Cannes Market Dailies

Press Release

ACTOR HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN JOINS RUSSIAN PRODUCERS TO PRESENT NEW RUSSIAN PROJECTS TO INTERNATIONAL CO-PRODUCERS

CANNES – Monday 20 May 2013.  Canadian actor Hayden Christensen (Jumper) joined producers Vladimir Polyakov, Georgy Malkov and Tove Christensen, and director Sarik Andreasyan,  in the Russian Film Pavilion today to present a slate of international and Russian co-productions between Enjoy Movies and Renovatio Entertainment, introduced by Catherine Mtsitouridze of ROSKINO.

Catherine Mtsitouridze of ROSKINO, said, “Giving Russian cinema an international platform is a vital part of the work that ROSKINO has been doing here in Cannes as well as at other international markets and festivals.  We are delighted to support Enjoy Movies and Renovatio Entertainment in bringing their new co-productions to the market and introduce the four new Russian films seeking co-production partners.”

Through their partnership Enjoy Movies and Renovatio Entertainment have made four films:

- A Man with a Warranty

- Understudy

- What Men Do!

- Happy New Year, Moms!

Released in Russian from September to February this year, the films have totaled RUB 1 billion rubles with Understudy, What Men Do! and Happy New Year, Moms! all featuring in the highest grossing Russian film charts.  Their returns account for 30% of the total box office for all Russian films released since the beginning of this year.

The new slate of films from Enjoy Movies & Renovatio include the first Russian-American-Canadian co-production, American Heist, presented in the Russian Film Pavilion. To be directed by Sarik Andreasyan and produced by Vladimir Polyakov, Georgy Malkov, Andreasyan Brothers and Tove Christensen, the film will star Hayden Christensen in  the lead role. The legendary rapper Akon has also been cast.

Hayden Christensen, said: "I would like to emphasize that the "American Heist" is not Russian! It’s truly a Hollywood movie in co-production with Russian guys from Enjoy Movies and Renovatio Entertainment. We have a great team of professionals, and I look forward to the start of shooting period".

 Filming of two further international feature films budgeted at $20 million is planned for 2014.

 Enjoy Movies & Renovatio also plans to release five to six Russian feature films. Shooting of Lucky Island and Friends of Friends has been completed.  Shooting is currently underway on Champions and  Talk of the Angel.  These four films are projected to gross more than RUB1 million at the box office.

Catherine Mtsitouridze and Hayden Christensen at the terrace of The Russian Pavilion

The press conference was attended by:

Vladimir Polyakov – Renovatio Entertainment’s General Producer

Georgy Malkov – Enjoy Movies’ General Producer

Sarik Andreasyan –director, Enjoy Movies’ Producer

Tove Christensen – producer

Hayden Christensen – Actor

In addition, four new Russian projects seeking co-producers were also presented to international producers.

- The Battle of Sebastopol by producer Natalya Mokritskaya.  The drama about life, love and war in which the main character is based on a real-life heroine, a sniper in World War II already has  $5 million of funding  committed.

- Rudolf Nureyev: The Beginning by writer and director Evgenia Tirdatova and producers Alfia Chebotareva, Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre (France) and Neil McCartney (UK).  People know little about the world-renowned ballet dancer who was banned from returning to Russia until after his death.  The producers and directors are seeking an actor who can dance to play Nureyev.

- The Florist by director Maria Saakya and Jeff Kalousdian. Set in the backdrop of a sleeping ethnic conflict in the former Soviet Union and the struggle to control global energy resources, the destinies of a grieving father, an international aid worker, a war hero and a journalist entwine when a young soldier vanishes in the mountains during a winter storm.

- Freemasons by producer Ekaterina Filippova. To be directed by Greg Zglinski.  Four workers from the former USSR find themselves in a French seaside town, accidentally end up hijacking a yacht, and have to overcome challenges at sea to get back to shore. 

For further information:

Elena Barkova                                           Tina McFarling

ROSKINO                                                    Premier

elena.barkova@gmail.com                                   tina.mcfarling@premiercomms.com     

Cell: +926 210 47 15                                             Cell: +44 (0) 7879 421 578

                                                                       Office: +33 (0)4 93 99 92 45

THE RUSSIAN FILM PAVILION

Officially representing Russia for the sixth year at the Cannes Film Festival and Marche du Film, the Russian Pavillion acts as an information hub for our filmmakers and a versatile platform for the promotion of Russian films in the international market. The organisation of the Russian Film Pavilion is undertaken by ROSKINO with participation of the communication group Planeta Inform.

The Russian Film Pavilion is hosting a number of presentations, panel discussions, press conferences and events over the course of the festival which will be led by leading Russian industry professionals including Fedor Bondarchuk, Aleksy Uchitel, Taisa Igumentseva, Sergey Selyanov, Leonid Vereshchagin, Ilya Bachurin, Igor Ugolnikov, Renat Davletyarov, Peter Buslov, Alexander Adabashyan amongst others.

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