The KIT Film Studio (part of the KIT GPM as part of the Gazprom-Media holding), with the support of MTS Media, has begun the filming of the series under the working title "Official" commissioned by Channel One. The story of a high-ranking official's journey to her place will be filmed by director Oksana Karas (Doctor Liza, Good Boy), script - Maria Melenevskaya, Denis Utochkin (Ordinary Woman).
Starring: Victoria Tolstoganova, Maxim Vitorgan, Polina Kutepova, Artem Bystrov, Yana Gladkikh and Alexey Agranovich.
The life of an official of the regional Ministry of Health Arina Alferova (Victoria Tolstoganova) is very prosperous: a good apartment in the city center, a decent foreign car, morning styling, shopping trips to Moscow, jewelry, expensive shoes. After all, the chief of finance and economics can afford something. And sometimes even more than a few things. Especially if your lover is doing business with the largest pharmaceutical company in the region. What is in return? Put a couple of signatures on contracts. Close your eyes to the "errors" in the calculations. Let the “right” people win tenders. One such beneficiary is the pharmaceutical tycoon Tsalov, who brings tons of counterfeit and expired drugs to the market. But Arina doesn't even know about it. Carried away by her personal life, she does not noticewhat is each of its signatures really worth - and hundreds of residents of the region will have to pay with their lives. One day the bitter reckoning will get too close to her - a loved one dies from fake pills. So the Official decides to integrate herself into the corrupt "food" chain in order to get to the very top - to the Minister - and drown everyone.
Maria Melenevskaya, screenwriter:
“Together with me, my co-author Denis Utochkin worked on the script, we came to this project at the stage of script development - there was already an idea and the general director of KIT Film Studio Janik Fayziev suggested that we invent it,“screw it up”. So we started working on this story about an official who is walking a certain path of Awakening of consciousness. Although she is already a mature woman, she nevertheless has to "grow up", this concerns the soul, human qualities. Globally, we would like to comprehend, dissect this type of people, which we all know quite well - in the main role, not just an official, not just a woman, but a corrupt official. We tried to understand what such people have in their heads, how their actions are combined with conscience. In this our attempt, perhaps, lies the uniqueness of the project - to look into the heads of people,who have gone beyond the boundaries of universal human morality."
Oksana Karas, project director:
“We have been waiting for the launch opportunity for a very long time, like all filmmakers in our country. We quarantined the entire pre-production: we communicated exclusively in Zoom windows, all readings took place in these windows, even important decisions were made exclusively online. The start was originally scheduled for April 10, but already the end of June - with such a delay we started, but still very happy! The whole group passed the tests, we wear masks, we keep our distance - we fulfill the obligatory conditions of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare in order to make films in these new realities. But with all the precautions, you cannot save yourself from everything: on the first day of shooting, after the first shot of the scene, according to the cinema tradition, I broke a plate and it shattered into many small fragments. Here one of them hit my hand and there was a lot of blood, but the artists reassured, they say,this is a very good sign - "if the role was given with blood, there will be success!" As far as directors are concerned, we'll find out! But for now we will assume that this is a really good omen. I think we are filming an important and relevant story, because there is a great audience demand for social justice in general, and in the healthcare system in particular. I really believe in our cinema and I hope that despite all the difficulties that we will have to overcome, like all Russian filmmakers this summer, we will still make the movie that we want. "and in the health care system - in particular. I really believe in our cinema and I hope that despite all the difficulties that we will have to overcome, like all Russian filmmakers this summer, we will still make the movie that we want. "and in the health care system - in particular. I really believe in our cinema and I hope that despite all the difficulties that we will have to overcome, like all Russian filmmakers this summer, we will still make the movie that we want."
Filming of the project will take place in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region.
The premiere will take place on the MTS TV platform, after which the film will be released on Channel One
Genre: social drama, detective, romance
Production: "KIT Film Studio"
TV channel: Channel One
Episodes: 8 episodes
General Producers: Janik Fayziev, Rafael Minasbekyan, Igor Mishin
Lead Producer: Alexander Bondarev
Producers: Alexey Akhmedov, Irina Borisova, Vladimir Vasiliev
Executive producer: Alexey Neklyudov
Stage director: Oksana Karas
Script writers: Maria Melenevskaya, Denis Utochkin
Director of photography: Sergei Machilskiy
Second director: Natalia Kabanova
Cast: Victoria Tolstoganova, Maxim Vitorgan, Polina Kutepova, Artem Bystrov, Yana Gladkikh, Alexey Agranovich, Laura Pitskhelauri, Sergey Volkov, Kamil Tukaev and others.