The head of Mosfilm, Karen Shakhnazarov, said that in order to develop the Russian film industry, it is necessary to create a single cinema center - an analogue of the Soviet Goskino. He also proposed reducing ticket prices for Russian films.

Head of Mosfilm Karen Shakhnazarov (Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofiev/TASS)

The general director of Mosfilm, Karen Shakhnazarov, proposed creating a single cinema center, an analogue of the USSR Goskino, which would finance Russian films. Shakhnazarov stated this in an interview with Rambler News Service.

According to Shakhnazarov, the current situation, when funds are allocated to support cinema by both the Ministry of Culture and the Cinema Fund, is “unprecedented know-how in the world.” The director believes that the country should have a single center for film financing, which would at the same time have a fairly independent position. “Goskino in the USSR was a committee, but it actually had the rights of a ministry,” Shakhnazarov said. “It was quite an influential organization.” And the cinema center should have the same powers, but it would also deal with other problems.”

A unified center for film financing would figure out why the Russian film industry does not attract investors and why it is unprofitable, the head of Mosfilm suggested. “I think that in general the industry needs to rely on itself, it needs the right organization,” Shakhnazarov said. — The state must organize it correctly: not in the sense of constant funding, but in the sense of creating an industry that could earn money on its own. We probably need to support some projects. But the film industry cannot live entirely at the expense of the state.”

The director believes that it is difficult for Russian films to be released, since cinemas prefer American films. Hollywood film companies own a large database of content, so they can dictate their terms. And if Russian companies offer cinemas one or two films a year, then American companies offer a package of 100 films (which is more profitable for cinemas), but on their own terms. “If Russian cinema, which is made with state money, were combined into a certain package, this would be an advantage,” Shakhnazarov told RNS. “They could already offer over 60 films for rental, and with such a package they can start talking to networks.”

Shakhnazarov also proposes to reduce ticket prices for Russian films. “If they at least combined the films and lowered the prices for tickets to Russian cinema - for example, by half - then this would produce results,” Shakhnazarov is sure.

In addition, Karen Shakhnazarov spoke in an interview about the economics of Mosfilm. About 70% of revenue comes from film and television production activities, he said. At the same time, the main share of production is made up of projects for television, while cinema makes up about 20%. The film concern receives another 30% of its revenue from the State Film Fund for the sale of rights. Part of Mosfilm’s revenue is in foreign currency, obtained through the sale of rights to films abroad.

Mosfilm sells some of its films to Ukrainian television, the head of the studio said. If Igor Kolomoisky’s 1+1 TV channel has reduced its purchases of Russian content, the Inter TV channel continues to purchase films and TV series in the same volume. However, overall, revenues from the sale of rights to Ukraine decreased by about 30%, according to Shakhnazarov.

Shakhnazarov did not disclose Mosfilm’s revenue, but said that the studio ended 2015 with a profit and paid more than 500 million rubles. taxes. In 2014, the revenue of the Mosfilm film concern amounted to 990 million rubles, net profit - 487 million rubles. Compared to 2014, Mosfilm’s revenue has increased over the past 12 months, Shakhnazarov noted.

Karen Shakhnazarov has headed the Mosfilm film concern since 1998. He is a member of the board of the Union of Cinematographers, a member of the European Film Academy, and also holds the position of deputy chairman of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art. Shakhnazarov is the director of numerous films, in particular the films “White Tiger”, “Ward No. 6”, “We are from Jazz”, “City of Zero” and others.

Karen Shakhnazarov proposed creating an analogue of the Soviet Goskino