Film Company 1-2-3 Production (PREMIER Studios) managed by producers Valeriy Fedorovich and Evgeniy Nikishov is included in the list of the Russian Cinema Fund industry leaders. Now there are 10 film companies on the list – production studios which projects have become box-office hits in Russia.

On August 11, 1-2-3 Production - now as an industry leader - will pitch its new drama "Bansu" taking place in 1943 on the American military base in Alaska.

The creators of the best projects will show their works to the heads of PREMIER Studios, director and general producer of TV-3 channel, Valery Fedorovich and Evgeny Nikishov.

The organizer are waiting for "... a story about a bright, extraordinary, extremely modern hero under the pressure of challenging circumstances." References: "An Ordinary Woman", "Call DiCaprio", "Epidemic", "Billions", "Sex Education", "Sharp Objects", "Peaky Blinders", "The Witcher".

The pitching winners will be offered to sign development contracts and start the production of the projects as a part of PREMIER Studios.

Details: https://www.artkinoclub.ru/pitching/

Major social events have always radically changed the genre preferences of the current population. Each crisis inspires certain genres to rise in prominence and others to fall. In the past, the public demanded stability (reflected in the soap opera), comedy (reflected in sitcoms) or, at times, justice (reflected in the golden age of the detective movies and serials).

We cannot yet tell which genres will rise in popularity after the end of the pandemic but the first herald of the mass reflection is set to release on 'TV3-Dark' Youtube channel this Thursday, the 23rd of June.

Unpacking, Vyacheslav Popov's new short film, devotes great attention to the human body and the limits of its possibilities. In light of what we witnessed this spring, the movie looks even more terrifying than the darkest fantasies of the creators of the Black Mirror.

Unpacking was created in the midst of the lockdown. It is the first movie made by one of the ten winners of the Russian "Lockdown Stories" competition organized by the 1-2-3 Production movie company (PREMIER Studios).

Anna Gudkova, the creative producer of the TV-3 network and 1-2-3 Production (PREMIER Studios) had this to say:

"At the end of the completion, we chose 10 participants whose works were completely different in both themes and genres. The plot of Unpacking, a fantasy biological horror, is both original and simple. It tells about the near future where the quarantine created a new niche for content-bloggers to monetize: to genetically and biologically alter their bodies with the help of different viruses. As we see more and more news about antibody tests, Unpacking's plot is becoming a very relevant kind of dystopia."

The movie is set in the not so distant post-quarantine future where immunobloggers are enjoying a steady rise in popularity. They inject themselves with different kinds of dangerous viruses during livestreams with the intent of building up immunities against them. Bloggers such as our main hero, Tasha, can sell their blood at a very high price, especially if it has antibodies against multiple viruses and not just one. Taking risks is the only way to earn more views and subscribers. One virus is not too bad, but three or maybe five at the same time... How many viruses can a human body withstand simultaneously? And what will end up killing it - the virus megamix or something else?

The Unpacking creators are planning on making a sequel. Its development is being supervised by producers from the TV-3 network and the 1-2-3 Production movie company (PREMIER Studios).

The PREMIER Studios film company has launched an idea accelerator for the comedy genre for those who know a lot about humor. Both beginners and experienced teams of filmmakers can participate in the accelerator program. The teams are to tell their story in the format of a pilot web-video with a running time of no more than 15 minutes.

The application for participation in the accelerator should include:

1. Logline (one sentence) - the main idea of the series

2. Summary (half page) - a description of how the series will develop

3. The script for the pilot episode

4. Justification of the uniqueness of the project (one to three sentences) - what originality it has and why it will be watched

5. Business card of the creative person or team, with a link to their portfolio or previous work

Applications are accepted until August 30 inclusive at: . Do not forget to indicate in the subject line of the letter: "Comedy Accelerator", as well as your name and contacts for communication.

This entire process, from selection to idea development, is supervised by the creative producers of PREMIER Studios. The applicants' submissions pass through two selection stages. At the first stage, the applicants present their projects to the accelerator curators in an idea-pitch format on a predetermined day and time. In the second stage, they pitch directly to the studio managers. All accelerator participants should be prepared to tell their story with budgeted funds in the format of a pilot episode of up to 15 minutes in length.

The Russian science fiction film The Blackout starring Peter Fyodorov and Alexei Chadov will be released in China on iQIYI, the country's largest national video-on-demand service. This service is visited by over 500 million users monthly, including more than 50 million paid subscribers. This was announced during the Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition movie market event, which started in Moscow on June 8. The agreement with the representative of the world's largest distribution market was signed by the Central Partnership company (part of Gazprom Media Holding), which controls the international rights to The Blackout. iQIYI was founded by the Chinese Internet giant Baidu and is, among other things, an online distributor of Netflix Original content in China. Actually, the service itself is often called the Chinese counterpart of Netflix. In addition to licensed content, there are more than 80 popular original projects made by its own production enterprises.

This announcement means that the Russian post-apocalyptic thriller will be presented in all the most significant international territories. Earlier it was announced that The Blackout would be released in the USA (through the distributor Shout Factory) and in Japan (through New Select), where on June 12 it will open a national film distribution after the COVID-19 quarantine expires. To date, screening rights to The Blackout have been sold to more than 90 countries, including South Korea, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Poland, Turkey and Brazil.

The film company PREMIER Studios is to launch a Documentary Accelerator. Its purpose is to collect real stories about events, people and their destinies to create and launch new documentary films and serials based on these stories.

The Documentary Accelerator will have three stages: pitching ideas, developing scripts, and shooting pilot episodes. The whole process will be supervised by two experienced curators: Pavel Kostomarov, cinematographer and director of documentary and feature films (TV serials Outbreak, Chernobyl: Zone of Exclusion, and the documentary programs Deadline: Beginning of a Big Story, Mother, The Settlement) and Alexander Urzhanov, screenwriter and CEO of Amurskie volny (Russian Jews, S zakrytymi oknami).

Anyone can contribute a ready-made idea for a documentary to the Accelerator. You can send your ideas to with the subject line of "Documentary Accelerator" from now through until June 10, 2020.

The Russian science fiction feature film The Blackout is to be one of the first large-scale film premieres in Japan after the quarantine ends. The post-apocalyptic thriller, starring Pyotr Fyodorovand Aleksey Chadov, will be released in the Land of the Rising Sun on June 12, 2020 on more than 100 screens.

The release agreement was signed by Central Partnership (part of Gazprom Media Holding), which owns international rights to The Blackout, and New Select Company. The latter is an independent Japanese entertainment distributor with almost half a century of history, which, for example, released last year's National Geographic's film Free Solo, the 2019 Academy Award ("Oscar") winner for Best Documentary Feature.

In recent years, Russian films have become increasingly popular in Japan and are setting new records for box office sales, so Japanese distributors are showing increased interest in Russian content.

