takes Ryashin. place in Gelendzhik. The series premiere is set for 2015. Director: Stanislav Mareev. Cast: Evgeniy Sidikhin, Polina Si- Synopsis: Police major Yegor Daurskiy goes to a remote Cossack dikhina, Oleg Morozov, Vladislav village in the Krasnodar region to privately investigate the double Dyomin. murder of his friend, a police colonel, and his wife. There he has Number of episodes: 16. to deal with a local criminal gang under the command of crime Genre: Detective. boss Suvorov. He also meets the local Cossacks and their chief, Peter Lazarev, who are doing everything to resist the lawlessness of local authorities and the criminal mayhem. Daurskiy succeeds in solving his friend’s murder and bringing the guilty to justice. Upon closing the case he goes back to Moscow and requests a transfer to the Cossack village. Together with the Cossacks he Vlad Ryashin hopes to free the town from Suvorov and his gang.

series To Knockout Hitler

Russian film company Talan wrapped up shooting of 4-epi- Producers: Natalya Budkina, An- Talan sodes spy detective To Knockout Hitler (Russian: Apperkot drey Antonov. dlya Gitlera). The project is commissioned by Russia-1 channel. Director: Denis Neymand. Filming took place in Saint Petersburg. Script: Viktor Volkov. Cast: Anton Momot, Andrey Levin, Polina Tolstun, Sergey Barkovsky.

Media Resources Management. 22 Zakrevsky St., Kiev 02660, Ukraine 4 www.mrm.ua Tel.: +380 (44) 459-4610; e-mail: [email protected] production production production №21, December 2014

Synopsis: USSR government sends Igor Myklashevsky, a very Number of episodes: 4. good boxer, on the territory of Nazi Germany. Pretending a de- Genre: Detective. serter he becomes a personal ‘gladiator’ of Standartenführer Valter Schloss. Each victory on the ring makes him one step closer to the #1 target – Adolf Hitler.

series The Ultimatum

Russian film company Triiks Media started shooting multi-ep- Producers: Inessa Yurchenko, Triiks Media isode criminal drama The Ultimatum. The project is commis- Sergey Shcheglov. sioned by Russian NTV channel. Director: Igor Draka. Script: Anna Ulaeva, Eugeniy Ku- Synopsis: Sergey Yarokhin is a homicide senior investigator. One karin. of the special-forces raids gives Yarokhin an opportunity to put Cast: Mikhail Tarabukin, Vera gang leader called Bull behind bars. But it appears that it is not Bakhankova. that simple to detain him there… Genre: Criminal drama.

series Run For Your Life!

Russian film company Triiks Media is working on 4-episode Producers: Inessa Yurchenko, Triiks Media criminal drama Run For Your Life!. The series is commissioned Sergey Shcheglov. by NTV channel. Filming takes place in Crimea with premiere set Director: Aleksandr Yakimchuk. for 2015. Script: Andrey Tumarkin. Cast: Aleksandr Fisenko, Evgeniy Synopsis: 2013. Ukraine. Navy sailor Maksim Fadeev receives Bakalov, Sergey Nikonenko, Kyrill the letter informing his grandfather is dead. So he goes to the Polukhin, Egor Barinov. grandfather’s house in Crimea, and finds out that there is a pow- Genre: Criminal drama. erful criminal gang financed by mogul Yury Gadzhalo. Maksim decides to throw his weight behind local community and fight back against the mobs. Inessa Yurchenko

series A Father to Grow Into

Russian group of companies Yellow, Black and White is work- Producers: Vyacheslav Murugov, Yellow, Black and White ing on new comedy series A Father to Grow Into, a local adap- Eduard Iloyan, Vitaly Shlyappo, tation of Baby Daddy sitcom which airs on ABC Family. Shooting Aleksey Trotsyuk, Denis Zhalin- takes place in Moscow. The project production is commissioned skyi. by CTC channel. Director: Radda Novikova. Cast: Yefim Petrunin, Aslan Bi- Synopsis: The series follows 25 years old Slava, who gets the zhoev, Artem Loshchilin, Yana surprise of his life when a one night stand leaves his baby at his Gur’yanova, Olga Tumaikina. doorstep. Slava decides to raise his little girl with the help of his Genre: Comedy. brother Boris and his close friend Timur. Vyacheslav Murugov

series A New House

Russian group of companies Yellow, Black and White started Producers: Aleksey Trotsyuk, Edu- Yellow, Black and White shooting ne comedy series A New House (Russian: Stroyka). ard Iloyan, Vitaly Shlyappo. The project is commissioned by Russian NTV channel. Filming Director: Roman Samgin. takes place in Moscow. Cast: Arten Grigoryev, Iryna Taran- nik, Mikhail Policeymako, Valery Synopsis: Maksim and Katya have been living together for 10 Garkalin, Ekaterina Vasylyeva, years. They have a son, a good spacious apartment and a car. Aleksey Maklakov. Everything seems to be perfect. Until they decide to build their Genre: Comedy. own house…

Media Resources Management. 22 Zakrevsky St., Kiev 02660, Ukraine 5 www.mrm.ua Tel.: +380 (44) 459-4610; e-mail: [email protected] production production production №21, December 2014

TV Movies Bad Neighbour Russian-Ukrainian production company Star Media wrapped Star Media Producers: Larisa Zhuravskaya, up shooting on TV comedy romance Bad Neighbour. The pro- Vlad Ryashin. ject is currently in post-production. Filming took place in Kyiv. Director: Roman Barabash. The movie premiere is set for 2015. Script: Elena Isaeva, Olga Mikhay- lova. Synopsis: 23-years-old Katya, a make-up artist from a small Cast: Anastasia Zadorozhnaya, provincial theatre, comes to a big city. She has a dream and be- Ilya Iosifov, Ada Rogovtseva, Vale- lieves it will come true! Of course, it will! It can’t be otherwise! ria Khodos, Zhanna Epple, Sergey But it appears that she has one big problem… Kalantay, Taisiya Shipilova. Genre: Comedy.

TV Movies Of Personal Interest Russian-Ukrainian production company Star Media is working Star Media Producers: Galina Hrapko, Vlad on TV detective romance Of Personal Interest. Filming takes Ryashin. place in Kyiv. The movie premiere is planned for 2015. Director: Anatoliy Grigorev. Script: Alla Zagorodnyaya. Synopsis: Tatyana escapes from the prison and tries to hide Cast: Galina Bezruk, Kirill Zhan- in a remote village Pavlovka, in her late grandmother’s house. darov, Aleksey Nagrudnyy, Viktor There she meets Maksim and falls in love with him. But sudden- Kuznecov, Irma Vitovskaya, Valeri ly Tatyana finds out that her fiancé Oleg is looking for her and Bassel. decides to tell Maksim the truth. The problem is that Maksim is Genre: Detective romance. not the person he claims to be…

Vlad Ryashin TV Movies Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Ukraine TV channel is working on New Year’s musical film Al- Director: Maksim Papernik. Ukraine ice’s Adventures in Wonderland, an adaptation of a novel of Genre: Musical. the same name by Lewis Carroll. Filming took place in Kyiv. The movie premiere is set on December 31.

Synopsis: It will not be the classical story, but rather a new one with the well-known characters and new storylines.

Media Resources Management. 22 Zakrevsky St., Kiev 02660, Ukraine 6 www.mrm.ua Tel.: +380 (44) 459-4610; e-mail: [email protected] production production production №21, December 2014

TV Shows The Voice Kids. 2 Russian Channel One is preparing the second season of the vo- Format: The Voice Kids. cal talent show The Voice Kids. It is the local adaptation of the Channel One Hosts: Anastasia Chevazhevs- Netherlands-based Talpa format The Voice Kids. The project is kaya, Dmitriy Nagiev. produced by Red Square company.

Three judges/coaches, all noteworthy recording artists, choose teams of 15 contestants (children 7-14 years of age) through a blind audition process. Each judge has the length of the con- testant’s performance (about one minute) to decide if he or she wants that singer on his or her team. Later, week by week chil- dren compete in battle rounds and live performances, and the viewers decide who is the weakest by sending SMS. There will be only one winner.

