FEATURE The odds favour Volga
CEO Sergei Yershov brings crucial Hollywood nous to the US and Russia-based distributor VolgaFilm. Andreas Wiseman reports
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yebrows were raised when Russian distribu- tor VolgaFilm paid a multimillion-dollar minimum guarantee for The Hunger Games
at the 2010 American Film Market. It was a risky investment for an independent in an increasingly expensive market. But Volga achieved the biggest opening for the
film in a non-English language territory and it has grossed a company-record $13.3m as of April 19. Since it began its Russian operations in summer
2008, Volga has followed an unusual but success- ful business model. Founder Sergei Yershov, former co-president of Lionsgate International, runs Volga from Los Angeles, overseeing an acqui- sitions team which has yet to set foot in Russia. “Some people criticise the fact my acquisitions team are American and have never travelled to Russia and don’t speak the language,” he explains. “But that was intentional. If I had a Russian acqui- sitions executive, I doubt they would have been as excited two years ago about buying The Hunger Games considering the market for it in Russia. We’re trying to introduce a different mentality, an international mentality.” Yershov himself has not been to his homeland
for two years. He considers close contact with the US industry a competitive advantage, bearing in mind the strong demand for US product in Russia: “Being here allows us the possibility to interface with new producers.” Volga now has 52 staff spread across Los Ange-
les, St Petersburg, Moscow and Kiev. Crossing all those time zones, Yershov describes Volga as “the company that never sleeps”. The acquisitions policy is skewed towards Eng-
lish-language titles and has always been film- maker driven: “We overbid for The Hunger Games because of the film-maker [Gary Ross]. It’s always film-maker driven. Are we excited about what they have to say? Are we excited to market them? I was recently excited by the acquisition of docu- mentary Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present, for example.”
‘Everyone who witnessed the release of The Hunger Games and The Artist said we achieved
a miracle’ Sergei Yershov, VolgaFilm
In 2011, Volga released 14 films theatrically, gen-
erating box office of $9.2m. In the same year its television sales increased by 6%, from $8.8m to $9.3m. But Volga has had its best year at the box office in 2012, with strong numbers for The Artist and The Hunger Games. “Everyone who witnessed the release of The
Hunger Games and The Artist has said we achieved a miracle,” says Yershov. Suzanne Collins’ novel saw relatively minor sales in Russia but the dis- tributor printed a special edition with a teaser poster wraparound. The books were distributed in schools, colleges and universities throughout the country. Volga collaborated with major exhibitor Cinema
Park on a Hunger Games competition to win a seat at the European premiere in London and the com- pany blitzed social networks with other competi- tions. Such initiatives came naturally to the company’s
young, mostly English-speaking staff in Russia. Yershov estimates the average age of Volga’s mar- keting employees to be around 30. Volga is riding the wave of Russian audiences’ desire for Hollywood content. But Yershov believes
VOLGAFILM FACTFILE
n VolgaFilm — formerly Film Depot Inc — was formed in 2006. In 2007 it pacted with MGM for more than 50 titles.
n VolgaFilm opened its Moscow office in 2008, and secured more than 80 titles from the Vestron library, including Dirty Dancing.
n In 2009 Slumdog Millionaire and Spread make $3.6m and $2.7m respectively in Russia.
n By 2010 VolgaFilm had opened offices in Saint Petersburg and Kiev.
n One Day and Jane Eyre make $3.2m and $1.1m respectively in 2011. The Hunger Games and The Artist make $13.3m and $2.6m, respectively in 2012.
The Hunger Games grossed $13.3m in Russia to April 19
the country’s recent box-office surge masks under- lying structural problems: “Of course there have been some huge successes but there is also a grave- yard littered with fallen heroes who jumped on acquisitions that didn’t deliver. The industry is growing and attendances are improving but we are also under-screened and p&a costs are rising.” But Volga is looking to the future. The company
will continue its core operation as a feature distrib- utor but has plans to widen its operations. “We want to grow as a vertically integrated
media company and acquire other local compa- nies. We’re evaluating acquisitions of local cable companies and exhibition entities. We don’t want to be known solely as a boutique distributor. We are also thinking about feature and TV production. We want to make a brand for our type of films.” n
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