The Japanese film distribution market is the third largest by box office revenue following North America and China. This, it suffered no less from the coronavirus pandemic than the others. Japanese cinemas were closed in mid-April. It was not until May 11 that some concessions were made for rural prefectures, where cinemas are gradually beginning to reopen.

Virginia Mouseler, co-founder of the WIT research company chose "The Outbreak" to be the only Russian project in Fresh TV Fiction – the exclusive selection of the most buzzing shows from around the globe. The series from PREMIER Studios tells about lethal virus pandemic that outbursts in Moscow and forces the main character (performed by Kirill Käro) flee with his wife (Viktoria Isakova) and her son, as well as his ex-wife (Mariana Spivak, "Loveless") and their child.

The story is based on the best-selling novel "Vonglake" by Yana Vagner.

"The work of Pavel Kostomarov is not about the epidemic itself, but about people and their choice whether or not to preserve humanity in themselves. Now many viewers have an opportunity to reassess their priorities and their values. I think this is the main thing about what is happening now," – says Valery Fedorovich, the producer of PREMIER Studios.

There will be many new stories of people who are forced to spend their days in quarantine, caught by an epidemic of a deadly virus: What might some of these stories be? A cruel drama? A hedonistic comedy? Perhaps a biopic about the birth of an original startup? Or maybe a horror or even a slasher film? Yes, it could be anything! PREMIER platform and PREMIER Studios announces a new contest for short video stories 10 minutes long or less. According to the terms of the competition, each video should establish a template for creating something more involved - for example, a series or an online show. The description should explain how the story shown can develop, and it should also introduce the creator(s) of the video.

"A situation that we previously saw only in science fiction films has suddenly turned out to be real - and it turns out that in reality things are not quite as we imagined. The quarantine took many by surprise: people were abroad, on vacation, in hotels, country houses, perhaps on a yacht, or maybe someone visiting his or her grandmother's village. But even those who are simply spending this time at home with their families are sure to have something to tell the world about," said Valeriy Fedorovich, producer and one of the leaders of PREMIER Studios.

"Now, many people have time to reflect on their own lives and to watch others. We suggest using this opportunity rationally. I have no doubt that this crisis can give the world some really fresh, original and, most importantly, true stories about those who find themselves in an unusual situation. Do it! And we will help you realize the most daring and crazy ideas," adds another head of PREMIER Studios, Evgeny Nikishov.

Both beginners and experienced filmmakers can take part in this competition - anyone who has a story to tell about how his or her life radically changed over this past month, and who, even in these times of crisis, is ready to make new discoveries on the path to self-realization. PREMIER Studios will help the authors of the ten best projects (to be selected by an expert jury) shoot their whole story, and then show it to the world on the PREMIER platform.

Details:

https://www.instagram.com/premier_studios_production/

https://www.facebook.com/tntpremierstudios/

The Festival of Russian cinema in Paris announced the winners. The jury, which included the famous writer and director Emmanuel Carrer, director of the CINE+ channel Bruno Deloet, and actress Dinara Drukarova, unanimously awarded the main prize of the full-length competition to Nigina Sayfullaeva's sexually explicit drama "Fidelity" produced by Premier Studios together with the Drug Druga company.

"A prize is always the opinion of specific people. The jury of the Paris Film Festival is stunning. Therefore, this prize is of special value to our team," said Nigina Sayfullaeva, who was unable to attend the award ceremony. "I hope the opinion of the jury is in line with that of the rest of the French public, and our box office run will be as successful as the showing in Paris."

The Festival of Russian cinema in Paris is held for the sixth time at the four central venues of the capital. From March 2 to 9, the public was presented with more than 30 films, united by the slogan "When Russians Surprise Us." In addition to "Fidelity," the full-length competition featured three more films - "The Bull" by Boris Akopov, "Great Poetry" by Aleksandr Lungin, and "We Look Good in Death" by Boris Gouts.

At the Berlin International Film Festival, a special screening of the thriller 'Identification' directed by Vladlena Sandu took place within the framework of the European Film Market. The first of eight episodes of this action-packed and dramatic project by Premier Studios was shown to a professional audience at the main venue of the film festival, in Berlin's most famous movie theater, the Zoo Palast. The leading role in the series is played by the rising star of European cinema Lena Tronina. Earlier here in Berlin, a premiere of the drama 'Kids Run' directed by Barbara Ott featuring Tronina was honored to open the fashionable festival section of the Perspektive Deutsches Kino.

The world premiere of 'Identification' took place in March 2019 in the main competition of the international Series Mania festival in France. In Russia, the series was first shown in April as part of the First Episode program of the 41st Moscow International Film Festival. In addition, 'Identification' participated in the main program of the 25th Geneva International Film Festival (GIFF).

February 2 concluded the 49th Rotterdam International Film Festival, one of the most famous and respected festivals in Europe. The main program Voices featured 42 films, among which was the Russian film Fidelity directed by Nigina Sayfullaeva.

When selecting films for Voices, the committee looks for bright and extraordinary characters, important acute social topics, as well as a convincing presentation of the author's position. The winner of this program is guaranteed a box office release in the Netherlands.

In Rotterdam, the film Fidelity was presented by the director of the film Nigina Sayfullaeva, producer Sergey Kornikhin, lead actress Evgeniya Gromova, and cameraman Mark Ziselson.

On October 31th , one of the founders of the famous American rock band Linkin Park Mike Shinoda published a mysterious post with the numbers 11.01.19 on his personal page in Instagram, which intrigued the fans. A post followed with a short musical excerpt from the new song. Today the intrigue was revealed. Mike's song with the ironic title fine was written specifically for the Russian blockbuster "The Blackout". For the premiere of this track, the creators of "The Blackout" released an extended trailer, which included many new footages from the movie.

Music video
Video message
Track

"When the Director of the film Egor Baranov sent me an excerpt from the film, I immediately had an idea in my head what song I would like to record for it," Mike Shinoda said. "The tension and anxiety of the film instantly resonated in my heart"

Directors and screenwriters Natasha Merkulova and Alexey Chupov won the prize for the best script at the second Pilot Festival for TV series programming which ended in Ivanovo on September 22. Their victory was earned by their series "Call Center", an action-packed thriller about the employees of an online store for adults who are locked in their office by unknown maniacs who are surprisingly knowledgeableabout the lives of each of the employees. The first public screening of this project was held in Ivanovo. Call-Center attracted a full house and was warmly welcomed by both the professional film press and ordinary viewers. Call-Center will premiere on the PREMIER online platform. Last year at the Pilot Festival, a similar prize was awarded to another PREMIER Studios project – the series"Teachers" and its author Ilya Kulikov. This series is presently showing on PREMIER.

Call-Center

Script writers and directors: Natasha Merkulova, Alexey Chupov

Cast: Julia Hlynina, Pavel Tabakov, Vladimir Yaglych, Nikita Tarasov, Polina Pushkaruk, Olga Venikova, Levan Khurtsia, Askar Nigamedzyanov, Alisa Selnikova, Yegor Sheremetyev, Zoya Kaydanovskaya, Sabina Akhmedova, Anatoly Bely, Stasia Miloslavskaya and others.