TV Shows The Illusion Empire: Safronov Brothers

Russian broadcaster СТС is working on new magician TV show Host: Aleksey Chumakov. СТС The Illusion Empire: Safronov Brothers. Russian company Nautilus Media is responsible for the show production.

This project unites the magicians working in different genres from all over the country. Teleportation, levitation, ceiling and walls walking and many other things. But what is the most im- portant – Safronov brothers (world known Russian illusionists) will finally compete against each other!

TV Shows The Biggest Loser Russian broadcaster СТС is preparing a new reality show The Format: The Biggest Loser. Biggest Loser, a local adaptation of TV format distributed by СТС Host: Yuliya Kovalchuk. UK-based Shine International. The project is produced by WeiT Media company. Show premiere is set for spring 2015.

The show centres on eight overweight contestants attempting to lose the most weight to become the Biggest Loser and win a cash prize. Yuliya Kovalchuk TV Shows Beauty Queen

Russian Domashniy TV channel is working on new factual TV Host: Oksana Fyodorova. Domashniy show Beauty Queen. The project premiere is set for the begin- ning of 2015.

In each episode, two contestants – ordinary TV viewers who think they do really can dress with elegance – go shopping. They have three hours to buy the evening, casual and theme dress, but one is given a card with unlimited sum of money, and the other – only 6 000 rubles (approx. $100). Jury decide upon who made the best choice and the winner gets all he bought for free.

Media Resources Management. 22 Zakrevsky St., Kiev 02660, Ukraine 7 www.mrm.ua Tel.: +380 (44) 459-4610; e-mail: [email protected] production production production №21, December 2014

TV Shows The Apprentice

Ukrainian commercial broadcaster ICTV is preparing new reality Format: The Apprentice. ICTV show The Apprentice – a local adaptation of the UK-based Fre- mantleMedia format of the same name. The show is produced by Friends Production and will premiere in fall 2015.

16 contestants from all Ukraine try to become the protégé of the famous businessman and get the top-management job in his/ her company for at least one year term.

TV Shows The Bachelor 5

Ukrainian STB channel is working on the fifth season of reality Format: The Bachelor. STB dating show The Bachelor, a local version of the format of the same name distributed by Warner Bros. International Televi- sion. The project premiere is planned for spring 2015.

The series revolves around a single bachelor who starts with a pool of romantic interests (25 women) from whom the bachelor is expected to select a wife. During the course of the season, the bachelor eliminates candidates with proposing marriage to his final selection. This time the bachelor is Sergey Mel’nik, the football player.

TV Shows Sing Like A Star

Ukraine TV channel is working on new vocal talent show Sing Format: Keep Your Light Shining. Ukraine Like A Star, an adaptation of Keep Your Light Shining format from Turkey-based Global Agency. Produced by Friends Pro- duction the show is planned to premiere in 2015.

Every episode, 7 contestants take to a circular stage in darkness and prepare to sing a song in turns. With less than 30 seconds to sing in the spotlight, they have to give it everything before the light moves onto the next performer. At the end of the song, the audience votes and the 4 lowest ranking contestants are up for elimination. However, a jury of 3 celebrity singers can each choose to protect 1 singer and place them in a safe zone. The remaining contestants start with a new song, and one leaves after every round. The competition continues until the last two must face-off in a duet. The main prize is 100 000 hryvnias (ap- prox. $7000).

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feature films Racketeer 2. The Revenge Kazakh filmmaker Akhan Satayev is working on new feature Director: Akhan Satayev. Akhan drama Racketeer 2. The Revenge, the sequel to his previous Cast: Sayat Isembayev, Zhan Satayev Project film The Racketeer. The project is currently in post-production. Baizhanbayev, Asel Sagatova, Shooting took place in Karaganda, Astana, Almaty and Shym- Farkhad Abdraimov, Aruzhan kent. Film release is planned for March 2015. Dzhazilbekova, Maksim Akbarov, Azamat Satibaldi, Ayan Utepber- Synopsis: The main character of the first film – Sayat – was seri- gen, Dasten Shakirov. ously injured and left to die, but now he is back. Back to take the Genre: Criminal drama. revenge and punish all the offenders. Akhan Satayev feature films The Red Garden Azerbaijani state film production company Azerbaijanfilm has Director, script: Mirbala Salimli. Azerbaijanfilm wrapped up shooting on feature-length drama Red Garden Cast: Gulzar Gurbanova, Maqsud (Qırmızı bağ) commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Tour- Mamedov, Tale Badyev. ism. Filming took place in Ganja and Shaki. Genre: Drama.

Synopsis: School teacher Abbas wants his wife Vafa to give birth to a child. But she can’t. Their life changes when they adopt Ork- han.

feature films The Old City Azerbaijani state film production company Azerbaijanfilm Producer: Musfiq Khatamov. Azerbaijanfilm started shooting feature-length drama Old City (İçəri Şəhər) Director: Ilqar Safat. commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Filming Script: Takhmina R. Jabrail, Ilqar takes place in Baku. Safat. Genre: Drama. Synopsis: The love story between young woman and veteran of Nagorno-Karabakh War on the background of the historical core of Baku – the Old City, that is sometimes called The Tower.

Musfiq Khatamov feature films Pentacle Russian prodco Brave Rabbit started working on new full- Director: Denis Bannikov. Brave Rabbit length drama Pentacle. The project is currently in pre-produc- Cast: Aleksandr Karpov. tion period. Shooting is scheduled to start in 2015 and will take Genre: Social drama. place in Crimea.

Synopsis: Film centers on the magical seal that travels through time and space. Finally it appears in hands of an ordinary Rus- sian man. Insensible of the danger he opens Pandora’s box.

feature films 11:41 Armenian company Cinema Concept Production started Producer: Aleks Shahbazyan. Cinema working on full-length drama 11:41. The project budget is Director: Artak Zilfimyan. about $2.5 million. The project is currently in pre-production pe- Script: Aleks Shahbazyan, Lusine Concept Production riod. Principal photography starts in January 2015 and will last Manukyan. for half a year: shooting will take place in Yerevan, Gyumri and Cast: Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Moscow. Movie premiere is set for 2015. Eugeny Sidikhin, Chulpan Khama- tova, Rafael Kotandzhyan, Mkrtich Synopsis: After the 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Arzumanyan, Sos Janibekyan. Spitak earthquake, a young mother and her one-and-a-half-year Genre: Drama. child got buried alive under destroyed buildings. Seven long days and nights she tries to do everything to save her baby, even feed him with her own blood. On the eighth day they were found… Aleks Shahbazyan

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feature films The Leg of Lamb Russian film company Domrachev and Co. started shooting Director: Vasiliy Domrachev. Domrachev and Co. feature ethnic drama The Leg of Lamb. Filming takes place Genre: Ethnic drama. Yoshkar-Ola. Film premiere is planned for May-June 2015.

Synopsis: Retired marines’ major is reflecting on the meaning of life with a lot of references to traditions and culture of Mari people. Vasiliy Domrachev feature films Tily and Toly Russian film studio Edelweis finished shooting new comedy ro- Producer: Natalya Ivanova. Edelweis mance Tily and Toly. The project is currently in post-production Director: Aleksandr Amirov. period. Filming took place in North Ossetia. The movie budget Script: Vladimir Gutnov, Olga Po- totals $1.1 million with 60% provided by The Ministry for Culture godina-Kuzmina, Anatoliy Dzivaev. of Russia. Film premiere is set for 2015. Cast: Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Kakhi Kavsadze, Evklid Kyurdzidis, Synopsis: This is the story of the two neighboring villages – Os- Anatoliy Dzivaev. setian Toly and Georgian Tili. Governments of these countries Genre: Comedy romance. try to divide their people with a national border, but they do not Armen Dzhigarkhanyan want to. The locals dream of peace and conciliation.

feature films Elusive Russian production company Enjoy Movies finished filming Director: Artem Aksyonenko. Enjoy Movies new action movie Elusive. The project is currently in post-pro- Cast: Aleksandra Bortich, Denis duction period. Shooting took place in Moscow. Film release is Shvedov, Ivan Shakhnazarov, Ilya set on March 26, 2015. The Twentieth Century Fox C.I.S. has Malanin, Anvar Khalilulayev. picked up the distribution rights. Genre: Action.

