Television channel TV-3 and the social network VKontakte are launching the continuation of the TV project Byt ili ne Byt (To Be or Not to Be), as part of which Internet users choose TV series for the channel. In the new project Byt ili ne Byt 2. Chempionat Rossii po Serialam (To Be or Not to Be: Russia’s Series Championship), VKontakte users will be able to present their own ideas for a pilot episode of a series.
Any individual or team of creators can take part in the project. To do so, they need to upload original video footage of any length and quality to VKontakte with the hashtag #SnimuPilot (Will film a pilot). The applications will be accepted from August 16 until October 1. Viewers can vote for their favourite ideas in the TV-3 community on VKontakte. There will be 25 works chosen based on the results of the vote. The finalists will become contestants in a television show, which will begin on TV-3 in December 2017. The premieres of the pilot episodes of the winning projects are planned to take place on TV-3 next year.
An expert jury will evaluate the projects. The jury includes popular VKontakte members as well as professionals and industry stars. Among them are producers Valery Todorovsky and Igor Tolstunov, directors Zhora Kryzhovnikov, Anna Melikyan, Boris Khlebnikov, Aleksandr Kott, Pyotr Buslov, actors Aleksandr Petrov, Maria Shalaeva, Irina Gorbachyova and Kirill Pletnyov. The resident of Comedy Club, producer and director Aleksandr Nezlobin and the actor, screenwriter and producer Denis Kosyakov will host the show.
“The TV project Byt ili ne Byt, which we launched this spring, showed that we hit the spot - it got a great response from the industry. We were the first to allow viewers to decide themselves what they want to see on the screens. Now we are going even further and giving viewers the chance to create content themselves. I’m sure that in our large country there are many people with glowing eyes who don’t know how to make a breakthrough with their ideas. Even winning at a festival nowadays does not guarantee film authors the attention of colleagues and viewers. We would like all people who are interested in film and television to have a chance to reach their potential. This show is our own version of a social elevator. The number of contracts that we are willing to sign on the basis of the show is not limited. We are happy to give a golden ticket to life to every promising project. We want to create new, smart television for all together with the viewers,” said Valery Fyodorovich, general manager of TV-3.