From September 17 to September 20, 2019, the second annual Premio Felix Russian-Italian Film Festival was held in Milan. The grand prizewinner of the Festival was the film "The Storm" directed by Grigori Konstantinopolsky.

With great enthusiasm, the Italian audience greeted the film based on the play by the Russian classic playwright Alexander Ostrovsky, who is often called "the Russian Shakespeare."

The Italians have historically always admired Russian classic writers such as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Now they have rediscovered Ostrovsky.

The prize was awarded to actor and musician Ivan Makarevich. Ivan played a very characteristic role about a hero who raps about what is happening around him and who is actively involved in the lives of all the characters in the picture.

He wrote and recorded music with lyrics for his character himself.

Representatives of Universal Pictures, Legendary Pictures, HBO, Blumhouse and other industry leaders are gathering in St. Petersburg, Russia, for the AFCI Cineposium 2019. Russia is being represented by the production company PREMIER Studios. On September 13, the 43rd Cineposium of the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI), which brings together key representatives of the production industry from 45 countries, will begin in St. Petersburg.

Production company PREMIER Studios will present its new project - the dramatic thriller The Outbreak starring Victoria Isakova and Mariana Spivak, which will appear on the online platform PREMIER in November this year.

The screen version of the novel "Vongozero", the finalist of the Canneseries Festival in France and the Moscow International Film Festival, will be presented at 16:50 by Lily Sheroziya, marketing and television project specialist at PREMIER Studios.

The presentation will be held in the framework of a panel discussion titled, "Location vs Budget: when location is a key factor", with the participation of the Head of Productions of Blumhouse, Jeanette Volturno; line producer Michel Ruben ("AllAbout My Mother", "Talk to Her", "Drug"); and also KFTV and Screen International Regional Editor Chris Evans.

PREMIER Studios and TV-3 announce the final poster and trailer for the fantastic action-thriller The Blackout, portraying the aftermath of the apocalypse in Russia during an extraterrestrial attack in the near future. This blockbuster comes from the creators of the very successful Gogol box office movie trilogy, producers Valeriy Fedorovich and Evgeniy Nikishov; directed by Egor Baranov. The Blackout will premiere in Russian cinemas on November 21^st, 2019.

"When you watch our new large-scale trailer, I hope you will see that The Blackout is a movie that must be watched on a large cinema screen. Director Egor Baranov and a team of actors led by Yuri Korobeinikov, Aleksey Chadov, Svetlana Ivanova, Konstantin Lavronenko, Lukerya Ilyashenko and Ksenia Kutepova worked for two years to shoot this Russian fiction at a fundamentally new quality that should surprise the viewer. This is not only about computer graphics, but most of all, it is about the story and characters", said Valeriy Fedorovich, producer of The Blackout.

"The heroes of The Blackout are ordinary people like you and me who, by the will of fate, find themselves in a situation where communication with almost the entire planet has been lost. The catastrophe's effects are also known and felt locally - in neighboring cities, even on local streets. Friends and relatives outside Moscow have all disappeared, as if they were never there. An unidentified enemy constantly closes a ring of darkness around our heroes. The apocalyptic science fiction genre as used in The Blackout is created in order, first of all, to tell a powerful story about the most important things - love, friendship, duty and humanity", noted Evgeniy Nikishov, producer of The Blackout.

Poster

Trailer

THE BLACKOUT

Synopsis:
No meteorites hit Earth, no terrorists put the world in danger, no atomic war was started, but something did go wrong. Contact between most towns on Earth has been severed. A small ring-like area in Eastern Europe still has electricity, and maybe even life is being reported from the Space. What military forces find outside the Ring is shocking. There are dead corpses everywhere: in stores, in cars, on roads, in hospitals and railway stations. Who or what is destroying all life on Earth? How long will the last outpost of mankind survive?

Genre: Action, War-Fi, Thriller

Actors: Aleksey Chadov, Pyotr Fyodorov, Konstantin Lavronenko, Svetlana Ivanova, Lukerya Ilyashenko, Kseniya Kutepova, Yuriy Borisov, Sergey Godin, Filipp Avdeyev, Ilya Malanin, Angelina Strechina, Artem Tkachenko

Director: Egor Baranov

Screenplay: Ilya Kulikov

Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov, Ivan Golomovzyuk

Host producers: Maksim Filatov, Olga Kurenkova

Executive producers: Galina Kadantseva , Galina Strizhevskaya, Pavel Romanskiy

Director of photography: Yuriy Korobeinikov, Sergey Trofimov

Production designer: Grigoriy Pushkin

Costume designer: Vladimir Kuptsov

Stunt Director: Alexander Stetsenko

Composer: Ryan Otter

On August 27, in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, at the On the Edge film festival, the first two episodes of the apocalyptic fantasy project The Outbreak were premiered. The Outbreak is an adaptation of Yana Wagner's novel Vongozero with the participation of Viktoria Isakova, Maryana Spivak, Kirill Kyaro, Yuriy Kuznetsov and Aleksander Robak, who presented the series to guests and participants of the festival. After the show, Alexander Robak, who is also a member of the jury of the Sakhalin festival, talked with the audience and answered questions about the project.

An intense family drama set against the backdrop of a global catastrophe, The Outbreak portrays an unknown virus that quickly paralyzes the city of Moscow. Sergey, accompanied by his new lover and her autistic son, as well as his ex-wife, their own son, and several other companions who have joined them, is trying to escape beyond the borders of the quarantine. Somewhere far away, on a remote island in Karelia, there is a hunting lodge where they can start their lives anew. But the road to a new life will not be easy, because our heroes are not only fleeing from the global catastrophe, they also have to face and deal with their own family dramas.

The world premiere of The Outbreak series took place in April at the CanneSeries international festival in France, and its film version was included in the main competition of the Moscow International Film Festival. The Outbreak was also awarded with a special commendation "For the highest achievement in genre cinema" at Chitka, the first film screening festival in Moscow.

THE OUTBREAK

Genre: Drama

Running time: 48 min

Number of episodes: 8

Production: PREMIER STUDIOS

Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov, Dzhanik Fayziev, Ivan Golomovzyuk, Aleksandr
Bondarev, Rafael Minasbekyan

Host producers: Maksim Filatov, Olga Kurenkova

Executive producers: Darya Perunovskaya, Mariya Ionova

Director: Pavel Kostomarov

Screenwriter: Roman Kantor

Cinematographer: David Khayznikov

Production Designer: Mariya Pasichnik

Сostume director: Daria Fomina, Marusya Parfenova-Chukhray

Makeup artist: Elina Karakhanova

Cast: Kirill Käro, Viktoriya Isakova, Maryana Spivak, Aleksandr Robak, Yuriy Kuznetsov, Anna
Mikhalkova, Aleksandr Yatsenko, Viktoriya Agalakova, Natalya Zemtsova, Eldar Kalimulin, Saveliy Kudryashov, Evgeny Sitiy, Igor Savochkin, Pavel Vorozhtsov, Artyom Suchkov

PREMIER Studios Company, the TV-3 Channel and the Central Partnership Film Company (part of Gazprom Media) announce the launch of production for the sci-fi blockbuster Metro 2033 based on the world-renowned fictional universe by Dmitry Glukhovsky. The domestic premiere is scheduled on January, 1, 2022.