Synopsis: Night. A young woman involved in a car accident needs surgery. Her friend Kira finds the man responsible for the crash, but he is rich and has got everything lined up. So Kira asks bully Fedor, handsome Artem and computer genius Eugeniy for help.

feature films Monday Begins on Saturday Russian production centre Fetisov Teterin films in a co- Producers: Boris Bobrovnikov, Fetisov Teterin films production with Krok company is working on feature fantas- Oleg Teterin. tic comedy Monday Begins on Saturday, an adaptation of a Genre: Fantastic comedy. 1965 science fiction/science fantasy novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. The project is currently in pre-production period. Preliminary movie budget is set at $2-2.5 million.

Synopsis: The Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wiz- ardry, located in the fictional Northern Russian town of Solovets, is portrayed as a place where everyone must work hard willingly, or else their loss of honesty is symbolized by hair growing from their ears. These hairy-eared people are viewed with disdain, but, in a turn symbolic of Soviet times, many of them stay in the institute because it provides them with a comfortable living no matter what. Boris Bobrovnikov The main hero Sasha is a young programmer. When he was a kid, he migrated with his parents to USA, and now Sasha wants to visit his grandmother who lives in Solovets.

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feature films The Ghouls

Russian production centre Gorad started working on new fea- Producers: Ekaterina Gordets- Gorad ture-length mystical film The Ghouls, the screen adaptation of kaya, Andrey Rad’ko. The Family of The Vourdalak by Alexey Tolstoy. The film bud- Script: Aleksey Timm. get is set at 120 million RUR (near $2.4 million). Genre: Mystical.

Synopsis: XVIII century. Lavr, the confessor of Elizabeth of Rus- sia, was exiled into a small Savior Monastery in the Carpathian Mountains, land that became the subject of many legends and myths. Land where evil resides…

feature films Bagram

Russian producer Igor Yankovskiy started working on new fea- Producer: Igor Yankovskiy. Igor Yankovskiy’ Project ture war drama Bagram. The project is currently in pre-produc- Genre: War drama. tion. Filming process will start in fall 2015.

Synopsis: The Soviet war in Afghanistan seems to end – troops are withdrawn. But Mujahideen fighters want the revenge and prepare a trap. Igor Yankovskiy feature films Alexander Dovzhenko. Odessa Debut

Ukrainian writer and filmmaker Konstantin Konovalov is working Producers: Vladimir Philippov, An- Insightmedia on biographical feature drama Alexander Dovzhenko. Odessa drey Suyarko. Debut, an adaptation of his own book The Director. The project Director, script: Konstantin Kon- is currently in pre-production period. Filming will take place in ovalov. Odessa. The movie is produced by the production centre In- Cast: Sergey Babkin. sightmedia with the support of Odessa Film Studio and com- Genre: Biopic. panies Postcontrol (Finland) and Cinema 7 film (Argentina). Film release is planned for 2016.

Synopsis: Long ago, in 1927 Dovzhenko released his first fea- ture-length film – The Diplomatic Pouch. It tells the story of a Andrey Suyarko Soviet diplomatic courier who is killed in England. But before he dies he manages to hand a pouch with the secret documents over to an English worker. Driven by a strong feeling of class solidarity the worker sends his teen son to his elder son Harry who works as a boatswain on the ship Victoria which is about to set sail for Leningrad. At the same time police inspector White and a spy are after the pouch. The struggle unfolds between the seamen eager to take the secret documents to their destination in Leningrad and the representatives of the capitalist world hell- bent on intercepting the pouch.

feature films Shabdan Baatyr

Kyrgyz film studio Kyrgyzfilm started working on new feature Director: Ernest Abdyjaparov. Kyrgyzfilm period drama Shabdan Baatyr. The project is currently in pre- Genre: Period drama. production period. Shooting is planned for 2015.

Synopsis: Shabdan Djantaev (1839-1912), better known as Shabdan Baatyr, was a politician and a military leader, who tried to prevent the world repartition by the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Russian Empire at all costs. He never put self first and always thought about the people of his country.

Ernest Abdyjaparov

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feature films Ruslan and Lyudmila

Russian prodco Lunapark started working on feature fairy tale Producers: Dmitry Nelidov, Ilya Lunapark Ruslan and Lyudmila, the first part of the Lukomorye trilogy Burets. (all films will be in 3D). The project is currently in pre-production Director: Dmitry Venikov. stage. Filming is due to start in 2016. Movie premiere is planned Script: Andrey Zhitkov. for December 2017. Genre: Fairy tale.

Synopsis: Based on a poem by Alexander Pushkin it tells the sto- ry of the abduction of Ludmila, the daughter of Prince Vladimir of Kiev, by an evil wizard and the attempt by the brave knight Ruslan to find and rescue her. Dmitry Nelidov feature films The Transformation Russian film company Magic Film started shooting new feature Producers: Tatyana Voronetskaya, Magic Film drama The Transformation. Filming takes place in Moscow Elena Belova. and Crimea. Director: Tatyana Voronetskaya. Script: Tatyana Voronetskaya, Synopsis: After the death of his parents Maks finds out that he Dmitry Sergin, Aleksandr Astrem- can read minds of other people. One of these ‘mind adventures’ skiy. is connected with the beautiful artist Vera. She helps him to ap- Cast: Irina Gorbacheva, Mariya prehend the real beauty of nature and the world around us, and Guzeyeva, Mariya Boltneva, Grig- in return Maks shares his knowledge. ory Kalinin. Genre: Drama. Tatyana Voronetskaya feature films The Ice-breaker Russian film company Profit is working on drama the Ice- Producers: Igor Tolstunov, Yuri Profit breaker, based on real events. Principal photography is due to Khrapov. start in March 2015. Preliminary project budget totals $10 mil- Director: Nikolay Khomeriki. lion. The movie premiere is planned for the end of 2015. Cast: Sergey Puskepalis, Pavel Derevyanko, Anton Shagin. Synopsis: 1984. The diesel-electric ship Mikhail Somov sailed Genre: Drama. to deliver supplies to Arctic stations, but was iced up and stayed trapped for 133 days.

feature films Escape from Moskvabad Russian film company Russian World Studios is working on Producers: Yuriy Sapronov, Alek- Russian World Studios new feature drama Escape from Moskvabad. Shooting took sandr Repenko, Evgenyi Lein. place in Moscow. Movie premiere is set for 2015. Director: Darya Poltoratskaya. Script: Yusup Razykov. Synopsis: Masha Lastochkina moved to Moscow several years Cast: Maria Mashkova, Nikita Pan- ago and now she is working in The Federal Migration Service. filov, Mikael Djanibekyan, Djavakh- She exerts her best efforts to find and depart illegal immigrants, ir Zakhirov, Aleksandr Grishyn, not least because one migrant worker killed her close friend. Artem Nasybulin. But suddenly her management decides to give Masha a partner Genre: Drama. named Khasan. He is Tadjik…

feature films Pale City Russian film company Russkoe Vozrozhdenie started work- Director: Petr Shepotinnik. Russkoe Vozrozhdenie ing on new feature thriller Pale City, an adaptation of a novel Genre: Thriller. of the same name by Igor Savelyev. The project is currently in pre-production.

Synopsis: Group of hitchhikers travel across the country. They love freedom and the choice to decide where to go… until some- one starts to kill them one after another. Only one hitchhiker left Petr Shepotinnik now.

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feature films 72 Hours Russian film company Sol has wrapped up shooting on feature Director: Kira Angelina. Sol war drama 72 Hours. The project is currently in post-production Script: Sergey Shelekhov, Anush period. Movie premiere is expected on 9th May 2015. Vardanyan. Cast: Lyza Arzamasova, Aleksandr Synopsis: Plot has two separate storylines – one about the Ly- Zelskiy, Dmitry Labush, Anatoli udinovo village, occupied by Nazi in 1941, and the other about Gushchin, Aleksey Shevchenko, NKVD investigation of a certain Petrov case in 1956. This Petrov Anastasiya Korolkova. and Dmitry Pronin – a traitor, sadist and the member of Hilfspo- Genre: War drama. lizei, who killed many people in Lyudinovo – may be the same person. But investigators have only 72 hours to reveal the truth. Kira Angelina feature films The Winter Song Georgian film company Studio 99 in a co-production with Director: Otar Iosseliani. Studio 99, Pierre Grise French Pierre Grise Productions started shooting new feature Genre: War drama. war drama The Winter Song. Filming takes place in Gardabani Productions region with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Monu- ment Protection and the Ministry of Defense of Georgia. The film will be released simultaneously in Georgia and France in spring 2015.

