Fedor Bondarchuk-Produced Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Sputnik’ Soars On Russian SVOD With 1M+ Streams

Christopher Vourlias The Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition, a virtual platform for Russian content hosted by film promotion body Roskino, wrapped this week with a slew of sales and an affirmation that global players are increasingly looking to tap into the Russian market.The online market welcomed some 600 international participants from 70 countries, with the largest number of buyers coming from the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Japan and China.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: The Riki Group, a leader in Russia’s animation market that has been operating for 16 years, has appointed Mark Zavadskiy to the role of CEO.He will be responsible for running the company’s business units including two animation studios, digital content production, licensing and publishing agencies.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentShout! Studios has take North American rights to World War II epic “The Last Frontier,” while U.K. rights have gone to Signature Entertainment.

Christopher Vourlias In the weeks following the inaugural edition of the Key Buyers Event, a showcase for new Russian productions held in Moscow last fall, Roskino CEO Evgenia Markova reached out to scores of international guests who had made the trip to the Russian capital.

Christopher Vourlias Russian film promotion body Roskino has organized a virtual content market showcasing the latest Russian productions to international buyers. Unspooling from June 8-15, the Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition features a program of live presentations, pitches, panel discussions, and matchmaking sessions, along with a dedicated co-development and co-production section and a screening room with more than 150 hours of Russian film, TV, digital and animated content.

Christopher Vourlias Russian multi-hyphenate Fedor Bondarchuk was riding high after a series of blockbuster hits when Hollywood came calling in 2014. Fresh off the domestic success of his alien invasion movie “Attraction,” and the World War II epic “Stalingrad,” Warner Bros.

Christopher Vourlias The protracted chill between Moscow and the West might be putting a Cold War-style freeze on diplomatic relations globally, but all signs in recent years point toward a Russian film industry drawing closer to its counterparts across the world, with international co-productions steadily on the rise.The Russian government’s announcement last year of a cash rebate of up to 40% signaled its intent to woo foreign producers to the country; so did a decision by the culture

A painting by the Russian artist Ivan Aivazovsky has sold for £2,295,000, becoming the highest value painting sold in an online-only sale.

Salford council is set to award Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom a £1.8m contract to supply the city’s schools, libraries and leisure centres over the next two years.

Though members of the LGBTQ community struggle to find acceptance all over the world, even in places such as the US, where there is seemingly overwhelming support, the fight for acceptance is perhaps most dangerous in places such as Russia.

Russia's film promotion body Roskino on Tuesday unveiled the program for the Key Buyers Event, its virtual content market presenting more than 300 projects from over 120 companies. The digital market will run June 8-5 and will feature live presentations, panel discussions and cultural events, along with pitching sessions for dozens of film, TV and animation projects looking for international co-production partners.

By Tom Grater

By Christopher Vourlias

By Christopher Vourlias

By Christopher Vourlias