"Right now it is interesting to make cinema in Russia, for our viewer. But making cinema for abroad... I realize that we will not outdo Warner Brothers, so there's no point in spending a life on that", - says producer Igor Tolstunov
Igor Tolstunov is a well-known figure in the film business. After the success of "A Driver for Vera", the series made for STS, and now the modest romantic picture "Piter FM", there has been talk of Tolstunov the producer's unerring instinct that keenly captures the vague fluids of viewer preferences. About popular genres, elusive moods and quite tangible revenues, Igor Tolstunov reasons in an interview with "Itogi".
- Well, Igor, can you be congratulated again? There are rumors of fantastic receipts for "Piter FM"...
- Congratulations are in order. As of May 9, we have earned almost 200 million rubles across Russia and Ukraine. And the release continues. I think this picture can still live quite well. Despite the film "Mission: Impossible 3", which, of course, will take away part of the audience.
- Losing to Cruise is not so offensive. And your budget, probably, is not 150 million dollars?
- 150 times less — a million one hundred thousand. Of late, this is the most profitable film. By the ratio of budget to box-office receipts.
- And why did this happen with a film that has no crime, no eroticism and no stars in the lead roles?
- I think the basis of the success is in the right tone of the film. We formulate it as very light, springlike. This is the tone of bright hope. The film is very positive, despite the fact that there is no love in it as such. The heroes don't even meet, but the feeling of love is there. It seems to me this is what primarily attracts the viewer. Many note a good mood that arises after the viewing. Outside it is spring... People want to get a charge of optimism from cinema.
- Did you get recharged too?
- I liked everything already at the script stage. It was brought by editor Anna Gudkova and Lena Glikman, my student, a graduate of the Higher Courses of Directors and Scriptwriters, where I taught a workshop several years ago. It was an absolute watercolor, transparent, airy. Everything was built on the tone with which the story was told. And there was practically no plot.
- Did you already feel then that the story would be a success?
- You can never tell anything in advance. Each film probes the audience and simultaneously expands it: both "Night Watch" and "Day Watch", and "A Driver for Vera", and "The 9th Company", and "Bastards", and "Boomer", and "The Turkish Gambit"... Only in this way can you find out what the viewer expects. The most in this sense was done by "Night Watch" and its producers Konstantin Ernst and Anatoly Maksimov. Their contribution to our cinema cannot be overestimated.
- And what heroic thing did the leaders of Channel One do?
- They were the first to seriously reach the audience.
- You must admit that they had exclusive opportunities for this.
- The matter here is not only in good advertising, but in the ability to create the phenomenon of an event. It was impossible not to watch "Night Watch". As it is impossible not to watch "Day Watch" and "The 9th Company". Simply impossible.
- And your slogan "Piter FM" is the second film of the year" — is it a jab at Ernst and Maksimov?
- Just banter. We thought it was amusing. Though the reaction of some people is surprising. That, they say, our heads got carried away by pomp. But those who go to cinemas often and have seen "the first film of the year", when they hear this slogan in the trailer, applaud and laugh. It is clear to them that this is just a joke.
- Do you think "Piter FM" will start a new wave in our cinema? Will the vogue for crime films finally pass?
- No, of course not! Genre cinema rests on crime. Moreover, it is present in practically all stories to one degree or another. Why should the viewer tire of it if a good story is told? One does not tire of good things, as is known. As for the new wave, such films are news only here. Romantic comedies in huge quantities came out and continue to come out abroad. For example, "Love Actually", "Maid in Manhattan", the great in its genre "Pretty Woman". Many such stories were also told in Soviet cinema. Simple, unpretentious, romantic, light and, what is important, inexpensive films, without any special effects and stunts. Stories close to the heart of the broad viewer.
- But not to the hearts of sophisticated film critics. Have you had to read negative reviews?
- I've read them. Well, these people simply did not connect with the story. I don't see anything terrible in this. The film does not claim to be universal. But it showed that in our country there is a viewer ready to watch this kind of picture. And I think this is very important. After "Piter FM" cinema will not change globally, but the approach will change for sure. Distributors and producers will understand that one can deal with this kind of stories and budgets.
- Courage, of course, takes cities, but you stocked up on a team of stars in episode roles just in case...
- Since it was immediately clear that the leading roles would not be played by stars at all, we decided to put all the comedy, character-driven and ironic aspects of the story into these short episodes. These are cameo roles, when a star-level actor appears for thirty seconds, and nothing needs to be explained to the audience. Flew in — flew out.
- And how much did they "fly in"?
- Not much. For example, Mashkov's whole role was like that. Vladimir Lvovich would run out from an archway and catch up with the heroine with the words: "Young lady, are you interested in sex with an unknown man?" She would laugh in his face, and on this the episode ended. Mashkov really liked the role, but he said that he simply couldn't take money for it, so he worked for free.
- "Curiouser and curiouser"...
- I dare to hope that Volodya did this out of friendship, but I am sure that if he didn't like the script, no friendship would have held him. Believe me, we didn't pay the stars any supernatural fees, the roles were simply tasty.
- The viewers' appetite has been whetted. So whom does "Piter FM" compete with today?