Synopsis: Details are still unavailable. It is known only that the film is not linked with some specified historical era – it is more like an almanac of different periods with separate heroes and storylines.

feature films Duck Hunting Russian film studio Talan in a co-production with film compa- Producer: Natalya Budkina. Talan, Amkart ny Amkart wrapped up shooting on new feature drama Duck Director: Aleksandr Proshkin. Hunting, the screen adaptation of a play of the same name by Script: Aleksandr Rodionov. Aleksandr Vampilov. Filming took place in Kaluga and vicinities Cast: Evgeny Tsyganov, Chulpan of Moscow. Movie release is planned for 2015. Khamatova, Dmitry Kulichkov, Artem Semakin, Angelina Mirims- Synopsis: Viktor Zilov is an engineer in a big company. Loving kaya, Ekaterina Smirnova. wife, lots of friends, bright future… But suddenly Viktor loses his Genre: Drama. will to live: he has come to detest his boring job and the petty superior he must defer to; he feels betrayed by his friends; his wife aborts the child who might have saved their relationship and his marriage is falling apart; the new apartment they have wrest- ed from the grudging bureaucracy seems more a tomb than a home. Ultimately, suicide appears to be Zilov’s only alternative.

feature films The Stake on Love Yellow, Black and White, Russian group of companies Yellow, Black and White in a co- Producers: Eduard Iloyan, Denis production with Central Partnership wrapped up shooting on Zhalinskyi, Rezo Gigineishvilli, Ar- Central Partnership feature teen comedy The Stake on Love. Filming took place tem Mikhalkov, Irakliy Rodonaya. in the USA and Russia. Movie premiere is planned for February Director: Artem Mikhalkov. 2015. Cast: Andrey Burkovskyi, Ekateri- na Shpitsa, Ovanes Azoyan, Alek- Synopsis: Kostya and David have known each other for many sey Gorbunov, Aleksandr Revva, years, but now their friendship is put to the test – Kostya wants Alla Mikheeva, Nikita Tarasov. to marry Anne and David dreams to become the famous poker Genre: Comedy. tournament winner. And to do that they have to switch places. Kostya will play and David will become a fiancé…

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DISTRIBUTION

AMBI DISTRIBUTION US-based international distribution company AMBI Distribution has pre-sold rights to romantic comedy All Roads Lead to Rome to Rev- olutionary Releasing on the territory of the CIS and Scandinavia. The film is co-produced by AMBI Pictures and Paradox Studio. Shooting is underway.

All Roads Lead to Rome. Maggie is an uptight, single mother and Director: Ella Lemhagen. college writing teacher from New York City. In an effort to reconnect Producers: Andrea Iervolino, with her troubled teen daughter Summer, she decides to embark on a Monika Bacardi, Silvio Muraglia. journey to a Tuscan village where she frequented in her younger days. Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Upon arrival, Maggie runs into Luca a handsome former lover who Claudia Cardinale, Paz Vega, is still a bachelor and lives with his eighty-year-old mother Carmen. Raoul Bova, Rosie Day. Summer (missing her “bad boy” boyfriend in NYC) and Carmen (se- Genre: Romantic comedy. cretly planning a wedding against Luca’s wishes to Marcelino, her one true love in Rome) impulsively steal Luca’s car and race off to Rome. Maggie and Luca quickly pursue allowing the two mismatched cou- ples to spend some time together and develop a new understanding of each other.

CENTRAL PARTNERSHIP EuropaCorp’s sales team has sold action-thriller The Transporter Legacy to Central Partnership on the territory of Russia. It is the re- boot of ‘Transporter’ franchise and is internationally co-produced by French EuropaCorp and Chinese Fundamental Films. Its premiere is set for June 2015.

The Transporter Legacy. Film is set in France’s criminal underworld Director: Camille Delamarre. and stars Ed Skrein as Frank Martin, a mercenary who delivers any- Producer: Luc Besson. thing for money. But once he breaks his own rules and sets off to take Cast: Ed Skrein, Loan Chaba- down a group of ruthless Russian human traffickers. nol, Lenn Kudrjawizki, Radi- voje Bukvic, Ray Stevenson, Anatole Taubman, Gabriella Wright, Cédric Chevalme. Genre: Action, thriller.

DARO FILM DISTRIBUTION Denmark-based international distributor TrustNordisk has pre-sold Kenneth Kainz’s fantasy movie Skammerens datter to Daro Film Distribution on the territory of Russia and the CIS countries. Pro- duced by Danish Nepenthe Film it will be the first part of film quadril- ogy based on the book cycle Skammerens børn by Lene Kaaberbøl.

Skammerens datter/The Shamer’s Daughter. Pic tells the tale of Director: Kenneth Kainz. Dina, who has unwillingly inherited her mother’s supernatural abil- Producers: Eva Juel Ham- ity and is able to look straight into the soul of other people. When her merich, Frederick Howard, mother is wrongfully accused of horrible murders, Dina sets off to un- Nina Lyng. cover the truth but she finds herself embroiled in a dangerous power Cast: Rebecca Emilie Sat- struggle with her own life at risk. trup, Jakob Oftebro, Allan Hyde, Maria Bonnevie, Lado Hadzic, Adam Ild Rohweder. Genre: Fantasy, adventure.

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KiT Ukrainian distribution company KiT has added to its catalogue eight feature-length movies – Austrian comedy Der Weihnachtshund and its sequel Zwei Weihnachtshunde, British drama On Expenses, biopic The Best of Men and historical drama Breaking the Mould, Australian criminal drama A Model Daughter: The Killing of Caro- line Byrne and American romance Affinity.

Der Weihnachtshund. Max hates the Advent season, Christmas in Director: Michael Keusch. Vienna in particular, and generally speaking, the season horrifies him. Producers: Burkhard W.R. He would fly to the South Seas, if it were not for a minor problem called Ernst, Niki List, Birte Dronsek. Kurt, Max’s dog, who of course has to stay behind. Therefore Max Cast: Nadeshda Brennicke, looks for somebody willing to look after his dog. Katrin sniffs a chance Florian Fitz, Gunther Gillian, here: she hates Christmas too, the Christmas party at her parents in Katharina Stemberger. particular, including the advances made by her fiancé Aurelius - who Duration: 90 min. is absolutely perfect, or so it seems. Year after year, she looks out Genre: Comedy. for loopholes to stay away from the Christmas disaster, but alas! As Katrin’s father is extremely allergic to dogs, a dog would be a great op- portunity. Things no doubt take a different turn than originally planned.

Zwei Weihnachtshunde. When their best friends get married, Max Director: Lenard Fritz and Katrin wonder whether they themselves would be ready for such Krawinkel. a step. At first, the prospects are bleak: Max not only fails to live up to Producers: Burkhard W.R. Katrin’s parents’ standards, but is also constantly on the go to save Ernst, Niki List, Birte Dronsek. money for his own restaurant – a surprise he has in store for Katrin on Cast: Nadeshda Brennicke, Christmas Eve. Offering nothing but paper-thin excuses, Max brings Florian Fitz, Gunther Gillian. home, as a new partner to his dog Kurt, the sweet little dog Trixie, who Duration: 90 min. Kurt completely falls for. But then Katrin finds out that Max meets Trix- Genre: Comedy. ie’s attractive owner on secret dates. When Katrin is offered a new job in London, she is about to put her career before her relationship. For a happy ending to occur under the Christmas tree, help from a second Christmas dog is badly needed.