The universe of the post-apocalyptic novel Metro 2033 includes Dmitry Glukhovsky's original trilogy, Metro 2033, Metro 2034, and Metro 2035, more than 100 tie-in novels written by fans from all over the world, and several video games for PС, Xbox, PlayStation that have become world-wide super hits. The first novel of the series, Metro 2033, has been translated into 40 languages. The total number of copies sold exceeds five millions. The film adaptation by the PREMIER Studios, TV-3, and the Central Partnership will be the first for this cult post-apocalyptic work, even though western cinema studios have been eager to screen it for many years.

"I am glad that our company signed a contract with Dmitry Glukhovsky. The book by this Russian author has become known throughout the world and it is embedded in the cultural code of sci-fi fans and gamers all over the planet. For us and the Gazprom Media Holding, this is a dream project, the most ambitious and large-scale film that we have ever launched. We intendto invest an unprecedented sum for the Holding's films into the production and promotion of this movie both in Russia and abroad," said the film's producer Valery Fedorovich.

"Metro 2033 is my first novel. It played a very special role in my life, and, despite getting numerous offers to screen it, I turned them all down for over ten years. In Russia, I didn't see any producers who could make a good screening for this book. It just seemed impossible. But now I finally met a team that I can entrust Metro with. Our ambitions turned out to be similar: to create a world-class blockbuster and stun even those who have read the trilogy and know it by heart. So as not to disappoint them, I am ready to become a creative producer of the movie and help create it with both my advice and action. I think, now, we all have to work hard, otherwise we won't be able to take on the world," said Dmitry Glukhovsky.

Filming starts in 2020. The start of the Russian distribution of Metro 2033 is planned for the 1st of January, 2022. The producers believe that the film will be in the spotlight of the cinema releases competition during the New Year holidays and capture the attention of both the young fans of Dmitry Glukhovsky's fantastic worlds as well as more mature viewers.

"In the last decades, a real mass culture cult of post-apocalyptic fiction has taken shape in our country, therefore, it bears great box-office potential. Books by the Strugatsky Brothers and Dmytry Glukhovsky, the Fallout and the Last of Us video games, the Walking Dead series, and Mad Max in cinema are just a few titles on the list of those that are popular with Russians of all ages. That's why we are planning the largest-scale advertising campaign we have ever done. We will soon announce who will become Metro 2033's director and scriptwriter, and we will soon announce the casting. We plan to see many stars among the creators and actors," Evgeniy Nikishov noted.

Metro 2033 is a cult novel that has played a great role in the development of a whole generation. Regarding cinema production, this work is difficult to adapt for screening but it will undoubtedly pay off as a major hit at the box office," commented Vadim Vereshchagin, director of the Central Partnership Film Company.

Exclusive rights to the film will belong to Gazprom-Media.

Fidelity by Nigina Saifullayeva is a movie co-produced by the companies PREMIER Studios and Friend of a Friend. Fidelity will open in all Russian theaters on October 31, 2019.

Fidelity premiered as part of the official selection at the 30^th annual Kinotavr Film Festival in Sochi. The film received contrasting reviews. Fidelity was praised by critics, and the board of the "Art of Cinematography" awarded it their Grand Prize. Anton Dolin characterized the film as "a little revolution" for its degree of candor and sensuality. The media aggregator Afisha called it "the most sincere movie about adultery".

The film stars Alexander Pal and Yevgeniya Gromova. Director Nigina Saifullayeva, whose first project "What Is My Name?" proved her capable of making dramatic films with strong erotic elements, says:

"Fidelity sets the precedent for nationwide releases of such open-minded films for adult viewers. The 18+ rating not only allows the film to talk about sex, but also to show it. Thanks to Mark Ziselson's impeccable camera work, erotic scenes are not merely effective bait; they are inherent to the essence of themovie. The creative team behind Fidelity hopes that it will attract both independent film enthusiasts and fans of box-office melodramas.

Nelli Yaralova leaves Amedia Production for PREMIER Studios

Nelli Yaralova will join the PREMIER Studios team on August 1. Valeriy Fedorovich and Yevgeniy Nikishov offered Nelli position of the general producer of the company that produces films and shows for the TNT, TV-3 and PREMIER channels.

"We're happy to welcome such an experienced and high-profile producer as Nelli Yaralova to our team. PREMIER Studios is at the stage of active development and expansion, so we expect that Nelli will bring about more brilliant and exciting projects of premium quality for the PREMIER online theater," said Valeriy Fedorovich.

Prior to that, Nelly Yaralova was holding the same position at the motion picture company Amedia Production.

"It's a perfect coincidence that Nelli is joining us at the same time as we're starting production of "The Survivor", our joint project with Amedia. It's an adventure action blockbuster by Karen Oganesyan, which will be released on PREMIER next year. It's the first show that we're producing together with Nelli, so it's a great start of an efficient and, hopefully, continuous collaboration," added Yevgeniy Nikishov, producer and CEO of PREMIER Studios.

Valeriy Fedorovich, the producer and studio manager, specified Nelli Yaralova's duties: working with ideas and scenarios, developing and launching new shows, as well as recruiting new experts and forming new teams.

"I'm happy to join PREMIER Studios, which is one of the best teams in our film industry. Their projects excel in terms of creativity and production quality. Our cooperation opens up for incredible prospects and promises new massive and exciting projects. A few are already being designed and discussed. At my new position, I intend to develop my own ideas, as well as engage other fellow producers in searching for interesting projects. In addition to my experience as a producer, I'm highly competent in finding and recruiting creative team members. One of our strategic purposes will be to employ ambitious and talented showrunners, as well as young directors, cameramen, actors, writers, and artists who are still either unknown or are in the very beginning of their path to perfection and fame," said Nelli Yaralova.

PREMIER produced TV show The Outbreak starring Viktoriya Isakova, Maryana Spivak, Kirill Käro, and Aleksandr Robak, has received a special certificate "For the greatest achievement in genre cinema" at the First Festival of Adaptations "Chitka". The jury – directors Sergey Ursulyak (the president of the jury) and Vladimir Kott, actress Alena Babenko, and writers Aleksey Ivanov and Alexandra Marinina, – highly appreciated the show directed by Pavel Kostomarov and based on Yana Vagner's novel To The Lake:

"The Outbreak is a wonderful genre project and totally on a par with the best international HBO- and Netflix-produced shows that kindle unfailing interest in the world audiences. I have no doubt this TV show will have a lot of fans in Russia," said writer Alexey Ivanov, member of the Chitka jury.

