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Everything Happens for the First Time: Eight Pavilions, 18,457,000 Viewers, Agnieszka Holland and The Stronghold

Media about us
• 03.01.2018

This past year was intense and fascinating for FILM.UA Group. There was a lot of regular work: filming, dubbing, sound engineering, deals, and business trips. But there were also lots of unique events, which happened for the first time. As the collocation “first Ukrainian” has now become the butt of everyone’s jokes, I’ll use the phrase “for the first time,” and this related to FILM.UA Group only.  

For the first time, Ukrainian audience saw the broadcasts of 14 series produced by us. Among those are very successful melodrama, such as I Swear I’ll Love You Forever, Love Against Odds, The Last Goodbye, and Two Lives . There were lots of sequels to the audience’s favorites: the third season of The Sniffer, the third season of Dr. Baby Dust, second season of Baby Boxes, second and third seasons of Doctor on Call.  

By the way, this medical drama has been prolonged for two more seasons, and now it is the longest-running TV show in the Ukrainian language.

There were premieres of challenging series, which became unusual experiences for our viewers: touching Red Bracelets, lyrical and funny Step Dan, the story of a person countering a totalitarian sect Finding Hope.  

We are truly proud of these projects and will undoubtedly continue experimenting to gradually educate our audience that series are not just entertainment and melodramas, they are the new cinema. We have a considerable plane of influence: this year, our audience in Ukraine amounted to 18,427,000, and all over the world, over 50 million. There were also 225 million views of our content at the official YouTube channel. Huge thanks to everyone! The factory of good stories keeps working, and a lot awaits us this year we’ve just seen in.  

For the first time, we released a fantasy film to Ukrainian screens, and The Stronghold became one of the most memorable and successful Ukrainian releases of 2017. And this is not just about box office (over $ 681,572) and not even about the number of viewers (276,018). It’s not even about The Stronghold being the most complicated Ukrainian project technically (40 percent of the film was created with the help of VFX; in total, 1727 shots were made for the film). The thing is that our movie became a signature event and made an essential contribution in forming the brand of Ukrainian cinema; it has delighted a wide audience and keeps doing so: The Stronghold has been sold to many global territories, including some critical ones such as China, Canada, and France. It can be watched on the most prominent online platforms, iTunes and Amazon.

The movie is still available for viewing during winter holidays in cinemas in Kyiv as well as in Megogo online cinema. This year, TV premiere of The Stronghold on Novyi TV channel awaits us. So the life of a movie release is not limited by the timeframe of its screening in cinemas. It is of paramount importance to remember that. 

For the first time, we are preparing the release of an animation feature The Stolen Princess: Ruslan and Lyudmila.

 

Contrary to the custom, we’ll count our chickens before they are hatched – in spring, with the release on March 7. For now, this is challenging yet fascinating work round-the-clock. But for the first time, we can say that the theatrical release of this film is being prepared not just in Ukraine but also in China, Turkey, Israel, Bulgaria, Korea, Vietnam, Poland, Romania, and the countries of ex-Yugoslavia… In total, our Princess has been sold to 20 territories.  

FILM.UA Group, Сторожевая застава, Украденная принцесса, Викрадена принцеса, Мавка, Мама спешит домой, Гарет Джонс, Агнешка Холланд

For the first time, Ukrainian animation project was selected to a major European event for animation industry professionals, Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux. In February and March, we were anxious, preparing our animation feature Mavka. The Forest Song for pitching, making a presentation, rehearsing the speech, and tailoring dresses. We arrived in France ready for anything – and everything went without a hitch.

FILM.UA Group, Сторожевая застава, Украденная принцесса, Викрадена принцеса, Мавка, Мама спешит домой, Гарет Джонс, Агнешка Холланд

This was just the first success: in 2017, Mavka had a whole range of pitchings where it made through a very competitive selection and was afterward applauded each time by producers, distributors, and journalists. There were also festivals, seminars, summits, and markets…  

FILM.UA Group, Сторожевая застава, Украденная принцесса, Викрадена принцеса, Мавка, Мама спешит домой, Гарет Джонс, Агнешка Холланд

Our second international animation headliner, Mom Hurries Home series (Glowberry), made it to five international pitchings this year, including the most important in the animation world conducted during MIFA in Annecy.

