The general producer of the television company MB Group, Margo Krzhizhevskaya, is engaged in an incompatible business: she produces popular programs, owns a SPA sanatorium on Rublyovka and is building a chain of restaurants in Kuban

Yulia Larina

On television there are shots that are in the frame and shots that are off-screen. She was always behind the scenes: director, program producer. She was behind the scenes when Vladislav Listyev ("Theme", "Rush Hour"), Vladimir Molchanov ("Private Life"), Tina Kandelaki ("Details"), Tatyana Lazareva and Mikhail Shats ("Good Jokes") were in the frame. ... She is still behind the scenes, when in the frame are Vitaly Wulf (“My Silver Ball”), Sati Spivakova (“Tuning Fork”), Marat Ka (“Decorative Passions”), Tasha Strogaya and Natalya Stefanenko (“Take It Off Immediately” )...

Margo Krzhizhevskaya heads the MB Group television company, which produces programs for the Domashny channel (a dozen original programs), several projects for STS and the Rossiya channel, and many documentaries for Channel One and Rossiya too.

During the crisis, as is known, two areas suffered the most: the media, where advertising income decreased, and the area of goods and services for wealthy people. Margo Krzhizhevskaya has a business both here and there: she is also a co-owner of a mini-sanatorium on Rublevo-Uspenskoye Highway, Chalet Margo. Margo Krzhizhevskaya told Ogonyok about the situation in both areas.

In the project “Give Yourself Life” on the Rossiya channel, stars of show business, cinema and sports are trying to prolong their lives. The chief doctor of the project, Tatyana Shapovalenko, was pleasantly surprised to see the results of the examination of one of the participants, Tatyana Vasilyeva. The actress leads a healthy lifestyle, eats simple food, plays sports - including boxing and weightlifting.

A CONSOLIATING DIAGNOSIS Despite the crisis, MB Group launched three new television projects this year: a daily program about problems in family relationships, “Tell me, what’s wrong?!” ("Home"); the entertainment program “Home Alone” (HTS) with Valdis Pelsh, who comes to the families of famous people and, in the absence of his wife, cooks and puts things in order together with the head of the family and children; and the third project - “Give yourself life” (“Russia”), where the stars (Svetlana Masterkova, Tatyana Vasilyeva, Timati, Mikhail Politseymako, Sergei Trofimov...) undergo a comprehensive medical examination, find out the diagnosis and how long they have left to live and, frightened by what they heard , begin to lead a healthy lifestyle.

— A program about a healthy lifestyle, and even being filmed with the support of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, could well scare away the viewer, but it is a success...

- This is truly amazing. The program with the participation of Mikhail Politsemako had a share of 25, with the participation of singer Sergei Trofimov - 21.5. Moreover, at this time, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” is on Channel One, and we beat it in terms of numbers.

— Apparently, there are now more people who want to become healthy than those who want to become rich...

- Perhaps this is a trend. The difficulty of the project was that, on the one hand, it was necessary to create a show so that people would watch it. On the other hand, this show cannot be funny for doctors. “Give Yourself Life” is a Western format, the program is broadcast in different countries. And its creators said that we have the best implementation of the project.

In the psychological program “Tell me what’s wrong?!” channel “Domashny” involves married couples who are having problems. The presenters of the program, in particular Igor Chersky (in the background with one of the heroines), together with invited experts, find out the reasons for the changes in the relationship of the spouses and help the woman become attractive to her husband again

— Do we have sicker stars?

- No. They have no stars in the project. For example, in the UK the program is very successful, but is filmed with the participation of ordinary people. And the general director of the Rossiya channel, Anton Zlatopolsky, immediately said: “We need to do it with the stars.” And he turned out to be right. First, we called all the stars to find out who was ready to participate in a project about a healthy lifestyle. Some comically refused. For example, one famous actor said: “I drank, I drink and I will drink. And I feel good.” We crossed off from the list those who did not want to act (now we are calling everyone again, and those who did not want to, after watching the program, no longer refuse). Then they chose according to problems, understanding that, for example, Polizeimako, since he is fat, may have health problems. But he didn’t lose weight with us, he stopped smoking and quit. Sveta Masterkova has lost 8 kilograms. But still, the program is not about losing weight, but about a healthy lifestyle. We want to continue this topic. Now, together with the Ministry of Health and Social Development, we have shot two documentaries for the Rossiya channel: “Cancer. Reboot” and “Save the Heart.” We are planning to make a new program and continue “Give Yourself Life.”

