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Q & A: How Willimon Runs Fincher's 'House ...Moscow Junket Diary Two: Unraveling the Russian Film Industry, from Putin and Mikhalkov to Threat of Censorship
As a reward for three days of 20 back-to-back Digital October Official Roskino Screenings (DOORS), many of which are yet to be released in Russia, morning TV star and Roskino CEO Catherine Mtsitouridze and her team took this gaggle of indies on a whirlwind tour. The whole trip was possible thanks to sponsor Aeroflot (which gave a 50 % discount on flights) and her connections with VIP, which coddles travelers through airports, the Baltschug Kempinski and St. Petersburg Astoria Hotels, as well as a selection of top restaurants.
After the Moscow work was done, the North Americans were treated to two days in St. Petersburg, complete with tours of the magnificent Hermitage Museum and Peterhof Palace, as well as a treat from the Mikailovsky Theatre: Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty" ballet, followed by a White Nights boat ride through the canals.
What did Roskino get out of it? Well, they're taking the show on the road to the Venice Film Festival. And they mounted a realistic and enlightening Summit on the challenges facing all foreign films back in North America, as well jump-starting the Americans' ongoing relationships with the Russian film community. For example, this group went home with a high opinion of actor-director Fedor Bondarchuk ("Ninth Company," a hit for Gravitas Ventures stateside) not only from his strong presence in two relatively commercial films, "Spy" and "Two Days," but his warm welcome on the dramatic battle-scarred set in the countryside outside St. Petersburg of his fourth film, the $27 million war drama "Stalingrad," which was in the midst of a fifteen-week film shoot. (More on that later, with photos.)
David Rubin, who is head of physical production for CBS Films, took a side trip to the gargantuan new $89-million studio Glavkino (part-owned by Bondarchuk), which is trying to rival Moscow's venerable Mosfilm, which hosted "Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol," and Czech studio Barrandov, where Russian film industry powerbroker Nikita Mikhalkov shot "Burnt by the Sun 2," Russia's official Oscar submission.
CBS Films is not looking to spend like the free-wheeling studios; at the DOORS Summit Rubin was interested in Russian co-productions, which make up the lion's share of Russian movies that land U.S. distribution, but agreed with others on the panel that finding partners you can trust is key; apparently, some Russian producers can be dodgy.
3 Comments
rgm | June 29, 2012 1:00 PM
Fascinating current coverage and with great photos. There are massive volumes on Russian and Soviet film history, for those who want to venture there -- but this "junket" covers from "Putin to Mikhalkov" and recent political pressure promoting "Hayes" censorship strikes an ominous note.
alla verlotsky | June 29, 2012 11:21 AM
What a naive article to say the least..... a bit more knowledge and research about Russian film industry development and its relationship with Hollywood could of been helpful. This is not the first time around for Hollywood in Russia... very deja vous... Oh well.......
Sydney Levine | June 29, 2012 3:37 AM
Your two articles say it all. I was there as well and could not have included all of our ultra-busy schedule and all the intercultural and international business information we absorbed as well as you. Therefore, I will link to your blog when giving my own summation on SydneysBuzz. I was so glad to have been a part of organizing this groundbreaking event and to have seen and heard all that you describe. Great job Anne!