FILM.UA Group, Сторожевая застава, Украденная принцесса, Викрадена принцеса, Мавка, Мама спешит домой, Гарет Джонс, Агнешка Холланд

By the way, if you want to travel a lot and tell the whole world about your project, talk to MRM. They can work with global pitching platforms systemically and productively. And not just with them.

For the first time, Ukrainian cinemas showed a teaser to the film more than two years before its theatrical release. This is about Mavka again. Naturally, we know that this is a critical and much-anticipated project, but we never get tired of admiring the reactions of the future audience to it.  Here are just some cut-and-dry numbers from YouTube: 1,531,890 views, 27,000 likes, and almost 2,000 comments. These statistics reflect the gist of what we do perfectly well: we don’t just create an animated film; it is the whole Universe eagerly expected by millions of people!

For the first time, our series was published on the most significant video streaming service Netflix, and it was The Sniffer. Kudos to our distribution.  

FILM.UA Group, Сторожевая застава, Украденная принцесса, Викрадена принцеса, Мавка, Мама спешит домой, Гарет Джонс, Агнешка Холланд

For the first time, we published a book with augmented reality effect, Magic Notepad (Glowberry), which comes to life with the help of 3D Artist app developed by Signal Red. Its team continues fascinating experiments with new technologies, and for the first time in Ukraine, it is about using AR technologies for education purposes, and not just for advertising and entertainment.  

For the first time, our content opened the first Eurovision semi-final. A short and memorable video, which became the quintessence of our Back to Basics project, presented the beauty of Ukrainian national costume to the whole world. By the way, this year the work with this project will continue, there will be both the release of the first season where we told about all regions of Ukraine, and the second season dedicated to wedding traditions, as well as the work on the brand in general. The project is also available on Amazon

For the first time this year, FILM.UA Group participated in 39 international industry events. Yes, we’ve always been moving around a lot, but this year was exceptional. Film markets, pitchings, festivals, visits as participants of official delegations, country stands, seminars, negotiations… China, India, South Korea, Cannes – three times, Paris, Brussels, Annecy, Berlin, Odesa, our native Kyiv, Toronto, Rome, Los Angeles – and this list is by no means exhaustive.

FILM.UA Group, Сторожевая застава, Украденная принцесса, Викрадена принцеса, Мавка, Мама спешит домой, Гарет Джонс, Агнешка Холланд

We haven’t made it to Mars yet. The only reason is that the content market is not developed enough there. Thanks to MRM for many unique stories and incredible collaborations we became part of this year.  

For the first time, a world-renowned director will film in Ukraine a movie about Ukrainian history... In late December, Agnieszka Holland spent three packed and productive days here, looking at locations, approving the cast and meeting the Ukrainian film crew she’ll be working with on Gareth Jones. She also visited our studio.  

FILM.UA Group, Сторожевая застава, Украденная принцесса, Викрадена принцеса, Мавка, Мама спешит домой, Гарет Джонс, Агнешка Холланд

I can’t say anything more because NDA is a serious business. But soon, very soon there will be official news.

For the first time, a new pavilion opened its doors at FILM.UA Studio. It is our pride and beauty, which was registered under No.2.

FILM.UA Group, Сторожевая застава, Украденная принцесса, Викрадена принцеса, Мавка, Мама спешит домой, Гарет Джонс, Агнешка Холланд

It became a visible, tangible and technological evidence that we work a lot, aren’t afraid of new complicated solutions, accept challenges and will keep making films, series, digital content, and cartoons as well as welcoming film crews from Ukraine, Europe, Asia, and America. We’ll collect box offices, organize festivals, localize, distribute, monetize, perform sound engineering and color correction, produce VFX, come up with something new, make our ideas come to life – and start over.  

Happy New Year.

Stay healthy.

And see you in the cinema!

Author — Polina Tolmacheva, PR and Marketing Director, FILM.UA Group

Source — MediaNanny