PLANETA INFORM FILM DISTRIBUTION / CENTRAL PARTNERSHIP

The AFM slate of Planeta Inform Distributionconsisted of a package of projects including five highlights: 'Mafia: Survival Game 3D', a sci-fi action; 'Quackerz 3D', a family animation film; 'The Crew', a disaster film; 'Kolovrat', a costume action, and 'The Watchers. The Last Hero', an action/thriller.

Dmitry Litvinov, Planeta Inform Group CEO: ‘The last AFM edition was quieter than usual since there were no large-scale projects from the US, and it was actually good for the Russian sellers. Our projects compared favourably with a variety of Asian films since many territories prefer Western-like stories. This time our company concentrated on two projects ready for release: ‘Quackerz 3D’ animation and ‘Mafia: Survival Game’ sci-fi action. We screened full versions of both films in order to seal a number of bargains arranged on previous occasions, notably during TIFF in September, and this is what we are busy with at the moment. We have already sealed the ‘Mafia’ bargain with Japan, while negotiations on Middle East, Korea, US, Latin America and Thailand are still under way. We have actually sealed a bargain for ‘Quackerz’ covering the whole of North America, and for a hefty sum as well. Agreements with Latin America and Turkey are being finalized while negotiations with Korea, Germany, France, Great Britain and Japan are still going on. Moreover, we have got a number of offers concerning ‘The Crew’ but so far we have only presented a new version of the trailer and we shall wait until Berlin to get more attractive offers. We have received several offers for our lesser projects such as 'The Diggers', ‘New Adventures of Seraphima’ and ‘The Watchers’. As far as the last project is concerned, we are selling the four episodes in a single package and we hope to reach an agreement on Turkey and a number of European territories. We have screened ‘VERSUS’, a Yuri Sapronov production, but the Russian release is only scheduled for 2016. Therefore, we were at no hurry to seal the bargain during the next upcoming markets. We’ll keep looking for offers until May and take a final decision after Cannes’

RUSSIAN WORLD STUDIOS

Yury Sapronov RWS showcased 'VERSUS', a sports action starring Alexey Chadov, Oksana Akinshina and Anton Shagin is scheduled for the Russian release in November, 2016.

Yury Sapronov, RWS CEO: ‘AFM 2015 was a launch pad for our project. ‘Versus’ is a story of sports, of strengths and weaknesses, honour and betrayal, but first and foremost it is a story of love. We have presented it to industry professionals at the market and got warm or enthusiastic feedback. Considering that the film is not ready yet and a lot of work has to be done on visual and sound effects, we think it’s a good start and an excellent opportunity to get an early feedback. All in all, we are very satisfied with our results’.

STAR MEDIA

Vlad Ryashin’s Star Media presented The Dawns Here Are Quiet (2015) by Renat Davletyarov as well as a number of new projects on various production stages.

Maria Grechishnikova, Star Media Sales, Co-productions & Formats VP: ‘Our main goal at the AFM was to look for potential co-production partners for a number of our major projects. We are currently developing several projects with an important international potential and we have been actively promoting them at film markets, AFM included. Notably we are referring to the adaptation of Alexey Ivanov’s ‘Heart of Parma’ scripted by Sergey Bodrov Sr., a number of costume series on Anna of Byzantium and Sophia Pototsky, and the ‘Destination. Mars’ series co-developed with the French Making Prod SA who originally suggested the idea and Synergy Group (Poland). A South African company took an interest in the project at the AFM and co-production potential is currently under discussion. Star Media is also busy looking for an American partner. Yet another ambitious project is hinged upon the Silk Road. It is a road movie set in several Silk road countries in I BC that is also subject of negotiations with the American partners’.

BAZELEVS

Timur Bekmambetov’s Bazelevscontributed to this year’s AFM line-up by organizing two screenings of 'He Is Dragon', a fantasy romance scheduled for Russian release on December 3, 2015. Following the screening of a 15-minutes-long fragment, buyers from Korea, Japan, France and Germany entered into intense negotiations. Several other Bazelevs projects have also been announced, including 'First Time', to premiere in Russian in the fall of 2016, and a 3D animation with a working title 'Alice Knows What to Do', to be released in Russia in December, 2016. More details will be made available at the EFM (Berlin) in February, 2016.

Valeria Dobrodlubova, Head of Sales at Mirsand Ltd.‘AFM is one of the key markets for everyone interested in ambitious flms. It is nice to know that international buyers share the same ideas. We enjoy a constant clien pool with a pronounced interest towards our films’.

WIZART ANIMATION

In an AFM followup Wizard announced several new deals concerning ‘The Snow Queen’ animated franchise presented at the market.

Following a successful release of the first 2 films, the Kino Swiat distribution company from Poland established a cooperation with Wizart acquiring the rights to the latest 'The Snow Queen 3' release and placing a bid on the new Wizard 'Sheep and Wolves'.

Marcin Piasecki, Kino Swiat Managing Director ‘We are very glad to have contributed to ‘The Snow Queen’ 1 and 2 projects. The public appreciated the high animation quality as well as a pronounced sense of humour. The second part fared much better, which indicates a development of the franchise and a positive estimation for ‘The Snow Queen 3’. We are sure that Part III is going to be no less loved and acclaimed as the new ones. We have also acquired a new Wizart animation, ‘Sheep and Wolves’, to be released before summer, 2016.

The ‘Snow Queen’ episode 3 is a Wizard and Chinese Flame Node Entertainment (China) collaboration to be released in December, 2016 by the title of 'The Snow Queen 3. Fire and Ice'. The upcoming release has already been sold to 10 territories including South Korea, Turkey, the Baltic republics and the countries of Middle East. The project is co-scripted by Robert Lence, a universally acclaimed film student recognized for his work on Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, Shrek, and a number of other projects.

The second episode of the franchise is awaiting its theatrial release in winter, 2015 in Brazil, Spain, Bulgary, the Czech Republic, Italy, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador. Premiere evenings will take place in Vietnam, Romania and Hungary.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 985