The award ceremony took place in the Moscow theatre "Kosmos" on June 23, with the closing film being another PREMIER Studios project, Grigoriy Konstantinopolskiy's new film The Storm which is based on Alexander Ostrovsky's play of the same name.

The Outbreak is a family drama in the midst of a global disaster.An unknown virus turns Moscow into a city of the dead. There is no electricity, money has lost all value and those who are still not infected, are desperately fighting for food and fuel. The main character, Sergei, lives outside the city with the woman he loves and her autistic son. It's still safe there. In spite of that he rushes to Moscow to save his ex-wife and their son, although she hates Sergei . These people, who never believed they'd be under the same roof again, have to put the past behind them and set off on a long, dangerous journey north to find an isolated hunting lodge on a deserted island.

The Outbreak premiered at the international festival CanneSeries in France.

THE OUTBREAK

Genre: Drama

Running time: 48 min

Number of episodes: 8

Production: PREMIER STUDIOS

Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov, Dzhanik Fayziev, Ivan Golomovzyuk, Aleksandr
Bondarev, Rafael Minasbekyan

Host producers: Maksim Filatov, Olga Kurenkova

Executive producers: Darya Perunovskaya, Mariya Ionova

Director: Pavel Kostomarov

Screenwriter: Roman Kantor

Cinematographer: David Khayznikov

Production Designer: Mariya Pasichnik

Сostume director: Daria Fomina, Marusya Parfenova-Chukhray

Makeup artist: Elina Karakhanova

Cast: Kirill Käro, Viktoriya Isakova, Maryana Spivak, Aleksandr Robak, Yuriy Kuznetsov, Anna
Mikhalkova, Aleksandr Yatsenko, Viktoriya Agalakova, Natalya Zemtsova, Eldar Kalimulin, Saveliy Kudryashov, Evgeny Sitiy, Igor Savochkin, Pavel Vorozhtsov, Artyom Suchkov

And yes, An Ordinary Woman. Untold Story turned out so graphic that it didn't make it to TV: the series will be available only on PREMIER.

On June 20, a new version of Boris Khlebnikov's series An Ordinary Woman. Untold Story will be released on the online platform PREMIER. Contrary to what usually goes on in the film industry, the famous director (Boris Khlebnikov) allowed the screenwriter Maria Melenevskaya to voice her opinion and agreed to present the show to the audience as it was supposed to look originally: even more revealing and feminist, boldly defying – as if dealing harsh blows to – the traditional patriarchal ideas.

"The online platform presented us with opportunities that in a way gave us carte blanche, and I agreed to the idea suggested by our screenwriter Maria Melenevskaya: release an even more feminist and uncompromising version of An Ordinary Woman," says Boris Khlebnikov. "The audience are in for many more untold stories of women that we think very important to tell."

"Being the only woman in our creative group, I couldn't but feel sorry for the fact that the first version of An Ordinary Woman didn't include some scenes that are important to understanding the characters of Marina (played by Anna Mikhalkova) and Sveta (played by Aglaya Tarasova), scenes that evoke more sympathy to them," says screenwriter Maria Melenevskaya. "I'm glad that, thanks to the support of my co-author Denis Utochkin, I was able to persuade Boris to release the new version of our work. I hope it'll help people to see the whole story from a slightly different point of view."

An Ordinary Woman has become one of the most resonant and discussed shows of 2018. It's the first Russian project to enter the main competition of the prestigious French international TV- and web series festival Series Mania, where Anna Mikhalkova was awarded the prize for the best female actress. Later, this role also brought her the Golden Eagle and the Russian TV and Cinema Producers Association awards. An Ordinary Woman was also part of the Zurich Film Festival (Switzerland) and the national festival Movement in Omsk (Russia). Independent British TV content distributor Cineflix Rights acquired the rights to show the series, which is also available at VoD services in Australia (SBS On Demand) and New Zealand (TVNZ ondemand).

AN ORDINARY WOMAN

Production: PREMIER Studios, Look Film Studio

Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov

Director: Boris Khlebnikov

Scriptwriters: Maria Melenevskaya, Denis Utochkin

Director of photography: Denis Madyshev

Art director: Olga Khlebnikova

Cast: Anna Mihalkova, Boris Khlebnikov, Evgeny Grishkovetz, Alexandra Bortich, Maria Andreeva, Aglaya Tarasova

Genre: Crime, Drama

What if it's the apocalypse out of your window?

PREMIER Studios presents the official teaser-trailer of "The Blackout" - Egor Baranov's massive duology that was shot not so long ago.

WATCH TEASER-TRAILER

"The Blackout" Part I will be released on November the 21th, 2019, and Part II on May the 9th, 2020.


THE BLACKOUT

Synopsis:
No meteorites hit Earth, no terrorists put the world in danger, no atomic war was started, but something did go wrong. Contact between most towns on Earth has been severed. A small ring-like area in Eastern Europe still has electricity, and maybe even life is being reported from the Space. What military forces find outside the Ring is shocking. There are dead corpses everywhere: in stores, in cars, on roads, in hospitals and railway stations. Who or what is destroying all life on Earth? How long will the last outpost of mankind survive?

Genre: Action, War-Fi, Thriller

Actors: Aleksey Chadov, Pyotr Fyodorov, Konstantin Lavronenko, Svetlana Ivanova, Lukerya Ilyashenko, Kseniya Kutepova, Yuriy Borisov, Sergey Godin, Filipp Avdeyev, Ilya Malanin, Angelina Strechina, Artem Tkachenko

Director: Egor Baranov

Screenplay: Ilya Kulikov

Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov, Ivan Golomovzyuk

Host producers: Maksim Filatov, Olga Kurenkova

Executive producers: Galina Kadantseva , Galina Strizhevskaya, Pavel Romanskiy

Director of photography: Yuriy Korobeinikov, Sergey Trofimov

Production designer: Grigoriy Pushkin

Costume designer: Vladimir Kuptsov

Stunt Director: Alexander Stetsenko

Composer: Ryan Otter


PR team of the film:

Vladimir Permyakov
+7(982)482-60-90
[email protected]

Dmitry Bortnikov
+7(965)391-61-86
[email protected]

What if it's the apocalypse out of your window?

THT-PREMIER Studios presents the official teaser-trailer of "The Blackout" - Egor Baranov's massive duology that was shot not so long ago.

WATCH TEASER-TRAILER

"The Blackout" Part I will be released on November the 21th, 2019, and Part II on May the 9th, 2020.


THE BLACKOUT

Synopsis:
No meteorites hit Earth, no terrorists put the world in danger, no atomic war was started, but something did go wrong. Contact between most towns on Earth has been severed. A small ring-like area in Eastern Europe still has electricity, and maybe even life is being reported from the Space. What military forces find outside the Ring is shocking. There are dead corpses everywhere: in stores, in cars, on roads, in hospitals and railway stations. Who or what is destroying all life on Earth? How long will the last outpost of mankind survive?

