Inspired by the international success of the first Ukrainian noir series — criminal drama ‘Hide and Seek’ — FILM.UA studios has begun active development of another unusual project.
It will become the first sci-fi series from FILM.UA, an adaptation of the book ‘We can live amongst men’ by Ukrainian author Varvara Enal. This is the first book in the series named ‘Alive: The Mystery of MOAG Station’, which will also be the title for the adaptation.
Events in ‘Alive: The Mystery of MOAG Station’ universe happen in the distant future when humanity had left the Earth for the huge orbital stations. Children and grown-ups live on different levels and never see each other. Kids are vat-grown and are tutored by the automatons. Humans decided to get rid of everything that distracts them from work and development. So, the artificial intelligence raises children until they hit 15, when they are transferred on to an adult level.
The main characters of the series are a bunch of teens that find out that something terrible had happened at the station: instead of transferring teenagers to the adult level, the mainframe just murders everyone who reached the age of 15. Those who were able to escape and hide on an abandoned level of the station has to find out what is happening and where did all the adults disappear. ‘Alive: The Mystery of MOAG Station’ series is planned to be shot with English as a primary language. It’s a hard decision that is predicated on the need for a wider commercial potential for the problem — both for the sails for the finished product and in searching for international partnerships. But more importantly — English fits naturally to sci-fi, as in the vast expanse of space language and ethnic barriers diminish.
‘Alive: The Mystery of MOAG Station’ series already has first confirmed partners. We won't open all the cards from the get-go, but some news we can share. An Israeli company Endemol Shine Israel takes part in the creative development of the project. The team headed by Gal Zaid (he visited Kyiv recently during Kyiv Media Week) has substantial experience in working on important international projects from a famous series ’Prisoners of War’ (that became a basis for American series homeland) to the recognized by Ukrainian audience series ‘Svitlofor’ (‘Traffic Light’) broadcasted on Novyi Kanal TV-channel. Producers of the project say that deciding on cooperation with Israeli company was easy — as they are known as masters of storytelling. Everyone who loves sci-fi knows that the best creations in the genre, despite their futuristic incredibility, seem terrifyingly real. This is where the Israeli creators have reached a great success. Their stories grip from beginning to end.
The potential of the series is recognized in Europe already. This adaptation has made it to the finals list of 15 to С21 Drama Series Pitch a part of Content London — one of the world's leading drama series pitchings.
Finals will happen on December 3rd, and the winner will be awarded £30 000 to the support of the development. The results will be announced on Thursday, December 5th at the International Drama Awards 2019 ceremony. ‘Alive: The Mystery of MOAG Station’ will be represented by the producers Elena Malkova and Kateryna Vyshnevska.