On Expenses. The film documents the true story of American journal- Director: Simon Cellan Jones. ist Heather Brooke’s attempt to get expenses claims of Members of Producers: Stephen Wright, Parliament released under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Tony Saint. Speaker Michael Martin’s battle to prevent it. Cast: Anna Maxwell Martin, Brian Cox, Alex Jennings, Tim Pigott-Smith. Genre: Drama.

The Best of Men. Based on real events film describes the pioneering Director: Tim Whitby. work of Dr. Ludwig Guttmann with paraplegic patients, which led to the Producers: Harriet Davison, foundation of the Paralympic Games. Matthew Read, Tracie Wright. Cast: George MacKay, Bee Bee Sanders, Leigh Quinn, Eddie Marsan, Ben Owen-Jones. Duration: 90 min.

A Model Daughter: The Killing of Caroline Byrne. The film is based Director: Tony Tilse. on alleged events surrounding the death of Caroline Byrne in June Producers: Greg Haddrick, Rick 1995. At the time, the police initially wrote the case off as suicide, but Maier, Des Monaghan. contradicting evidence soon began to arise, and suspicions were di- Cast: Garry McDonald, David rected towards her boyfriend, Gordon Wood. The case became one Lyons, Cariba Heine, Tiriel Mora, of the longest running in Australian history, and a trial convicting Wood Gyton Grantley, Heather Mitchell. for the murder of Byrne did not come to a close until November 2008, Duration: 94 min. when he was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Genre: Criminal drama.

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Breaking the Mould. Film tells the story of the development of peni- Director: Peter Hoar. cillin in the 1930’s/40’s, by a group of scientists in Oxford at The Dunn Producers: Charlotte Bloxham, School of Pathology. Pier Wilkie, John Yorke. Cast: Dominic West, Denis Lawson, Oliver Dimsdale, Joe Armstrong, John Sessions, Kate Fleetwood. Duration: 80 min. Genre: Historical drama.

Affinity. Affinity is set in Victorian England; the story of an upper-class Director: Tim Fywell. woman, Margaret, who becomes an official “Visitor” to a woman’s Producers: Adrian Bate, Andrew prison; however, she becomes emotionally attached to one of the in- Davies, Patrick Irwin. mates, Selina. As the story progresses through Selina’s shady back- Cast: Zoë Tapper, Anna Madeley, ground, and Margaret’s dislike of her home life; a plot to break out of Domini Blythe, Amanda Plummer, the prison develops. But just what the plan is, and who is in charge is Mary Jo Randle, Caroline Loncq. yet to be discovered. Duration: 120 min. Genre: Drama.

LUXOR ENTERTAINMENT Berlin-based distributor Picture Tree International has sold rights to the autobiographical drama The Pilgrim to Russian Luxor Entertain- ment on the territory of the CIS and Baltics.

The Pilgrim — the Best Story of Paulo Coelho. A chronicle of Paulo Director: Daniel Augusto. Coelho’s rise from his troubled life to become one of the most influen- Cast: Júlio Andrade, Ravel tial writers in Brazilian history. Andrade. Genre: Biopic. MEGA Ukrainian TV channel Mega (part of Inter Media Group) has acquired 35 hours of documentary and factual content from TCB Media Rights. Among titles it bought: documentary film Treblinka: Hitler’s Killing Machine co-produced by Furneaux Edgar and GME, Like A Shot-pro- duced mini-series Inquisition, another mini-series Twisted History from WAGTV, mini-series Australia’s Deadliest and film Australia’s Deadliest: Shark Coast from Seven Network.

Treblinka: Hitler’s Killing Machine. Forensic archaeologist Caro- Duration: 1х60/1х90 min. line Sturdy Colls has been granted unprecedented access to excavate one of history’s greatest crime scenes: Hitler’s secret extermination camp in the Polish village of Treblinka. Here, between 1942 and 1943, 900,000 Jews were sent to their deaths, but for 70 years, all evidence of the camp and its victims had vanished... until now. Follow the quest to unearth the processing rooms, gas chambers, and mass graves Hit- ler tried to erase from existence and journey into the dark heart of the Nazi’s Final Solution.

Inquisition. In more enlightened times, it is almost impossible for us Durtion: 4х60 min. to understand the power and influence of religion in years gone by. It was the cornerstone of every life. It touched almost every aspect of everyday existence. Next to the royalty, the clergy were the most powerful people in the land. To deny them was folly. To deny their God meant almost certain death. In those long gone days, a Heretic was considered to be an agent of the devil. He was to be hunted down and punished. It was the Inquisition that did the hunting and the punish- ing. If the Inquisition accused a man of heresy, he was presumed to be

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guilty. It was for him to prove he was innocent. Every possible method was employed to extract a confession. The eyes and the ears of the Inquisition were everywhere…

Twisted History. History doesn’t travel in straight lines. The truth is far Durtion: 4х60 min. weirder and more fascinating than anything you learned at school. The most iconic events of the modern era – the Moon Landing, the Roswell Incident, the death of Martin Luther King Jr. - are all the product of small things - chance meetings, friendships, collisions of ideas and crazy stories. These are the connections that make history.

Australia’s Deadliest. Australia is a country abundant in picturesque Duration: 12х30 min. beaches, rainforests and rivers but these vast and beautiful land- scapes are home to some of the most deadly animals in the world. These predators can kill a human in seconds. These are the stories of people across the country who have had close encounters with these dangerous creatures ranging from Box Jellyfish that can paralyse the cardiac muscle in seconds, the Brown Snake that can stop blood clog- ging in minutes, the Saltwater Crocodile known for its death roll, to the expansive jaws of the Great White shark. Those who survived an animal attack bear the scars of their deadly encounter.

Australia’s Deadliest: Shark Coast. The Great White Shark has Duration: 1х60 min. been responsible for 5 fatalities in less than 10 months. These terrify- ing events are replayed through the eyes of the victim’s families, wit- nesses and survivors.

RUSSIAN REPORT Russian distributor Russian Report has acquired rights to Canadian drama Le règne de la beauté from eOne’s Séville International. The film will be distributed on the territory of Russia and the CIS.

Le règne de la beauté. Luc, a brilliant young architect with remark- Director: Denys Arcand. able talent, lives a peaceful life with his wife Stephanie in the stunning Producers: Daniel Louis, An- area of Charlevoix. Beautiful house, pretty wife, dinner with friends, drea Puig, Denise Robert. golf, tennis, hunting… a perfect life, one might say! One day, he ac- Cast: Éric Bruneau, Mélanie cepts to be a member of an architectural jury in Toronto. There, he Thierry, Melanie Merkosky, meets Lindsay, a mysterious woman who will turn his life upside down. Marie-Josée Croze, Mathieu Quesnel, Michel Forget. Duration: 102 min. Genre: Drama.

WIZART ANIMATION Russian toon house Wizart Animation has closed a raft of deals within the framework of American Film Market. It has sold The Snow Queen (2012) to Discovery Networks Latin America for its Discovery Kids network across the region (excluding Brazil), and The Snow Queen 2 (2014) to Transformer Inc. in Japan. OneVision Ent. has acquired both Snow Queen films for Indonesia. At the same time an upcoming Sheep and Wolves (2015) has been picked up by RIALTO for Australia and New Zealand.

The Snow Queen. Wishing to create a New world – where clearness of lines replaces emotions and the polar wind cools human souls, the Snow Queen is trying to find and destroy all artists and their succes- sors.

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The film represents fascinating travel of Gerda trying to find her brother Directors: Vladlen Barbe , Kai on the boundless spaces of the fantastic country bewitched by the Maksim Sveshnikov. Snow Queen. During this travel Gerda faces difficult obstacles and Producers: Olga Sinelshchiko- finds new friends… va, Timur Bekmambetov, Sergey Rapoport, Aleksandr Ligay. Cast: Anna Shurochkina, Ivan Okhlobystin, Galina Tyunina, Dmitriy Nagiev, Elizaveta Arza- masova, Lyudmila Artemeva, Yuriy Stoyanov, Anna Ardova. Duration: 76 min. Genre: Animation.

