American Film Market Dailies

 
Twenty-five Russian content producers will present films, TV series and animation at one of the largest film markets AFM 2020, which will be held online from 9 to 13 November.

‘Russia is a long-time participant of the American Film Market. Many more Russian companies are participating in AFM this year, compared to 2019, and content makers are presenting international buyers with a wide range of new projects from different genres, from superhero movies to mystery thrillers and dramas. In addition to feature films and series, the package from Russian content producers includes documentary projects and animation’, says Evgenia Markova, ROSKINO CEO.

Among the activities planned at the AFM, there is a presentation with Evgenia Markova Spotlight on Russia. Meet Russian content.  And a round table The wow-effect of Russian movies’ marketing localization with representatives from key Russian content makers Central Partnership, Planeta Inform, TV3, Wizart.

Central Partnership (a part of Gazprom-Media), one of the largest Russian content markers and distributors, continues its expansion into the world market and boasts the largest package of projects. At the AFM 2020, it will present nine films to international buyers, including the disaster movie Fire. The Russian premiere is scheduled for December 24, 2020. The company hopes that this heroic story of firefighters, its visual effects, as well as the popularity of the genre will be of great interest to international distributors. According to Vadim Vereshchagin, Central Partnership CEO, the company plans to close deals for all major international territories at the AFM.
The company also plans to close a number of deals for one of the main premieres of the upcoming Christmas holidays - the romantic adventure Silver Skates (produced by Central Partnership, GPM KIT Group, Three T Productions and Kinoslovo).
Central Partnership will continue with the ongoing negotiations for Danila Kozlovsky's epic drama Chernobyl, which has aroused the keen interest of the international audience. At the previous film markets a series of deals was announced for this film, including ones for key territories such as North and South America, Spain, Japan, Israel and the Baltic States.
One of the international premieres is a new horror film Ice Demon from the creators of the internationally successful horror films - Mermaid. Lake of the Dead (sold to 154 countries), Baba Yaga: Terror of the Dark Forest (sold to 130 countries) and Queen of Spades: The Dark Rite by Ivan Kapitonov and Svyatoslav Podgaevsky. Ice Demon will be released in 2021.

 1-2-3 Production, the creators of the acclaimed To The Lake series, which was included in TOP 10 best watched Netflix series in over 60 countries, will show five projects at the AFM. The company places great hopes on the criminal drama Masha, which won the Best Debut prize at the Kinotavr Russian Film Festival 2020. The girl’s story of growing up after the Soviet Union’s collapse will be also shown at the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn this November.  In addition to these feature films, the company will show its lineup of series – Six Empty Seats that won the main award at the Serial Killer 2020 festival in Czech Republic, The Big Game, Identification and Call Center.

Bubble Studios plans to launch the international sales of its superhero movie, Major Grom and The Plague Doctor. The creators believe that the action-driven story based on a bestselling comic is exactly what international buyers are looking for. Currently the project is going through an intense post-production schedule with Main Road Post - the VFX house behind Sputnik, Invasion, Cosmoball and other top Russian titles.  The Russian release is scheduled for April 2021.

The key project of All Media at the AFM 2020 is a fantasy movie The Last Warrior: Root of Evil, the second part of the film series The Last Warrior, produced together by The Walt Disney Company CIS and Yellow, Black and White. The plan is to close deals for all international territories. Company representatives say that they are in negotiations with a number of distribution companies and hope to announce the deals after the AFM.

Yellow, Black and White will show he first episode of the historical epic series The Conquest of Siberia. The series is an extended version of the feature film of the same name, the theatrical release of which was released by the studio Yellow, Black and White last year. In Russia, the share of TV viewing for the first episodes in the ALL 18+ audience was 17.6%.  At the AFM, Yellow, Black and White plans to conclude new deals on The Conquest of Siberia., as well as on the company’s other key projects.

Planeta Inform Group of Companies will present its new projects, two feature films: a mystic thriller Mara, which is released in Russia on 5 November, and a horror movie The Ex from the producers of the horror film The Bride,  which topped the list of highest grossing Russian films in Latin America in 2014-2019 and was in the top 20 highest grossing Russian films worldwide for the same period.