- Among Russian films of 2006, by opening numbers our film is in fifth place. Ahead are "Day Watch", the second "Boomer", "Bastards" and "Piranha Hunt". If we also count foreign films, we are in sixth place. Add "Ice Age 2". I think that by total receipts "Piter FM" should fall into the top ten highest-grossing films at the moment.
- There are rumors that you are even reaching for the holy of holies...
- I very much hope that we'll outdo "Harry Potter", but our "Bastards", alas, no. They have already earned 9,662,000 dollars in Russia. We couldn't even dream of such numbers in our rosiest dream. In my opinion, the final top six will include: "Day Watch", "Ice Age 2", the second "Boomer", "King Kong", "Bastards" and, I hope, "Piter FM".
- The success is clearly worth consolidating.
- Yes, we think that the genre in which "Piter FM" was shot will be in demand, and we are planning to shoot several more similar projects. A romantic adventure, a romantic melodrama and a romantic comedy. The key word here is "romantic". In the near future we are finishing two films. The first — "Lieutenant, Victory and Spring". Here we wanted to achieve a mix of the tone of the films "I Walk Around Moscow" and "Ballad of a Soldier". The second film is called "Gooseberry" — with the spelling "Kruzhovnik". This is a melodrama set in 1980, in the year of the Olympic Games in Moscow.
- You often make your films with STS. Why did the entertainment channel suddenly decide to take part in the creation of "The 9th Company"?
- Strictly speaking, this film fits into the entertainment channel's concept with difficulty. It is for this reason that STS gave the premiere of "The 9th Company" to Channel One, where the film was a phenomenal success. But, you know, for the STS brand participation in this project is very important, since the film is aimed at young people — the main viewer of the channel.
- And who watches STS?
- The core is made up of women aged 18-34. The channel ranks first by share in the audience under 18. Therefore it is considered a priority for us. We try to retain this viewer and lead him through life.
- And what, viewers under 18 watch series based on books by Donzova?!
- Of course. Although the core audience of these series is older — from 18 to 45 years.
- And what films cannot be shown on your channel?
- STS does not show what does not fit its concept. This is an entertainment channel, therefore we do not have films with a serious social component.
- For example?
- We cannot show "The Brigade", "Gangster Petersburg". Now "The Cops" is another matter. They are light and optimistic. But "The Brigade" is good, but heavy cinema. We cannot show "The Master and Margarita", "The Idiot"... A lot of good things we cannot show. Because we do not have the viewer who will watch it. Our viewer is used to watching "Don't Be Born Beautiful" at eight o'clock.
- You and Rodnyansky now have your own film festival "Kinotavr". Will you enter your films into its competition?
- This year, no. We will show "Piter FM" and "The 9th Company" out of competition.
- We have been talking about you and you. But do you like what your colleagues are making?
- I won't talk about what I didn't like. If I had already joined the "heavenly" group, then I would be able to issue grades. I liked "Piranha Hunt" and "The 9th Company".
- Have you ever wanted to become a director? Are you not strangling the creator within?
- Why would I have been strangling him for so many years? No, I am a producer.
- As a producer, aren't you tired of the same faces on screen?
- I agree: actors will soon have to be divided into those who appear in cinema and those who appear on television. Otherwise, viewers will not go to cinemas to see actors who can be seen at home lying on the sofa.
- And what will we be able to see from the sofa in the near future?
- What you see today will also play on the STS channel in the summer. I cannot yet speak specifically about new material. In general terms, we will have a project with Columbia Pictures — an American script adapted for Russian viewers.
- And are you not planning to attract foreign directors or actors to star in your films? After all, it's easier to break through to the international market that way...
- Right now it is interesting to make cinema in Russia, for our viewer. The market is growing, there is a return. But making cinema for abroad... I realize that we will not outdo Warner Brothers, so there's no point in spending a life on that.
Nina Nechaeva
CAREER
A Pro from "PROFIT"
Igor Tolstunov became Deputy General Director of the STS TV channel in 2002. It all began in 1978 with work on the last films of the classic of Soviet cinema Sergey Gerasimov about Peter the Great, where the just-graduated-from-VGIK Tolstunov was first deputy director, and then director of the picture.
In 1995 he founded his own company "Igor Tolstunov Producer Firm" ("PROFIT"), which began its activities with producing the film by Kira Muratova herself — "Three Stories", and then, joining forces with NTV, made series for this channel.
Igor Tolstunov's credits include such well-known films as "A Driver for Vera" and "The Thief" by Pavel Chukhrai, "Sirota Kazanskaya" and "Papa" by Vladimir Mashkov, "East — West" by Regis Wargnier, "The Russian Revolt" by Alexander Proshkin, "The Voroshilov Sharpshooter" by Stanislav Govorukhin, "Come Look at Me" by Oleg Yankovsky, "Love" by Valery Todorovsky, and many others. Among the series he has produced are "The Bourgeois's Birthday", "Cavaliers of the Sea Star", the project "Daria Donzova's Detectives On Screen" — "Dasha Vasilyeva. An Amateur of Private Investigation", "Evlampia Romanova. The Investigation is Conducted by an Amateur" and "Viola Tarakanova. In the World of Criminal Passions"...