Russian producers finance an American blockbuster

After years of American film companies investing in Russian films, two Russian producers have for the first time financed the production of a large American production.

The Russian production company Fetosov-Teterin Films has partnered with Aldamisa International on “Chef,” a new film starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson.

Oleg Teterin, the executive director of the film company, said it is no harder to work in the American film market than it is in Russia. In some respects, the process can be smoother, he said.

"In contrast to Russian actors, Hollywood stars tend to agree to forgo up-front payments for a share of rental revenues. Therefore, they have a completely different attitude to the process of filmmaking. The actors are interested in the success of the film and in promoting it. And they get paid a percentage of box office revenues from the film, usually from 1 percent to 10 percent,” he said.

The plot of “Chef,” a comedy directed by Jon Favreau, revolves around a chef in a French restaurant in Los Angeles. The film is already scheduled to be shown at the international film festival in Cannes in May 2014.

Fetisov-Teterin Films’ owners have a history of seeking out investments outside of Russia. Gleb Fetisov had expressed interest in buying the French newspaper Le Monde, but the French side blocked the deal. Fetisov and Oleg Teterin also provided advertising support for the film “Major,” which was directed by Russian director Alexei Uchitel and has already been shown at the Cannes and Moscow film festivals. The film won the top prize at the 16th Shanghai International Film Festival and the Nouveau Genre Award at the L'Etrange Film Festival in France.

Based on materials from Izvestia.ru and Kinoafisha.

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