FEATURE
The Goats Rodnyansky will continue to produce three
Russian films per year in addition to two or three US independents, and he wants to work only in English or Russian. “It is better to have a slate of movies — it is dangerous to gamble on just one film,” he says. Born in Kiev in the Ukraine, Rodnyansky
came from a dynasty of film directors and grad- uated from the National University of Film, Theatre and Television in Kiev as a documen- tary director. He worked producing and direct- ing documentaries at home, and then in Germany for ZDF while pursuing his passion for narrative movies as a producer. In 1994, as the independent TV market was
getting to its feet after decades of Soviet con- trol, he set up an independent production com- pany in the Ukraine, turning it into the country’s first independent TV channel, 1+1, which took only a few months to become the most popular channel in the Ukraine TV mar-
ket of 15 million people. Within 18 months, he had sold 50% of the company to Central Euro- pean Media Enterprises (CME). In 2002, he moved to Moscow to head up
Story First Communications, a “relatively small enterprise set up by US investors with the idea of bringing the US network model to Russia”. Starting out with a market capitalisation of
$50m, the company — which was later renamed CTC Media — developed into an entertainment channel which doubled its audience share by 2006. When the company went public on NAS- DAQ that year, it was valued at $3bn and when Rodnyansky stepped down as chief executive officer in 2008, it had a market cap of $4.5bn. Rodnyansky sold his remaining 50% share
in 1+1 to CME and also cashed out his large shareholding in CTC. He then decided to focus entirely on the movie business and created AR Films, which now controls film and TV pro- duction company Non-Stop Production, the
ALEXANDER RODNYANSKY FACTFILE
n Rodnyansky trained as a documentary director at Kiev's National University of Film, Theatre and Television.
n In 1994 he set up 1+1, Ukraine’s first independent TV channel, building it into the biggest channel in the country; sold a 50% stake to CME.
n In 2002 he moved to Moscow to set up Story First Communications, a US- backed TV venture, building it into CTC Media (market cap in 2008: $4.5bn).
n In 2009, he cashed out of 1+1 and CTC to focus on film, creating AR Films, which has interests across Russia, Central and Eastern Europe and now the US.
prestigious national film festival Kinotavr in Sochi and two distribution ventures — leading Russian arthouse distributor Cinema Without Frontiers (Kino Bez Granits), and Central and Eastern European licensing outfit A-Company, which controls a distribution network across 20 countries. “In the US I want to do the same as I do in
Russia, which is work with outstanding writ- ers, directors and casts,” he explains. “I adore the US classics of the 1960s and 1970s, and Billy Bob Thornton comes from that school. His film is an homage to the movies of that time, though I think it’s unique, fresh and con- temporary as well.” Kosinski, Rodnyansky says, has similar
ambitions to develop and produce “character- driven, story-based films”. “I can do other movies, and he has his own
projects with other partners,” says Rodnyan- sky. “I am free from any commitments to work with his clients [his client management list includes Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman]. We are looking for great projects we love more than anyone else which we can produce.” Graham Taylor at WME Global represents
AR Films. Hyde Park International has taken on international sales for Jayne Mansfield’s Car, and Aldamisa is handling the AR Films US product. Meanwhile, Rodnyansky says, he sees plenty
‘In the US I want to do the same as I do in Russia, which is to work with outstanding writers,
Jayne Mansfield’s Car n 24 Screen International at the Berlinale February 12, 2012
directors and casts’ Alexander Rodnyansky
of synergies between the US and Russian oper- ations. Rodnyansky is not in the business of forcing territories to buy Russian movies that nobody wants to see, but Russian talent could certainly travel to the US — as Timur Bekmam- betov has proved — and the US movies can be fed into his distribution companies as well as sold around the world. “I want to learn about the US business and
I’m happy to partner up with great professionals and learn from them, while sharing my exper- tise from my part of the world,” he says. “I really do have a unique combination of creative and business experience in this part of the world.” n
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