Art Pictures Distribution will present the family movie, A dog named Palma from Mars Media Entertainment and OKKO Studios. It will be the first industry screening of this film. The company has already closed deals for Slovenia and Poland, and it plans to close deals for most of the other territories at the AFM. In addition, the company’s catalog includes a fantastic horror Sputnik which topped the American iTunes charts and was sold to more than 100 countries; Ice 2 and a documentary film Battle, dedicated to the Oscar winning Russian director, actor and screenwriter Sergei Bondarchuk.

Odin Media will present to international buyers for the first time its project Invisible Hope raising an important environmental issue and researching the topic of plastic waste, and a new series Newbie focusing on the issue of teen bullying. The company will also show its documentary projects: The Great North Way, a drama Kiselyov’s List about a unique operation that took place during the Holocaust; The Great Exploration of Siberia, Nomads in Time and Combat Approved. Also, the feature film The Story of An Appointment will be presented.

The key projects of Mars Media Entertainment are a romantic comedy The Queen, WWII action film Unknown Battle, a historical drama Sabre Dance, а war drama film Secret Weapon and a melodramatic series The Prisoner. The company hopes that The Prisoner will be of particular interest for international buyers from China, Japan, Turkey and Eastern Europe. In addition, Mars Media will present an adventure series The Golden Horde that was acquired by Amazon Prime.

Mirsand’s film portfolio at the American Film Market is V2. Escape From Hell, a new biopic from Timur Bekmambetov; screenlife thriller Blue Whales which has already been sold to several European territories: Spacewalker and I Am Dragon.

Channel Five will show its famous series The Fabulous Five and A Suspended Cop, a TV program Angel’s Day and new projects Die Hards and Copsosaurs.

Proline Film will present five films, including some new projects in production – drama films The Flight and Touch. In addition, the company will continue negotiations with distributors regarding Palmyra that has already sparked the interest of buyers from Lat-Am and North American markets at the previous film market TIFF in Toronto.

Revolution Film will present three films: a comedy Girls got game, the fantastic thriller Run and a sci-fi film Petropolis.

Sovtelexport will present a lineup of its series, including Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes that has  already been sold to several countries. 

Sputnik Vostok Production will bring a musical Up to the Sun and a love story Elsa’s Land.

PRAD Media will present its animated series Sunbeam & Ladybug. In addition, it will show two comedies: System X and Lamberjacks.

Rock Films will present The Whaler Boy that won Venice Days Award (77^th Venice Film Festival section); Coronation and The Battle.

IGMAR will show The Fourth Wall and, Flashmob – the films that will be released in 2021 as well as The Oath, At the Moon and Captain Hollywood.

Russian World Vision will present Atakan. The Bloody Legend, Red Ghost, Motherland, Fairy and Letters of Happiness.

RFG Distribution will show its new project Storm Driven.

Russian animation as is traditional, will be strongly represented at the American Film Market. Soyuzmultfilm will show an animated feature film, a unique art project Hoffmaniada. In addition, the company will launch pre-sales for the new adventure film Suvorov that will be released in Russia in the spring 2021. This is a romantic story set against the backdrop of an outstanding military campaign led by Field Marshal Suvorov.  Two new titles in development will be also presented at the market. These are The Golden Hive and Water formula. Soyuzmultfilm expects to find coproduction partners for these projects.

Wizart will show the full-length animation movie The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands (in the top 3 best grossing Russian films abroad in 2019); Sheep and Wolves: Pig Deal and Fantastic Return to Oz. The latter will be presented at the screening, where the company plans to find distributors. Wizart also expects to sell Fantastic Return to Oz to the US, Canada and Latin America.

KinoAtis animation studio will present Space dogs. Tropical Adventure, the third film in the animated franchise about the adventures of the astronaut dogs, and the animated comedy series Planet Ai.

RG Bros Studio will show its Beeography animated stories.