Between April 2 and 6 Cannes welcomed MIPTV, one of the most important TV content markets in Europe.
FILM.UA Group was presented by an updated stand in Palais des Festivals. A big delegation of distributors and producers held a range of meetings and negotiations on numerous business activities of the group.
Distribution – TV and Film Content
At the market, Igor Storchak (director for distribution at FILM.UA Group) and Yevgeny Drachоv (international sales manager at FILM.UA Group) conducted over 50 meetings with partners and potential buyers.
“The negotiations on pre-sales for an animation feature The Stolen Princess (produced by FILM.UA Group and Animagrad, 2018) to a range of territories have brought new results. After the documents are signed, we’ll be able to share the details,” says Yevgeny Drachоv, international sales manager at FILM.UA Group. “And we continue negotiations on The Stronghold (produced by Kinorob, 2017), our theatrical headliner in 2017. We brought a new promo reel for the project – our partners have been really looking forward to it – and in May at Marche du Film we plan the first international screening of working footage. We are positive that new contracts will come our way after it.”
Just a reminder: the rights to feature animation strip The Stolen Princess are already pre-sold to China, France, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Israel, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, MENA countries and French-speaking territories in Europe.
The Stronghold, a feature fantasy film (produced by Kinorob, 2017), will be premiered in Ukrainian cinemas on October 12. Screening rights have been pre-sold to China, Japan, France and French-speaking territories in Canada, Italy and Spain at previous markets.
Our animation series also spur steady interest. For example, international partners note that the concept and style of Mom Hurries Home (26 x 7 mins, produced by Glowberry, release planned for 2018) fully meet the requirements of international buyers; it will be possible to announce specific deals already at the approaching TV markets.
Besides, UA Formats catalogue was presented at the market. There was a lot of demand for Wife on the Drive (2016) TV program and Doctor on Call (2016) series – these being original FILM.UA Group formats – as well as for House on Dad, a format developed by STB channel.
At MIPTV, FILM.UA Group presented for the first time a trailer to the third season of Dr. Baby Dust, a successful medical drama (produced by FILM.UA, TV premiere in autumn 2017). It also keeps showcasing other projects in development; the buyers are especially interested in The Sniffer 3 and Contact detective series (produced by FILM.UA, 2017).
Distribution – VOD Platforms
This distribution type deserves special attention. During the market, Amazon added a digital project CineCuisine (2015) to its library; it is a cycle of short videos about recipes from world cinema heritage (produced by FILM.UA Group).
“CineCuisine is the fifth project distributed by Group and acquired by Amazon for its subscribers in the US and Canada. We plan to continue publishing our content in the libraries of the biggest digital platforms – the quality of our product allows us to do so – and to extend our presence geographically,” says Tatyana Shershneva, manager for TV and digital sales. “Very soon our projects will appear on iTunes; we’ve reached this agreement during a meeting at MIPTV. We’ll disclose more details immediately after the release.”
Besides, at the market our partners shared Amazon statistics for February: Battle for Sevastopol had been in TOP 100 most viewed videos on the platform for two months in a row, so it generates some bonuses.
Just a reminder: both seasons of The Sniffer detective series, a feature military drama Battle for Sevastopol, a melodrama The Red Queen and a cycle of short folk videos Back to Basics were previously published in Amazon library. The Red Queen made it to TOP 100 most viewed videos on the platform in June 2016, and Battle for Sevastopol – in January-February 2017.
Co-production
A feature animation Mavka. The Forest Song (FILM.UA Group, Animagrad, 2019) was surely a headliner in co-production negotiations. The project is already recognized at the markets; there are questions about development progress. In-depth negotiations on potential cooperation with European producers took place. The following international event for the project will be Marche du Film (Cannes in May) and then MIFA in June, in the framework of Annecy International Animated Film Festival. A criminal retro drama Lemberg became the subject of discussion with Hungarian, Polish and German productions. For the first time at the international market, a new product developed by Signal Red was produced. It is SPACE KIDS, an educational cross-media children’s project using gaming technologies.
Besides, Ukraine brought to the market a most important newsbreak: adoption of the law on cinematography support, making it possible for international producers to film on our territory on beneficial conditions.