One of the most popular programs of the MB Group is “Take it off immediately” (STS). Presenters Natalya Stefanenko and Tasha Strogaya (center and right) are trying to change the women who come to their program. Moreover, change not only externally (with the help of clothes, hairstyle, makeup), but also internally, finding out the reasons why their heroines cease to attract attention to themselves

GIVE YOURSELF A PROJECT The crisis found MB Group in this state: the company expanded its office, increased the number of equipment and staff. And she invested money in the expensive project “Men’s Games,” which was filmed in the Bryansk region. This is a reality show where several losers from all over the country, who once practiced martial arts, under the leadership of the world champion in martial arts Oleg Taktarov, were preparing to fight with fighters from America. This was the first television reality show in Russia, which aired not on television, but on the Internet (on the website posttv.ru).

— One of the Internet users, quoting your words, commented on them funny: “We arrived in the city of Zhizdra, Bryansk region,” says Margo Krzhizhevskaya. Did she select the city by last name? Was there an expected effect from this project?

“I can’t even formulate what I expected from being shown on the Internet. I understood that there was no financial return there. I thought it would be an image story. In general, we did this project for the American channel HBO, but then the crisis began. They don’t launch anything new abroad; they invest money in well-tested ones. Nevertheless, they are interested in the project. We are negotiating with different channels. We really like the project ourselves. I just did it at the wrong time.

— What projects did you have to abandon?

“We ourselves didn’t end up with anything.” There was no more filming for the children's channel "Bibigon". But next year our Academy of Arts program is being resumed. We are not talking about large budgets here, of course, but such projects allow the company to retain staff. Sometimes I even do projects that do not bring any profit, only provide jobs. Even now all my hardware is loaded around the clock. It has become more difficult to film programs related to travel and traveling, since it is expensive. But we continue to make “City Travel” for the Domashny channel with Pavel Lyubimtsev, although next year it will be released in a smaller volume. Compared to other television companies, we, thank God, did not suffer much during the crisis. But not because we were lucky. We just started working harder for the same money. My personal profit has become smaller, of course. But this is a strategic business.

— Previously, it was cheaper to buy a successful Western format than to make your own from scratch, which was unknown whether it would work well or not. How has the ratio of licensed and original programs changed during the crisis?

— I’m currently negotiating the purchase of one format (I can’t say which one yet). It has become more expensive to buy - which is strange in a crisis. It seems to me that people in the West believe that they are saving our television. Unfortunately, it came from us. We treated all Western companies and their formats with great reverence. They apparently decided that the crisis happened in their heads too, and no one here can come up with anything. Therefore, the terms of sale were complicated. And this is good, because their own formats have begun to appear.

The program “Home Alone” with Aldis Pelsh was broadcast on STS at the end of September. Pelsh comes to visit famous people (in this case, he was at the home of Mikhail Shirvindt). Usually the spouse of the program hero is asked to leave. While she is not at home, her husband and children, with the help of Valdis Pelsh, are trying to cope with everyday problems and prepare dinner

SPA FOR THE CRISIS Margo Krzhizhevskaya has, so to speak, non-core assets. For example, now she and her husband Alexander are building restaurants in Kuban. And a few years ago I found a use for my house on Rublevka with an area of more than 1000 square meters, which I could not complete. She realized that it would still be impossible to live in such a large house, and together with her friends Oksana Yarmolnik and Tatyana Lebedeva, she opened a small SPA sanatorium, Chalet Margo, with 11 rooms: comprehensive cleansing of the body, underwater massage, cascading shower...

— In this business, has the crisis become a cold cascading shower for you?

- This is not even a business for me. It's fun. And since we have always maintained an average pricing policy, there have even been more clients - at the expense of people who previously paid much more for such services in other places, but now cannot afford it. In addition, out-of-town clients appeared.

— Are these oil and gas workers?

- Yes, they and their wives. Brides began to arrive before their wedding. In addition, a new concert hall, Barvikha Luxury Village, has appeared, and spectators who know that such a sanatorium exists spend the night with us after the concert. Of course, Moscow is nearby, but you still need to get there.

— You, in addition, created a psychological assistance service for divorced Rublevsky wives...

— Yes, several years ago we opened it with the writer Tatyana Ogorodnikova. We considered the first task to be to reconcile the spouses or to find a solution that would be less painful for the children.

— Like the party committee in Soviet times...

— We lived in this for a year. But the closer I got to know these women, the less I wanted to help them. I was never a Rublev wife, I always earned money myself. But they believe that their husbands owe them money and threaten to take their children away. My sympathy for them disappeared. But Tanya continued this topic, defended her PhD thesis in psychology and writes books. Once I gathered members of a club on Rublyovka (there is one) at my “Chalet Margot”. The women discussed Tanya's book. I stood, looked and realized that this had nothing to do with my life.

Takes it off immediately