Genre: Action, War-Fi, Thriller

Actors: Aleksey Chadov, Pyotr Fyodorov, Konstantin Lavronenko, Svetlana Ivanova, Lukerya Ilyashenko, Kseniya Kutepova

Director: Egor Baranov

Screenplay: Ilya Kulikov

Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov, Ivan Golomovzyuk

Director of photography: Yuriy Korobeinikov, Sergey Trofimov

Production designer: Grigoriy Pushkin

Costume designer: Vladimir Kuptsov

Stunt Director: Alexander Stetsenko

Composer: Ryan Otter


PR team of the film:

Vladimir Permyakov
+7(982)482-60-90
[email protected]

Dmitry Bortnikov
+7(965)391-61-86
[email protected]

In May, filming of the war-fi post-apocalyptic thriller "The Blackout" came to an end. Final scenes of Egor Baranov's massive duology were shot on the territory of the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory. The content of the scene and of the film itself are held in the strictest confidence. It's very symbolic that the filming ended in the Roscosmos Observatory, as the creators of "The Blackout" were aiming for a breakthrough in Russian sci-fi film.

Two top Russian filmmakers — the director of the Gogol movie trilogy, Egor Baranov, and the creator of a blockbuster V.I.P. Cop. New Year's Mayhem, screenwriter Ilya Kulikov joined their creative forces to create this mysterious, spectacular duology with Part I being released on November the 21th, 2019, and Part II on May the 9th, 2020.

Visual effects for "The Blackout" are produced by Studio Amalgama VFX that worked on such films as Gogol, Chernobyl 2. Exclusion Zone, Attraction, Salyut 7, The Icebreaker, and The Scythian.

"The Blackout" received awards of the Accolade Global Film Competition in the USA. Aleksey Chadov was awarded with the special prize for outstanding level of cinematography, the Award of Excellence. The panel of jury described Egor Baranov's work as an "elaborate directorial work" and mentioned the film's "intriguing plot, outstanding special effects, skillful cinematography and exceptional production design." For Egor Baranov, it's the second Accolade Global Film Competition Award: Gogol. Origins was awarded with the same prize back in 2017.

"The Blackout's" music score, composed by Ryan Otter (Gogol), was given the international Global Music Awards in the USA.


THE BLACKOUT

Synopsis:
No meteorites hit Earth, no terrorists put the world in danger, no atomic war was started, but something did go wrong. Contact between most towns on Earth has been severed. A small ring-like area in Eastern Europe still has electricity, and maybe even life is being reported from the Space. What military forces find outside the Ring is shocking. There are dead corpses everywhere: in stores, in cars, on roads, in hospitals and railway stations. Who or what is destroying all life on Earth? How long will the last outpost of mankind survive?

Genre: Action, War-Fi, Thriller

Actors: Aleksey Chadov, Pyotr Fyodorov, Konstantin Lavronenko, Svetlana Ivanova, Lukerya Ilyashenko, Kseniya Kutepova, Yuriy Borisov, Sergey Godin, Filipp Avdeyev, Ilya Malanin, Angelina Strechina, Artem Tkachenko

Director: Egor Baranov

Screenplay: Ilya Kulikov

Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov, Ivan Golomovzyuk

Host producers: Maksim Filatov, Olga Kurenkova

Executive producers: Galina Kadantseva , Galina Strizhevskaya, Pavel Romanskiy

Director of photography: Yuriy Korobeinikov, Sergey Trofimov

Production designer: Grigoriy Pushkin

Costume designer: Vladimir Kuptsov

Stunt Director: Alexander Stetsenko

Composer: Ryan Otter


PR team of the film:

Vladimir Permyakov
+7(982)482-60-90
[email protected]

Dmitry Bortnikov
+7(965)391-61-86
[email protected]

On June 15th, the jubilee XXXth Kinotavr festival will screen the premier of The Storm, a new film by director Grigoriy Konstantinopolskiy (WASTED, INC.), as a part of its main competition program. This film adaptation of the classic play by Alexander Ostrovsky was produced by successful producers Valeriy Fedorovich & Evgeniy Nikishov (Gogol, V.I.P. Cop. New Year's Mayhem). Starring Lyubov Aksyonova as protagonist Katerina and Viktoriya Tolstoganova who portrays cold-blooded Kabanikha on the screen.

The story is set in our time in a small town of Kalinov, on the Volga River, where nothing has changed since the time when the famous Russian playwright Alexander Ostrovsky first wrote about it: whenever rays of light do appear in the dark realm, they are destined to either quietly fade away amidst everyone's stupidity and ignorance or burn themselves down in a protest against lie and willfulness. A young married woman Katerina Kabanova lives a seemingly happy life. Her only problem is her mother-in-law who constantly finds faults with her and holds her feet to the fire all the time. Meanwhile, her fainthearted husband Tikhon, always takes his mother's side despite all his love for his wife. When Katerina finds herself in love with Mayor's relative, a young man Boris, she discovers that he also has feelings for her…

One of Russia's most peculiar directors - Grigoriy Konstantinopolskiy filmed the classic story of The Storm brilliantly blending the characters into our time and filling the Ostrovsky's tragedy with modern time elements and references.

For the Kinotavr festival, the creators of the film released a trailer that lets the audience feel Konstantinopolskiy's unique directing approach, enjoy The Storm's landscapes shot on the backdrop of the Volga River in in Nizhny Novgorod, and listen to a rap song performed by Ivan Makarevich.
In addition, an official poster for The Storm was released. It focuses on the protagonist Katerina portrayed by Luybov Aksyonova and conveys the atmosphere of the film that makes the viewers wonder, "Why don't people fly like birds?"

Poster

Photos

Trailer


THE STORM

Genre: Drama, Tragicomedy

Actors: Lubov Aksenova, Victoria Tolstoganova, Ivan Makarevich, Maria Shalaeva, Alexey Makarov, Alisa Khazanova, Vasily Butkevich, Sergey Gorodnichiy, Alexander Kuznetsov, Daria Kashirina, Nikita
Elenev, Anastasia Venkova

Director: Grigoriy Konstantinopolskiy

Screenplay: Grigoriy Konstantinopolskiy, Alezander Ostrovsky

Producers: Alexander Plotnikov, Evgeniy Nikishov, Vladislava Fetisova

Host producer: Olga Kurenkova

Director of photography: Anatoly Simchenko

Production designer: Polina Sokolova

Costume designer: Natalia Turivnikova, Dmitry Ivlev

Composer: Ivan Makarevich

Executive producer: Vladislava Fetisova


PR team of the film:

Vladimir Permyakov
+7(982)482-60-90
[email protected]

Dmitry Bortnikov
+7(965)391-61-86
[email protected]

Three projects produced by the Premier Awards (formerly 1-2-3 Production) were shortlisted for the Golden Trailer Awards – a prestigious international ceremony that takes place in the USA annually to honor achievements in film marketing and promotion.

