In January TV channel "Inter" has significantly strengthened its prime slot with the series "The Hellene" produced by FILM.UA Group. Creative producer Olesya Lukyanenko, in an interview with "Telekritika" will talk on television production, secrets of successful series and the difference between her position and the position of showrunner.
- In autumn of last year FILM.UA Group faced structural changes: Vladimir Issat was appointed executive producer in drama production, you became co-executive producer and creative producer of the studio. Why those changes were made? The studio is looking for new forms of management and production?
- FILM.UA continues to develop in different directions, including increasing production volumes of its own scripts. We now have many projects and ideas that have not been launcehed yet, but we have to start working on them. Therefore, company management decided to establish various departments, so some producers will be involved in project development, like me, and others handled production. We are looking for ideas and talented authors - we want to create a creative area at the studio to create different projects: youth, comedy, melodrama, animation, feature.
- How creative producer cooperates with the directors of the show? For example, big projects like 60-episode "The Hellene" had three directors.
- Personally, I divide producer's and director's films. Take, for example, mini-series "Inseparable", where I had the same duties and powers. But it's a director's film. Vitaliy Vorobiev had his own vision of the story, and we tried to help him realize it. In projects with a small number of episode, where one director shoots and edits, it is possible. In television series, when several directors involved, the focus has shifted. Three directors worked on "The Hellene": Igor Zabara, Irina Gromozda and Maria Tkacheva. Why is this happening? You have to stay within production timeframes, and you have to deal with a big amount of materials, so there are two parallel film crews. Also, big projects have big outout per day. And most importantly, shooting and editing go hand in hand. Therefore the role of the creative producer substantially increases. Here, he is the leader of thought. It is not because the studio doesn't trust the director, no. Just the amount of work is so large, there are several directors and each of them is responsible for his dailies, and there has to be someone who sees it as a whole.
- Virtually, the script of a mini-series is the same story built around the conflict as in a feature film? Therefore, practise of creating a feature is also used in it?
- Yes, in such a project director is responsible for the completed film. He has his director's decision for each scene, and knows exactly how these scenes will cooperate when edited. A series, that has several directors, needs a studio representative, who keeps in mind the logic of the story.
- Is creative producer involved in the planning? And how you ensure the quality of the shooting, which requires the studio?
- If this is your project, you have to understand how it is built from the inside. I try to work in tight conjunction with the director and story editor. For us it is important that the project worked out, not to break the logic of events, the props coincided in connecting scenes, but the most important thing that the character kept its strategy. When different scenes were shot on different days with different directors, when editing it is possible to get an episode where the character first cries, then laughs...for no apparent reason. This is the most unpleasant thing that can happen.
- You start shooting when the script is ready?
- In my experience - yes. But, I know that Vladimir Issat had projects when the work on the script continued after shooting has started. It is normal for vertical series. I haven't worked on such projects yet.
- Your recent series "House with the lilies" and "The Hellene" received high ratings. Are there any criteria for the success of the series that you consider in your work? Is it possible to calculate it?
- "House with the lilies" was written by two Kiev writers Elena Boiko and Maria Beck. Very good authors. We already have a long history of cooperation with them. "House with the lilies" - a wonderful script. I read it with great interest, so convincing were the characters and the atmosphere of the time. By the way, one of the largest publishers bought the rights to the script, and soon will release a book "House with the lilies".
A group of authors under the direction of Ivan Ugarov and Bella Pribylova worked on The Hellene. This was our first experience of cooperation. We became great friends, and now they are engaged in the development of several projects. The Hellene has a simple, "soap" dramaturgy. The skill of the author - to be able to retain an interest in the story throughout the series. This series can be treated differently, but those who watched "The Hellene" are unlikely to accuse us of not giving enough vital persuasion to the characters. There are no unambiguous or uninteresting characters. That's the secret.
