Series production in Ukraine and Russia has reduced, and film distribution has not been profitable before as well. MediaBusiness decided to ask how native commercial-film oriented moviemakers cope with these problems. We interviewed Oleg Shcherbina, Board Chairman of the FRESH PRODUCTION group, and Julia Chernyavskaya, General Producer of this company.

The idea of the film «Assassin’s Love» about Stashynskyi, who killed Bandera, may be very interesting and even be successful in Ukrainian film distribution. Are you going to distribute the film outside Ukraine?

Oleg Shcherbina, Board Chairman of the FRESH PRODUCTION: We haven’t focused on Ukraine only, but of course we are counting on a wide Ukrainian release. Maybe there will be also a limited release in Russia – night shows at a small number of cinemas (laughing). The planned principal release territory is Europe and the USA. The film director is Zaza Buadze and script writers are Zaza Buadze and Julia Chernyavskaya.

Julia Chernyavskaya, General Producer of the FRESH PRODUCTION: Our story is not about bad KGB or any other secret service, first of all this is a story about relationship between people. In our opinion this is why the film has become interesting not only here, but also in Germany and the USA. By now we have reached preliminary agreements with Bavaria Film GmbH supported by German Films (Germany) and The Film Office (USA).

What is the film budget?

Oleg Shcherbina: The planned budget comprises 4 million dollars. This is quite a realistic sum.

Just a few words about «I ANATROPI» serial, is it meant for Greek and Ukrainian audience? Is the project financing influenced by current financial problems of Greece?

Julia Chernyavskaya: There is money for the «The Break». It is the state, but not Greek companies, that is in crisis. Greek television is interested in this project: Nikos Femelis is one of the iconic modern Greek writers. This project is a film version of the first part of the Greek bestseller trilogy «I ANATROPI» published in 2000 in Greece and awarded with a state Prize for the best novel of year 2011. As the action takes place in Greece and Ukraine at the turn of ХІХ and ХХ centuries, we are counting on the audience of three countries: Greece, Ukraine and Russia. One should take into account that the script is written in Greek, that is why script production will take a little more time than usually, but we were ready for this.

We know that «I ANATROPI» project is not the only joint project of the FRESH PRODUCTION with Greece. What is going on with the «UmbrellaSky» project?

Oleg Shcherbina: The moment the project has received European grant for development and is currently under review of the Greek Film Center, which is a state institution and in this case the financial situation in Greece impacted the development process. We are hoping that all the financial problems will be solved in the nearest future. Moreover we are negotiating with our Russian partners.

Are you planning any other cooperation with Europe?

Julia Chernyavskaya: We are going to shoot a movie «Far East», and in this case in partnership with Italians. The script has already been submitted to the forum WHEN EAST MEETS WEST at Trieste (Italy) – this is a coproduction development program of Italy and Eastern European countries. Taking into account that Ukraine and Russia are priorities for the next year, the prospects for the movie are high. The «Far East» movie is a comedy.

What is this movie about?

Oleg Shcherbina: the film story was created last year by Julia Chernyavskaya together with Italians MFI Script 2 Film Workshop. These are the new adventures of Italians, but this time not in Russia but in Ukraine: Lena, a Ukrainian immigrant, is a caregiver in a typical Italian family and has been taking care of an old lady for several years. At her long-expected earned vacation she travels to Ukraine to visit her son. Being a very responsible person she instructs the whole Italian family on how to take care of the old lady, but everyone is too busy to take Lena seriously. Soon after Lena’s departure the situation in the family suddenly turns into chaos. The old lady disappears, and later it turns out that she followed Lena. And the whole family follows the grandmother to Ukraine where new entertaining adventures of the funny Italians begin,So far the project is at the early development stage.

Have you received state financing for «Ursus»? Is the real cast specified at your web-site?

Julia Chernyavskaya: Yes, we are negotiating with Cate Blanchett, if this is what you mean. Mostly we discuss deadlines. Cate Blanchett loved the script. We want to shoot the next year and we really hope that our schedules coincide with the actresses’. We are planning to invite Bohdan Benyuk from Ukraine and Nikolaz Tovadze from Georgia.

What is the approximate film budget?

Oleg Shcherbina: 2.5 million dollars.

Ukrainian and Georgian markets are unable to cover costs for production of this film, how are you going to cover the budget?

Oleg Shcherbina: The film is meant for a worldwide release. We are ending our negotiations with German distributor AKTIS Film International, that will distribute and sell rights for the film in Europe and worldwide.

And what about Cate Blanchett? She is not going to work for free, is she?

Julia Chernyavskaya: Working with such projects is a normal practice for stars. As we have already mentioned, Cate Blanchett loved the script very much. Initially the budget included inviting this kind of a star, and we have no financial problems with Cate Blanchett. Of course, the payment sum for such films is not as big as for Hollywood blockbusters.

What projects are you planning to launch on the TV except for Rendezvous at K1 channel?

Julia Chernyavskaya: We have developed several TV projects, mostly reality shows, and we are negotiating them at the moment. As for television films and serials, the nearest future plans include continuation of the series «Under mysterious circumstances» together with Star Media, as well as production of a new eight-episode film «Peoples Detective»  based on the book «Ghouls Won’t Break Through» by Valeriy and Nataliya Lapikura. We are also planning to launch production of documental films.

Is there any problem with the growing net cost of serial production?

Oleg Shcherbina: I would rather say there is a problem with orders. In summer 2008 the production volume in Ukraine and Russia was several times bigger than it is now. So this market has not recovered completely yet.

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