The trailer for Gogol. A Terrible Vengeance has been nominated in the category Best Foreign Action Trailer among trailers for such projects as Netflix's Narcos and Chinese action movie Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy. The trailer for feature film The Dead Lake will compete with the British movie The Vanishing featuring Gerard Butler in the category Best Foreign Thriller Trailer. Egor Baranov's debut video for The Blackout is one of the nominees for Best Foreign Teaser, which also include Zhang Yimou's historical action Shadow and German crime story The Collini Case produced by Constantin Film (Resident Evil).

The Golden Trailer Awards winners will be announced on May 29 at the ceremony in the Theatre at the Ace Hotel DTLA in Los Angeles.

The detective thriller series "Identification" is the only Russian series included this year in the main competition of the Series Mania festival (Lille, France). It will be shown for the first time in Russia on April 23. The premiere of "Identification" will be held in the framework of the Moscow International Film Festival in "October" Cinema, in Moscow. The project will be presented by director Vladlena Sandu, lead actress Lena Tronina, cast members Polina Kutepova, Roman Vasilyev and Kuralbek Chokoev, as well as the producers of the show Valeriy Fedorovich and Evgeny Nikishov.

The "Identification" received rave reviews from the first professional viewers in France.

"Vladlena, you've achieved a beautiful piece of work! - French director Gilles Bannier wrote to his colleague Vladlena Sandu after the premiere. - The beauty of life is entering through every frame. Your Close up language is bold and wild. You're telling a classic story in such a poetic way that we feel we haven't seen this before. The pace of your editing and mise en scene creates depth for all your beautiful characters. It's a high pleasure to dive in such a storytelling. You are a great director. "

"Identification" will be shown in the program "The First Series", which will present the most promising and innovative shows from all over the world to the Russian audience. They include the award-winning Israeli social drama "Just For Today", the participant in Series Mania, the British political detective Chimerica, a new season dedicated to the Neapolitan mafia scandalous Italian TV series "Gomorra" and another TV project by PREMIER Studios - the comedy show starring Aleksandr Pal "Tony-Droid".

Orphan Valeria is the main character of "Identification", she works as a saleswoman in the Kyrgyz market in Moscow. Having fallen in love with Kirghiz, Haman, she abandons his brother Bakir, and converts to Islam, and becomes a part of the diaspora. Valerie's life collapses when Bakir tries to rape her at her own wedding, but Valeria is able to escape. After the wedding, Bakir's disfigured corpse is found. All the evidence confirms that Valeria killed him. Dreams of a happy marriage and family are crumbling. Daniel Kramer, the young lawyer suffering from cerebral palsy and a life-tired investigator - Grigory Plakhov are the only two people who believe she's innocent. Soon, the investigator finds out that the accused is wanted, and her whole life is a big lie.

Director Vladlena Sandu is a graduate of the director's workshop of Aleksey Uchitel at VGIK. Her thesis short films - autobiographical "Holy God" and "Eight Images from the Life of Nastya Sokolova" - entered the competition of the International Film Festival in Rotterdam (Holland) two years in a row, and were awarded numerous international awards. "Identification" is Vladlena's debut in a "big show" format.

Lena Tronina is a European actress of Kazakhstani origin who played the lead role in one of the episodes (2016) of the most popular TV show of the German countries – "Crime Scene" (Tatort, airs since 1970). Lena spent her whole childhood on the market, helping her parents make ends meet, and this experience also came in handy in her work on "Identification".

IDENTIFICATION

Genres: drama, detective, thriller

8x52

Production: PREMIER Studios

Director: Vladlena Sandu

Screenwriters: Vladlena Sandu, Nikita Ikonnikov

Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeny Nikishov, Ivan Golomovzyuk

Host producers: Elena Torchinskaya, Olga Kurenkova

Executive producers: Aleksey Nikolayev, Pavel Romanskiy, Boris Kokin

Cinematographer: Veronika Tiron

Sound producer: Denis Dubovik

Stars: Lena Tronina, Nikita Kukushkin, Polina Kutepova, Oleg Vasilkov, Anvar Osmonaliev, Kuralbek Chokoev, Roman Vasilev, Ernest Abdyzhaparov

An orphaned girl Valeria works as a sales assistant at a commodity market in Moscow. Falling in love with Kirghiz, Aman, she dumps his brother, Bakir and accepts Islam, becoming part of the Diaspora. Valeria's life collapses when Bakir tries to rape her at the wedding, but Valeria manages to escape. After the wedding, they find the mutilated corpse of Bakir. All the evidence confirms Valeria killed him. Dreams of a happy marriage and family are crumbling. The innocence of the heroine believes only a young lawyer suffering from cerebral palsy – Daniil Kramer and tired of life investigator – Grigory Plakhov. Soon, the investigator finds out that the accused is wanted, and all her life – lie.

PREMIER Studios presents the official trailer of "The Outbreak" - the first Russian project in the main competition of the prestigious international festival Canneseries in France, that was selected among the 10 best TV series of the planet from 1500 applicants. The world premiere of "The Outbreak" took place on April 9 in the crowded hall of Louis Lumiere in the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, where films of the main competition of the international Cannes film festival are shown

WATCH TRAILER

THE OUTBREAK

Genre: Drama

Running time: 48 min

Number of episodes: 8

Production: PREMIER Studios

Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov, Dzhanik Fayziev, Ivan Golomovzyuk, Aleksandr
Bondarev, Rafael Minasbekyan

Host producers: Maksim Filatov, Olga Kurenkova

Executive producers: Darya Perunovskaya, Mariya Ionova

Director: Pavel Kostomarov

Screenwriter: Roman Kantor

Cinematographer: David Khayznikov

Production Designer: Mariya Pasichnik

Сostume director: Daria Fomina,Marusya Parfenova-Chukhray

Makeup artist: Elina Karakhanova

Cast: Kirill Käro, Viktoriya Isakova, Maryana Spivak, Aleksandr Robak, Yuriy Kuznetsov, Anna
Mikhalkova, Aleksandr Yatsenko, Viktoriya Agalakova, Natalya Zemtsova, Eldar Kalimulin, Saveliy Kudryashov, Evgeny Sitiy, Igor Savochkin, Pavel Vorozhtsov, Artyom Suchkov

"The Outbreak" series premiered on April 9, in Cannes, in the framework of the main competition of the CanneSeries International Festival in France.

The show is produced by PREMIER Studios and directed by Pavel Kostomarov. It was presented in Cannes by leading actors Victoria Isakova and Maryana Spivak, screenwriter Roman Kantor ("The Dead Lake"), producers Valeriy Fedorovich and Evgeniy Nikishov, as well as the general director of PREMIER Studios Ivan Golomovzyuk. The screening took place in the famous Louis Lumiere Hall at the Palace of Festivals and Congresses, where films of the main Cannes Film Festival international competition are shown annually.

