Gazprom-Media Holding is launching its own studio for the production of exclusive content for TNT-PREMIER’s premium OTT-platform. The studio will be established on the basis of 1-2-3 Production studio, which will change its name to TNT-PREMIER Studios as of February 21.
The director of TV-3 channel Valery Fyodorovich and the channel’s chief producer Yevgeny Nikishov will run the studio, while the general manager of the studio Ivan Golomovzyuk will be in charge of its operational management. TNT-PREMIER Studios has all the necessary resources, including those needed to create computer graphics, and will be tasked with executing a full production cycle from the development of the script to post-production. It will also serve as a single entry point for other studios that produce content for TNT-PREMIER.
“We continue to fill TNT-PREMIER up with exciting projects, and each receives the recognition of the audience. The studio’s team already has its own corporate style and recognizable look in the production of TV series. Their projects are equally in demand on paid services as well as on TV channels,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko, CEO of Gazprom-Media Holding.
There are currently 25 original projects in production phase at the studio. Among them, the social thriller Identifikatsiya (Identification), directed by Vladlena Sandu. The project’s central character is a blond girl who grew up in a community of illegal Muslim immigrants from Kyrgyzstan. When one of the community’s prominent members is murdered, she becomes the main suspect. As time passes, it turns out that she is not at all the woman she has been claiming to be. On February 20, 2019, this project was featured as part of the main program of one of the most prestigious festivals for TV series in the world - Series Mania - in France. Identifikatskiya was listed among the top 10 projects that were selected from several hundred applicants. Among the other contestants are the two new Netflix series: the American series Chambers with Uma Thurman and France’s Mytho, which was created together with the channel Arte.
TNT-PREMIER Studios are also working on the post-apocalyptic drama Epidemiya in partnership with KIT Film Studio, which is part of Gazprom-Media Holding. The project is an adaptation of Yana Vagner’s best-selling novel Vongorezo. Pavel Kostomarov directed the series with the main roles played by Viktoria Isakova, Mariana Spivak and Kirill Kyaro.
Avanpost is another long-awaited project from TNT-PREMIER Studios. The fantasy thriller features Pyotr Fyodorov, Aleksey Chadov, Lukeriya Ilyashenko, Svetlana Ivanova and Konstantin Lavronenko. The first part of the full-length dilogy will be released in theaters in autumn 2019. The project will have its world premiere on March 15, 2019 in the Silicon Valley capital, San Jose (California), at the Cinequest international festival.
“We are evolving in our development. Three years ago, we announced that TV-3 would become a ‘place of power’ for high-quality drama series. In this time, the channel has managed to establish a powerful production base and assemble a team of specialists in the distribution and promotion of films and TV shows. The next step is absolutely logical. Content viewing is shifting online and online platforms are becoming key. Today this is TNT-PREMIER. Thus, the ‘place of power’ for premium drama series is shifting towards this platform. As for TV-3 channel, which has been growing over the past eight years, it will continue to do so under the guidance of Yevgeny Nikishov and I. But now the focus will be on the production of multi-series projects for a wide audience in the genres that are the most popular among the channel’s viewers - mysticism, thriller, fantasy - as well as on the launch of action-packed, large-scale TV shows, such as Posledniy Geroy (The Last Hero), which will go on air of TV-3 on March 2,” said Valery Fyodorovich, director of TV-3.