The Snow Queen 2. After the Snow Queen is vanquished, our hero, Director: Aleksey Tsitsilin. a troll named Orm returns to his native Troll City and to a life of being a Producers: Timur Bekmam- rank-and-file coal miner. The life of simple trolls is filled with hardships betov, Yuriy Moskvin, Vladimir and injustices, and Orm wants out! A few strategic lies and he could be Nikolaev. marrying the Princess and become the King of Trolls... But with each Cast: Ivan Okhlobystin, Anna lie out of Orm’s mouth, the Snow King – Orm’s heartless reflection, Shurochkina, Anna Khilkevich, which dreams of enveloping the world in a blanket of eternal frost – Aleksandr Uman, Igor Bortnik, grows more powerful. In this extension of Hans Christian Andersen’s Aleksey Likhnitskiy, Roman Yu- classic tale, The Snow Queen, we meet our old friends, Kai, Gerda, the nusov, Aleksandr Gudkov. weasel Luta, and, of course, the troll kingdom – featuring one rather Duration: 80 min. ordinary princess, a band of bored soldiers, and one extraordinary love Genre: Animation. story of a king and his lost love...

Sheep and Wolves. Interested only in merry-making and chasing Director: Andrey Galat. sheep, the young wolf Grey is afraid of responsibility and has no desire Producers: Sergey Sely- to become the leader of his pack. Grey is convinced that all a wolf re- anov, Yuriy Moskvin. ally needs is a spot in the sun and a sheep or two in the belly. That is, Genre: Animation. until Grey wakes up one morning in the skin of a ram and finds himself surrounded by a flock of sheep...

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UKRAINIAN THEATRICAL DISTRIBUTION MARKET OVERVIEW

(JANUARY 1, 2014 – NOVEMBER 30, 2014) Theatrical releases of 287 films took place in Ukraine starting from January 1, 2014. The gross box-office of these films totaled $75.61 million. About 17.96 million tickets were sold for the premieres of the 2014 theatrical year. TOP-20 releases collected $41.64 million – 55.07% of the total amount. 51.64% of the cinema-goers – near 9.27 million – bought tickets to watch the films you see in the table below.

Total Box-office Tickets Sold № Movie Distributor Premier Date Premier Box-office, $ (01.01 - 30.11.2014), $ (01.01 - 28.09.2014)

1 Viy (Rus) UFD 30.01.2014 1 620 416 4 638 645 850 356 2 Transformers: Age of Extinction B&H 26.06.2014 1 395 808 3 274 316 695 096 Love In Big City 3 / Lyubov v bolshom 3 UFD 02.01.2014 944 049 3 138 371 590 656 gorode 3 (Rus) 4 Noah B&H 27.03.2014 1 163 127 2 692 621 584 201 5 47 Ronin B&H 01.01.2014 842 237 2 680 457 419 154 6 Maleficent B&H 29.05.2014 895 300 2 382 281 587 253 7 Lucy B&H 21.08.2014 770 773 2 251 017 636 896 8 Guardians Of The Galaxy B&H 31.07.2014 686 248 2 108 825 510 697 9 300: Rise of an Empire KNM 06.03.2014 913 770 2 068 391 352 563 10 Dracula Untold B&H 02.10.2014 666 687 1 842 118 518 228 11 Rio 2 UFD 20.03.2014 602 532 1 787 531 478 066 12 How to Train Your Dragon 2 UFD 12.06.2014 530 187 1 716 319 467 994 13 Interstellar KNM 06.11.2014 531 635 1 701 347 473 380 14 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles B&H 14.08.2014 911 642 1 559 226 422 337 15 Hercules B&H 24.07.2014 748 237 1 525 473 344 466 16 Edge of Tomorrow KNM 05.06.2014 447 563 1 408 628 295 835 17 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 B&H 24.04.2014 571 862 1 298 622 291 464 Some Like It Cold / V sporte tolko 18 UFD 06.02.2014 518 001 1 261 484 286 871 devushki (Rus) 19 Need for Speed IF 13.03.2014 529 719 1 182 867 236 910 20 RoboCop B&H 13.02.2014 671 026 1 117 044 230 483 TOTAL ТОP-10: 27 077 042 5 745 100 TOTAL ТОP-20: 41 635 583 9 272 906

Sources: Ukrainian Film Distribution, kino-teatr.ua

Distributors: B&H – B&H Distribution IF – Inter-Film KNM – Kinomania UFD – Ukrainian Film Distribution

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There are a total of 16. 2 million television households and approximately 24 million television sets in use in Ukraine. Ukraine is a kind of unique country in Europe from the point of view of the national-wide analogue focus terrestrial TV nets quantity: there are 15 channels of that kind in the country.

Private TV broadcasters owned by Ukrainian tycoons play the lead role on the local market. There are four dominant TV Groups in Ukraine: StarLight Media (belongs to Viktor Pinchuk, operates STB, ICTV, Novy Channel, M1, M2 and QTV channels), Inter Media Group (belongs to Dmitry Firtash, runs Inter, NTN, K1, Ukrainian TV channels K2, Mega, Enter-film, MTV Ukraine, Pixel channels), 1+1 Media (owned by Igor Kolomoiskiy, operates 1+1, 2+2, TET, PlusPlus channels), and Media Group Ukraine (belongs to Rinat Akhmetov, runs TRK Ukraine, landscape overview Football, Football+, Donbas, Sigma TV, Sphere TV, 34 Channel and NLO TV channels). Government-owned TV channel First National is not so popular, as private broadcasters. Nevertheless it belongs to TOP-15 most popular TV channels in Ukraine.

TV shr in Ukraine, November 2014 (aud 18+, all Ukraine)

15,02 16,00

14,00 11,26 12,00 9,41 9,04 10,00 7,60 8,00

6,00 4,87 3,56 4,00 2,88 2,66 1,67 2,00

0,00 INTER 1+1 CHANNEL STB ICTV NTN NEW TET 2+2 K1 UKRAINE CHANNEL

Source: Nielsen

Terrestrial TV market 2010 – 2015

Currently both analogue and digital terrestrial television continue parallel broadcasting in Ukraine. This transitional period started in 2011 when DTT multiplexes provider Zeonbud finally deployed its net. The company has invested US$134 million (€100 million) in rolling out its network. Zeonbud employs four mul- tiplexes to offer viewers a total of 32 channels, 28 of which are national and four regional and local. These multiplexes now reach 95% of the population. The DTT platform operator Zeonbud has launched its DTT services using the DVB-T2 standard and has become the first Eastern European DTT platform to make use of DVB T2.

Such situation when both analogue and digital terrestrial broadcasting takes place does not satisfy the interest of national-wide analogue TV channels, because they carry double financial charge. Nowadays there are 15 national-wide analogue broadcasters in Ukraine.

National-wide analogue TV channels (ATT)

Channel ATT Frequencies Owned Date of establishment Inter 405 Oct 1996 Ukraine 107 2002 1+1 421 Aug 1995 STB 70 June 1997 ICTV 94 June 1992 New Channel 92 July 1998 First National / Era 488 Feb 1939 TET 87 Jan 1992 2+2 26 Aug 2010

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Channel ATT Frequencies Owned Date of establishment Mega 28 Mar 2010 NTN 84 Nov 2004 K1 27 June 2005 5 channel 74 Sep 2003 Tonis 27 1989 M1 48 Dec 2001

Currently there are 215 local and regional TV channels that have ATT licenses. But almost half of these channels do not have its original programming (or have just couple of hours of its original broadcast) and simply retransmit the signals of other TV channels.

Ukrainian television market will change dramatically after the analogue terrestrial switch off that is planned for summer 2015. The number of digital terrestrial TV nets that will have national-wide coverage will in- crease to 29, id est will almost double. Currently more than 5.4 million households watch TV due to ter- restrial (both ATT and DTT) services. DTT share increased almost to 2.5 million households in 2013 and continue to grow.