"The Outbreak" was the first ever project from Russia that entered the competition of one of the main and most prestigious international film festivals – CanneSeries. It is held every year as part of the largest international market for television and digital content MIPTV. The purpose of the screening is to acquaint visitors of the market with the most innovative and progressive shows from around the world.

THE OUTBREAK

Genre: Drama

Running time: 48 min

Number of episodes: 8

Production: PREMIER STUDIOS

Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov, Dzhanik Fayziev, Ivan Golomovzyuk, Aleksandr
Bondarev, Rafael Minasbekyan

Director: Pavel Kostomarov (Chernobyl 2. Zone of Exclusion)

Screenwriter: Roman Kantor (The Dead Lake)

Cinematographer: David Khayznikov (Chernobyl 2. Exclusion Zone)

Production Designer: Mariya Pasichnik

Сostume director: Daria Fomina

Makeup artist: Elina Karakhanova

Cast: Kirill Käro, Viktoriya Isakova, Maryana Spivak, Aleksandr Robak, Yuriy Kuznetsov, Anna
Mikhalkova, Aleksandr Yatsenko, Viktoriya Agalakova, Natalya Zemtsova, Eldar Kalimulin, Saveliy Kudryashov, Evgeny Sitiy, Igor Savochkin, Pavel Vorozhtsov, Artyom Suchkov

The Outbreak directed by Pavel Kostomarov produced by PREMIER Studios, starring Victoria Isakova, Mariana Spivak, Kirill Kyaro, Alexander Robak and Yuri Kuznetsov entered the main competition of the 41st Moscow international film festival.

The premiere of the film will be held on April 21 in the Moscow's theater "October". For the first time the film, shot for the online platform PREMIER, entered the main competition of the festival class "A". Movies produced by order of online video services are increasingly including in the programs of the world's best reviews.

The Outbreak will be presented at the international festival CanneSeries in France on April 9th, as part of the largest international market of television and digital content MIPTV 2019.

THE OUTBREAK

Genre: Drama

Running time: 48 min

Number of episodes: 8

Production: PREMIER STUDIOS

Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov, Dzhanik Fayziev, Ivan Golomovzyuk, Aleksandr
Bondarev, Rafael Minasbekyan

Host producers: Maksim Filatov, Olga Kurenkova

Executive producers: Darya Perunovskaya, Mariya Ionova

Director: Pavel Kostomarov

Screenwriter: Roman Kantor

Cinematographer: David Khayznikov

Production Designer: Mariya Pasichnik

Сostume director: Daria Fomina,Marusya Parfenova-Chukhray

Makeup artist: Elina Karakhanova

Cast: Kirill Käro, Viktoriya Isakova, Maryana Spivak, Aleksandr Robak, Yuriy Kuznetsov, Anna
Mikhalkova, Aleksandr Yatsenko, Viktoriya Agalakova, Natalya Zemtsova, Eldar Kalimulin, Saveliy Kudryashov, Evgeny Sitiy, Igor Savochkin, Pavel Vorozhtsov, Artyom Suchkov

The Outbreak series from Russia entered the Official Competition of CanneSeries
It is the second project by PREMIER Studios to conquer the summit of the European festivals this spring

Russian TV-series The Outbreak produced by PREMIER Studios was included into the official competition of the CanneSeries International Festival in France, and will be premiered to a world-wide audience on the 9th of April.

The project has gotten some big names on board which are already familiar to the audience but yet have never worked together before.

Valeriy Fedorovich & Evgeny Nikishov (PREMIER Studios) are the only Russian producers whose series have been included into the official competition of the SeriesMania International Festival in France for two years in a row. Last year, it was An Ordinary Woman which received the prize for the best female role; this year, it's Identification starring European actress Lena Tronina.
During the world premiere in France, The Outbreak will be presented by its leading actresses Viktoriya Isakova and Maryana Spivak. It is not the first time they arrive to Cannes with a Feature content. Three years ago, Viktoriya Isakova presented Kirill Serebrennikov's drama The Student, which was awarded François Chalais prize of the Cannes Festival; while, in 2017, Maryana Spivak graced the red carpet after her work in Andrey Zvyagintsev's film Loveless, which was later awarded the special prize of the jury of the official competition.

The Outbreak director, Pavel Kostomarov, is an awardee of the Berlin International Cinema Festival for best cinematography in the film How I Ended This Summer.

The series is based on bestselling book Vongozero (To the Lake), which was translated into 11 languages. Yana Vagner, the author of the bestseller, is the finalist of many international literary awards, including Prix Bob Morane, and an awardee of Elle Style Awards (Grand Prix des lectrices de Elle). The fact that the book the series is based on became such a success in these strange times – is quite an incredible story itself. Yana wasn't a writer by any mean, yet she started to publish separate fragments of her future story on the internet and, very soon, she was surrounded by a newly born army of fans. At some point, publishers could no longer ignore millions of readers who were simply addicted to Yana's story, so they decided to buy the rights to publish the whole thing as a book. As in case of Fifty Shades of Grey (another big literary phenomenon born on the internet), it didn't take long before the story made it to the screen.

A harsh family drama that takes place in the midst of a global catastrophe, The Outbreak tells a story of an unknown virus which is gradually turns Moscow into a city of the dead: there is no electricity, money has lost all value, and those who are not yet infected are desperately fighting for food and fuel. The main character, Sergei, lives outside the city with the woman he loves and her autistic son. He has to get back to Moscow to save his ex-wife and their son, although she hates Sergei. People who would never stay under the same roof in any other circumstances must now join forces to try to escape the growing epidemic.

The Outbreak was shot in some of the most fascinating locations, including Archangelsk Oblast, the Northern region very far from Moscow. The show is produced by PREMIER Studios who brought us many massive titles including the hit series An Ordinary Woman, Identification, Karamora, Dyatlov's Pass, Toni-Droid, sci-fi movie The Blackout, and more than 20 other projects.

THE OUTBREAK

Genre: Drama

Running time: 48 min

Number of episodes: 8

Production: PREMIER Studios

Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov, Dzhanik Fayziev, Ivan Golomovzyuk, Aleksandr
Bondarev, Rafael Minasbekyan

Host producers: Maksim Filatov, Olga Kurenkova

Executive producers: Darya Perunovskaya, Mariya Ionova

Director: Pavel Kostomarov

Screenwriter: Roman Kantor

Cinematographer: David Khayznikov

Production Designer: Mariya Pasichnik

Сostume director: Daria Fomina,Marusya Parfenova-Chukhray

Makeup artist: Elina Karakhanova

Cast: Kirill Käro, Viktoriya Isakova, Maryana Spivak, Aleksandr Robak, Yuriy Kuznetsov, Anna
Mikhalkova, Aleksandr Yatsenko, Viktoriya Agalakova, Natalya Zemtsova, Eldar Kalimulin, Saveliy Kudryashov, Evgeny Sitiy, Igor Savochkin, Pavel Vorozhtsov, Artyom Suchkov