With First Virtual Co-Pro Market, Russian Producers Look Beyond Borders

Tom Grater International Film ReporterKirill Serebrennikov, the prominent Russian filmmaker behind The Student and Leto, has been found guilty of criminal fraud by a Moscow court after a controversial trial.Supporters of Serebrennikov claim the decision is politically motivated.

Christopher Vourlias Producer Ilya Stewart was in the early days of financing “Petrov’s Flu,” the latest feature from Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov (“Leto”), when he chose to bypass state funding bodies.

Russia’s best-known theater and film director, and his associates were charged with embezzling 133 million rubles (about $2 million) of state funding for a theater project. The prosecution on Monday amended the amount of allegedly embezzled funds to almost 129 million rubles (over $1.8 million) and asked the court to collect the money from the accused.

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.

Jim Carrey floated a conspiracy theory to his Twitter followers warning that Donald Trump may be the first U.S. president to defect to a foreign country.

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.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentThe Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition, a market showcase for the Russian film and TV industry, launched Monday with a welcome video from actress Anya Chipovskaya, the event’s ambassador, sent to its 400 international participants, including buyers, commissioners and producers from 55 countries.In the video Chipovskaya appears as an A.I.

Bruce Haring pmc-editorial-managerNBC News has hired former FBI attorney Lisa Page, a key figure in the long-running Russia collusion investigation, as an on-air contributor with the title national security and legal analyst.President Trump immediately reacted to the Page hire, blasting it on Twitter.“You must be kidding???” Trump tweeted Friday night.

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.

By Tom Grater

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.