National-wide Digital TV channels (DTT)

Channel Media Group / Owner Digital Multiplex Inter Inter Media Group MX 1 Ukraine Media Group Ukraine MX 1 1+1 1+1 Media MX 1 STB StarLight Media MX 2 ICTV StarLight Media MX 1 New Channel StarLight Media MX 2 First T2 Government MX 1 TET 1+1 Media MX 2 2+2 1+1 Media MX 3 Mega Inter Media Group MX 3 NTN Inter Media Group MX 1 K1 Inter Media Group MX 1 5 channel Express-Inform, NMB MX 2 Tonis Tonis LLC MX 3 Enter Film Inter Media Group MX 1 M1 StarLight Media MX 2 112 Ukraina 112 Ukraina MX 5 Business Atigo Media Group MX 3 Dobro Atigo Media Group MX 3 Goldberry Goldberry LLC MX 5 Vintage Korona Sunrays LLC MX 5 XSport Totveld LLC MX 3 Zoom Inter Media Group MX 2 Bank TV Bankivske Telebachennia LLC MX 5 Esculap TV Aspera 2011 LLC MX 5 K2 Inter Media Group MX 2 Kinotochka Media Group Ukraine MX 2 NLO TV Media Group Ukraine MX 3 Pixel Inter Media Group MX 3

Pay-TV market

Ukrainian Pay-TV market volume grew annually 7-8% in terms of subscribers and 10-12% in terms of Pay- TV operators revenues (but for this year).

Cable is the most widespread television platform in Ukraine accounting by the end of 2013 for over 5.9 million subscribers (36% of the total television households). The penetration of cable TV has risen near 6% comparing with the results of 2012. The terrestrial platform yet remains the second most widespread

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television platform in Ukraine and is used by 5.4 million television households. Satellite TV coverage in 2013 grew more than 200 thousand households and reached 4.7 million homes (near 29% of the total television households). The majority of satellite households prefer to receive FTA channels and not to pay DTH operators for the service. However, the constant growth of the cable and satellite platforms has eroded the terrestrial platform’s market share which has decreased from 75% in 2007 to 63% in 2009 and to 33% in 2013.

All services on the terrestrial platform are currently free-to-air including DTT service from Zeonbud, pri- vate operator of 4 out of 5 DTT multiplexes in Ukraine. The rest 2% of the households use IPTV and OTT platforms to watch TV.

TV signal reception type in Ukraine, 2013

2% 2%

29% 36% 29% 36% Cable Terresr/al Cable

Satellite Terresr/al IPTV / OTT Satellite 33% IPTV / OTT

33%

Source: National Broadcasting Council of Ukraine, E&C Consulting

Totally there are more than 200 cable operators in Ukraine. TOP-10 cable operators account for almost 40% of the total market.

TOP-10 cable operators, thousand subscribers, 2013

1198 1200 1000 800 600 367 400 233 108 89 70 66 62 56 55 200 0

LKT Volia Altair Triolan TeNet Romstar TeleNet

Informa@on Technologies Teleinformatsionniye Se@ Sana Plus / Chernoye More Source: E&C Consulting

Cable TV operators’ revenues count for almost 90% of the total Pay-TV market volume in Ukraine. The point is that there are only three DTH platforms operators (Viasat, NTV+ and Xtra TV) and their Pay-TV subscription base remains rather low (near 300 thousand households in total). Overall during 2014 the number of pay TV users in Ukraine has diminished 500-700 thousand or about 20-28% according to offi-

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cial data. The subscription TV market volume has shortened also in money terms – about 5%. Predictable decline (from $380M to less than $300M) of the volume of the Pay-TV market in Ukraine in 2014 is con- nected with the Ukrainian national currency depreciation in 2014.

TV Advertising market

From the advertising point of view Ukraine is the second largest market in the CIS region after Russia. The total volume of its TV ad market grew 14% in 2013 and amounted $555 million (4.94 billion UAH), plus $62.5 million of TV sponsorship (data provided by All-Ukrainian Advertising Coalition).

This year it is possible to count the volume of any market in Ukraine only in the national currency – hryvnia. Advertising market is not exception. The main reason of this “impossibility” of making any predictions and analysis of the market volume in foreign currency (USD or Euro, for instance) is highly unstable hryvnia – in January-November 2014 depreciation of the Ukrainian national currency relative to USD reached 50% and we still cannot be sure that this is really the end of the hryvnia drop.

Ukrainian TV advertising market during last several years grew annually not less than 10-15%. But this year we see several objective reasons preventing the stable growth of the market. First of all we should take into account the temporary loss of a significant part of our territory that led to the 5% decrease of the number of the Ukrainian households. Military conflict at the east of our country also influences a lot the future expectations of the advertisers, who are eager to cut and shorten their advertising budgets prefer- ring to wait for better times.

According to All-Ukrainian Ad Coalition this year the local TV ad market cannot expect for the growth or even for staying flat. Coalition predicts 12% drop of the market volume in national currency (from 4.94 billion UAH to 4.36 billion UAH)

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Today we can hardly ever see the commercial film project made without visual effects, and the services provided by VFX-studios are becoming more and more important at the market. In an exclusive interview Interview to CIS: Content Report Egor Borschevsky, the director of Ukrainian VFX-studio Postmodern Digital told how to make the movie with optimum quality of visual effects without exceeding budget limits, about the role of the VFX-producer and VFX-supervisor, and about new projects and general trends in industry.

Egor Borschevsky: How do you assess the current state of the post-production industry in Ukraine?

“Today Ukrainian visual First of all, we need not to equal the concept of “visual effects studio” with the concept of “post-production effects are as good as studio”. These two areas are very different now. It`s some sort of tradition to name the visual effects studio a “post-production house”, but actually it’s a completely different type of work - the studio of visual effects those used in US and enters the project at the early stage of the production process. European TV projects” The industry of visual effects in Ukraine faces difficulties for several reasons. Firstly, we do not have a healthy film production market. The most of the visual effects we make for commercials and music clips, and 90% of the companies that produce visual effects are focused on this market. But that is quite another matter and completely differs from ours, though it seems that we do the same thing. In advertising you have the short-term projects with the different software used and different type of specialists involved. Therefore, there are only a couple of studios that do really work on the visual effects for films.

But today Ukrainian visual effects are as good as those used in US and European TV projects. But can’t say the same about the films. There`s a lack of Ukrainian specialists who can do the job within the same time limits as, for example, the Hollywood specialists are used to.

How does the process of making visual effects for the film project works? What are the duties of the VFX-producer?

It is crucially important to attach the VFX-producer at an early stage, as the film producer may not have enough skills to assess the real stage of involvement of computer graphics into the project. That is, in fact, the reason why VFX-producer should always be assigned to it at the pre-production stage already. The VFX-producer and VFX-supervisor can recommend the best options to solve some specific problems, for example, where is it possible to use the digital locations or how to optimize the creative tasks related to digital characters.

How does the VFX-producer co-operate with the producer? What should the last know to make his film project with the best visual effects? Egor Borschevsky They need to work together in close contact just like the VFX-producer and the VFX-supervisor do. For the producer it is important to understand that it`s always possible to make it better, but the quality means money. He must assess all the creative risks, because sometimes it happens that well-planned scene is badly designed and does not meet the general idea. Accordingly it needs more work and additional costs. Visual effects artists may be bringing a piece of work to perfection for many hours and that it is the matter of money as well. The producer has to choose the right moment to say ‘stop’ to get good quality and stay within the budget limits.

How does the actual budget relate to the planned one? What are the causes of discrepancies, if any?

The actual budget for CG-shots is almost always bigger than planned. The main reason for the produc- tion budget increase is different interpretation of the terms and conditions and the objectives. Besides, sometimes producers try to save money on visual effects at the stage of pre-production. And this leads to the opposite result. Furthermore there will be some creative experimentation. In general it depends on relationship between VFX- and film producer, on their dialogue.

Has your studio ever lost revenues?

Yes. In fact, we had no profit from our first project, but we knew it will be that way, and this work helped us to enter the market. The same happened to Inseparable. We have put a lot of money in it and the project hardly brought back enough to cover the costs, but it received several prestigious awards at international

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festivals for the best VFX. This helped in future and gave us access to new important clients. This approach is common in our business as, for example, the studio Framestore, which made Gravity, had two unprofit- able projects in fact, and only Gravity saved it from bankruptcy.

How does the amount of work on the visual effects for a particular project is planned?

