REED MIDEM yesterday announced the twelve finalists of the prestigious international professional series contest MIPDrama Screenings, which includes two projects from Russia – the sci-fi series Better Than Us by Yellow, Black and White and Sputnik Vostok Production and detective thriller The Territory, produced by Sreda. The MIPDrama Screenings will take place on April 2, 2017, right before the TV and Digital content market MIPTV.

Six projects from Russia participated in MIPDrama Screenings, including pilots and series in production by VGTRK, Art Pictures, Valery Todorovsky’s studio and Star Media.

Apart from the two Russian series, the list of finalists includes projects from the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Sweden, Denmark and Brazil. They will present their projects to 450 buyers invited from all over the world as well as to the key international distributors, producers and mass media.

This year, there were two categories in the contest – ready-made series and work in progress projects. Russia is represented in both of them.

The detective thriller The Territory produced by Sreda will compete with new projects from All3Media International, ITV Studios Global Entertainment, Globo, AB International, Entertainment One and Viaplay Nordic in the ready-made category. The story takes place in a provincial Russian town, where a series of dreadful and supposedly ritual murders takes place. An experienced investigator (Kirill Pirogov) is sent to uncover the crimes. A provincial officer (Petr Fedorov) becomes his partner. Russian viewers will see the series on Perviy.

Alexander Tsekalo, GM of Sreda, said that becoming a finalist in such contest as MIPDrama Screenings is a great honor and at the same time a huge responsibility. ‘An expert commission has picked the most original stories aided by the high level of production. We are happy that our project is among the most promising ones. A detective, a drama and a provincial noir is the most popular genre mix in the world. American, British, and Scandinavian series used to be the best in this style. Now, our time has come,’ he said.

Tsekalo noted that the company expects significant results from participating in MIPTV and MIPDrama Screenings regardless of winning the contest.

‘We are convinced that participation in MIPDrama will consolidate the success of the company on the international market and will open up new opportunities for us. It was during MIPTV that I met Eccho Rights, which became the distributor of Silver Spoon and sold it to Netflix. In this sense, MIP brings us luck. We hope to attract the attention of international buyers to The Territory during MIPDrama Screenings and sell it both as a ready-made series and as a format. Our goals, however, are not limited to The Territory. We plan to establish new business relationships and present the entire line of projects of the company to the buyers’.

Nelli Yaralova, General Producer of The Territory thinks that ‘comparison to Twin Peaks is unavoidable and there is nothing to be ashamed of. It is difficult to not fall under the evil charm of this series, and Scandinavian, American, and English experience shows how much in demand series of this genre are today. The Territory is one hundred percent an original product. The idea belongs to the screenwriter Konstantin Sukharkov. From the first episode, I realized that this is what it needs to be. A thrilling story, high-powered energy, strong and flamboyant characters. I offered Alexander Tsekalo, a fan of this genre and talented producer, to produce the story together’, Yaralova is also convinced that the series is able to attract viewers on any continent, since it is a ‘universal, dynamically developing story. Every storyline has a secret that captures from the first minutes and does not let go until the very resolution. At the same time, The Territory is interesting not only for its mysteries. We have worked a lot on the atmosphere that would fascinate the audience. That is why Vano Burduli, a winner of international film festivals, who is proficient in the cinema language, was invited to direct. Camera operator Eduard Moshkovich created a deep and lively, a very cinematographic picture, and composer Ryan Otter wrote the music that causes goose bumps.
‘We deliberately refrained from using time marks – it is not retro, but there is not a single mobile phone shown in the series; the story could take place anywhere and at any time. A small town where everybody knows everyone; at the same time, every family has their skeletons in the closet, and dark secrets unite the unlikely characters. It is a universal environment, same as the fear is a universal feeling. We play with the fact that the viewer likes to be scared – not by growth of unemployment and military conflicts, but by the fictional evil. Experience of this kind is almost psychotherapeutic on any continent. At last, it is a project about real people, and recognizable characters take part in the series. Every one of them has a strong character and his own drama that the audience can emphasize with. Viewers of any country can identify themselves with these characters because their problems, psychological trauma and relationships are not tied to the oil prices’.

The second Russian finalist, Better Than Us, produced by Yellow, Black and White and Sputnik Vostok Production is competing in the work in progress category along with new projects from Beta Film, Sky Vision, Studio Canal, and Federation Entertainment.

The story filmed by Andrey Dzhunkovsky (Sweet Life) and based on the idea by Alexander Kessel (producer of Londongrad), takes place in a metropolis of a near future. Robots are servicing the people’s needs by working as guards, nannies, housekeepers. They are safe until an illegal specimen that looks exactly the same but is able to kill appears in the country. Paulina Andreeva plays the part of the dangerous creature. Other characters are portrayed by Kirill Kyaro, Alexander Ustyugov, and Olga Lomonosova. Russian viewers will see the fantasy thriller on Perviy in 2017.

General Producer of the series Eduard Iloyan said that he is pleased to be one of the finalists of the prestigious international contest MIPDrama Screenings. ‘After the success of our single-camera comedies on the international market, we are entering with the new for us genre of international drama. I think the studio has created a unique high concept project. This time we focused on a picky foreign audience, among other things, and filmed a modern high concept sci-fi drama that centers around a near future. Answering a popular question of what the future holds for our children, the series makes viewers wonder about global problems – replacement of humans in all spheres of life – from industrial production to personal and family relationships, and about the solitude of people in the society. Better Than Us is a modern sci-fi story for the wide international audience, which the Russian viewers will see on Perviy during the new TV season’.

Alexander Kessel, author of the idea and producer of the series said that ‘the future has come and no one doubts it anymore. In this sense, Better Than Us is an absolutely modern story about us today. Despite the fact that the genre of the story has an element of science fiction, it is a drama before everything else, which examines universal issues that always matter to people: life, death, love, hatred, intergenerational conflict, conscience, personal dignity and pursuit of happiness. Same as in the works of Azimov, Bradbury and Lem, androids in our series are just accelerating agents of the conflicts that escalate dilemmas, deform relationships, and uncover the hidden. The recipe of a happy life that states «Love people, not things. Use things, not people» got fully distorted at the height of the consumer boom that the humanity is going through. A hot issue of today – the topic of social split, aggressive polarization of the views will generate interest of the widest audience on all markets and in all national cultures. We, of course, hope that participation in MIPDrama will facilitate the first wave of this interest’.