Usually the studio sets the production cost of one hour. There was an unfortunate incident with the com- pany Rhytm & Hues that created the visual effects for the Life of Pi movie. It went bankrupt on this project despite the fact that it won an Oscar. The problem was that the amount of work in the process of filming grew two-three times than it was thought. For a studio with two or three thousand workers it is a complete disaster.

We are now talking about the human recourses. But what about the technical aspect of the mat- ter?

In most cases, of course, the output depends on the human factor. Problems with the lack of render farms or special software often occur in the advertising business. You have a week to do the task and sometimes you just do not have enough time to finish the rendering.

What about the Ukrainian market, is there a lack of specialists in the industry?

Yes, it is a shortage, actually.

What are the causes?

A lot of specialists work in the game industry now. Also, in my opinion, people do not want to learn. I look on people who I work with and their age is 34-35, but earlier the average age was about 26-27. These are people who have learned back then. The influx of young specialists is very small. Of course it does exist, but we have to gather the team from all over Ukraine. This is a paradox, because it is quite highly paid work. For a few months I can prepare a specialist who will get an average salary of one thousand dollars. It`s quite high due to Ukrainian standards.

What is your criteria when you choose a new team member?

In general, our specialists are experts who are diligent and able to self-educate. Professionals who come to me and show a diploma of an online school, show very good results. They differ from those self-taught ones because they already have some systematic knowledge. If this person has the experience in some major projects, then of course his work is quite expensive.

What would you recommend to young professionals for training?

Self-education is the most important thing. Actually, we have plans to open the school for VFX-specialists. I can`t provide you with the details, but I think we`ll manage to do that in six months.

How much time does the Ukrainian market need to reach the level of Hollywood movies. What knowledge and experience local experts must have?

It depends on what kind of project you are talking about. For example to make such a movie as The Aveng- ers Ukraine needs 10-15 years. But this is true only for such full-length blockbusters. If we take some television projects, it can already be done by several studios. As for the amount of work – there are only 200-250 highly-qualified specialists in Ukraine. Whereas in contrast such companies as the American Method Studios have the state of eight thousand people.

Ukrainian studios used to work close with the Russian companies. Has the situation changed?

No, it hasn`t. Because it all depends on personal and professional relationships. And it works with produc- tion too - everything depends on the successful co-operation on previous projects.

Media Resources Management. 22 Zakrevsky St., Kiev 02660, Ukraine 25 www.mrm.ua Tel.: +380 (44) 459-4610; e-mail: [email protected] Interview Interview Interview №21, December 2014

INTINTERVIEERVIEWW IINTERVIENTERVIAreEWW you currentlyCC working on RussianIINTERVIEN projects?TERVIEWW What are they? №9 31 October, 2012 We finished a project for video games industry WarThunder a month ago. There are also several TV series and a feature-length project in development. ploringThe work some of European specific issue. producers Russian can’t projects even be can’t compared afford it. to For the example, one we have Russian to do. produce While rtheys may may ask con me- toDocentrate make you planthe on oceanthe to workdefinite like more they market saw in video itsegment in The games Perfect we industry?actually Storm have (2000). no other And I wayhave out to explainthan to themproduce that TVa g contentroup of 100and pmassrogramme marketrs describedmovies and the to behavior be engaged of physical in coproduction phenomenon at the during same a yeatime.r. Then In Europe the results only ofa largetheir holding can afford production of such a wide range of projects. And we are forced to do it by the situation workYes. We we ralsoe set have into athe few interface cinematic of projectsthe prog rinam development that created at such the moment.a storming ocean. And the funds spent foron the rlocalesea market.rches are equal to the whole budget of Russian project.

WhoEuropean are film you industry working support with, also includesexcept the Russia? support of Who projects is thepromotion. most Is important this experi strategic partner for you?- CGFAre youclosely considering cooperates a partnershipwith Timur Bekmambetovwith companies who or investedexperts, heavilylet us say,in the from FilmLanguage the USA or China? (Kinoyazyk)ence implemented technolog in Russia?y. AreDo thereyou any take results? part in the researches of his company Bazelevs? Egor Borschevsky USA, of course, is one of the most promising partners - we are building bridges. Also we have some con- Wenections do coope withr ateChinese with Bazelevs and European in some market. resear ches.I work But with this Chinese coope rclients,ation is rbutather I don`t sketch worky. Actually with Chinese we do notway delve that producedinto the stud filmsy. As are for presented the FilmLanguage to maximum I know audience that Bazelevs and get have chance some to rbecomeesults that profitable. are diffe rTheent visualunderstanding effects specialists. of this fact It came is thought to Russian that Chinese filmmakers and and Indian devel specialistsoped into are a strong cheap tendency. and fast, but the ex- fperiencerom the decla showsred that objectives what is cheap but still… is not always the best. Even large companies with offices in China and India, for example Technicolor, often have problems with quality. There is information in the Web that you are going to launch your own projects as a producer. Is - thatWhat true? is the world’s most successful project in terms of visual effects?

IfestivalAmong have some allin Moscow.successful ideas. I haveAt blockbusters the knowledge presentations I recentlyand skillssome watched, that ten wouldselected I think be sufficientfilmthe bestprojects is to G launch ravity.were screened Visuala project. effects toAnd film arethe profes amaz com-- panying.sionals is steveryrong year. enough Among to realize these it. was We drama just need Silent to Souls try and move on if it works.

InfilmWhat the Chapiteau-Show neais therest most futur esuccessful we’ll decide Ukrainian on the range project of pr ojectsin terms that of would visual be effects? interesting to workstival on. jury’s At the special same timeprize. we are going to separate company’s activity as a producer from providing postproduction services which is our core business. Most likely postproduction department will accomplish orders for our projects otherwiseI think the the mostre will promising be a risk Ukrainian of failing projectin both aisr eas.Nezlamna. And also I`d like to mention The Inseparable. These are the most successful Ukrainian projects if to talk about visual effects. - Alexander Gorokhov over the previous two years. We also created on-line resources providing sales agents, distributors, festi- Inval your programmers opinion what and producerstrends will with prevail the information in the field on of thevisual proje effectscts and within their producers the next five as well years? as video Yevgeny Gindilis materials. So we did one more step on our way to the international market. The undertone is the mix of rendering technology and game engines. Also there will be a converge of movies and games. The expensive actors appear in games, leaders of the music charts write soundtracks for the games. Budgets grow and they start to work with the professional scriptwriters. More and more elements of filmmaking are borrowed by the gaming industry.

And the movies are getting more digitalized. They are becoming more like computer games in action scenes. The entire film industry is changing. This is what the movie luminaries such as Lucas talked about. Only blockbusters will be left in movie industry – such as 135th Transformers and 45th Spiderman. They will stay in theaters for a long time, while tickets will cost much more. And more serious movies will go into the small screen. We can see it already.

CIS:CIS: CCOONNTTEEN NTT RREEPPOORRTT CIS:CIS: ContentContent Reportreport is a trrademark of Media Resources Management, Ltd.Ltd. Copyright belongs to MRM Company.. InIn casecase of useuse of any materialsmaterials or informationinformation from from Cis: Cis: Content Content Report report inteinterractiactivvee linklink toto http://mrm.ua/en/project/regular/ciscr/subscribehttp://mrm.ua/en/project/regular/ciscr/subscribe isis aa MUSMUSTT.. EditorialEditorial team:team: ArtemArtem VVakalyuk,akalyuk, AlexandrAlexandr ZZakhlyupaakhlyupannyy, BorisMaria SChuprina,ydorenko ,Boris Dmitry Sy dorenRubin,k oVictoria, Dmitry Y Rarmubin,oshc Victoriahuk. Yarmoschyk. InIn casecase ofof aannyy questionsquestions pleasepleaseMedia contactcontact Resources us:us: MediaMedia Management. RResourcesesources 22 ManagemenManagement. Zakrevsky St.,t. 2222 Kiev ZZakrevakrevsky 02660,sky Ukraine StSt..,, KievKiev 0266002660,, UkUkrraineaine 26 wwwwww.mrm.ua.mrm.uawww.mrm.ua TTel.:el.: Tel.:+380+380 +380 (44)(44) (44) 459-4610;459-4610; 459-4610; ee-mail:- mail:e-mail: [email protected] [email protected]@mrm.ua

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