AFL Brings New Shows

Yuri Volodarsky
Head of Development & Distribution
AFL Productions
United States

What are your new highlights for MIPTV?

"Casting" (24 x 30 min) - Comedy-reality program and format.

"Theory of Catastrophes" (4 x 60 min) - The Most Shocking Disasters that happened in the last 10 years in the former USSR.

"Police Patrol" (8 x 104 min, TV Movies) - Two policemen are battling with evil when the law and justice are not able to find each other. When Partnered Up – Bad Guys Don ' t Stand A Chance!

How are these shows different or unique to stand out from the pack?

"Police Patrol" is a mini-series of eight well-scripted action packed movies, with separate and self-contained stories for each movie. The Premier of "Police Patrol" took place on Channel Russia in May 2008. The movies were programmed as a strip from Monday to Thursday at 21.00 and they showed tremendous score: 11.3% TVR / 30.7% Share. After the great success in Russia, "Police Patrol" arrived in Ukraine. Channel 1+1 launched "Police Patrol" starting January 17, 2009 and broadcasted movies on a weekly bases on Saturday at 8:00 pm. "Police Patrol" scored the first place in the primetime with 10.62% TVR / 25.6% Share. "Police Patrol" is ready for immediate international distribution with M&E track and English dialogue lists. The original Russian version has English subtitles. The HD version of the project will be available by the end of April 2009.

"Theory of Catastrophes" (4 x 1 hour) is a prime-time documentary series, which presents ecological and social catastrophes, natural disasters, accidents, collisions, explosions and other cataclysms. This series not only reveals unique and dramatic footage of actual events, but it also analyzes and investigates why tragedies happen and what could possibly be done to prevent similar devastations in the future.

Comedy-reality program and format "Casting" was created by producers of the worldwide hit "Naked & Funny".

Everybody knows how important and complicated the process of casting is for every project. Millions of people want to be in show biz and only a limited quantity could make a fortune. Producers and directors spend a lot of time and efforts to find the right person for the project. But, that's not what our show is about.

"Casting" is a show that reveals the funniest moments and people who are too far from the point to be in TOP 10 of each selection. This show is about people who made an Opposite TOP 10, so they are the worst in each casting.

Why did they decide to participate in something they were not meant for? Everybody wants money and fame … And actually, they have got it! They will find themselves on air in the show "Casting" !

What territories are priorities for you?

It is obvious that for every title there is always a priority to be sold in every country. For example, we are working hard on a deal for "Naked & Funny" and "Wild and Crazy" in the US. We already received an interest from a few broadcasters.

"Theory of Catastrophes" is a new and fresh series, so MIP will be a test for this title. Our priority is to sell these series to our existing clients who already bought and have had success with our series "Wild & Crazy" and "Caught on Tape", which are France, Germany, Korea, Brazil, and Finland.

"Police Patrol" had a great launch in Russia and the CIS. We are expecting it to continue successfully in Eastern Europe and in Scandinavia. We are also expecting a good response in Latin America.

For "Casting", our main priorities are the UK, Australia, Portugal, Spain and Latin America. We will pitch this format to the US, but we need to bring strong results from other countries along to make our marketing efforts more productive.

Are there are any other goals you'll be looking to achieve during this market?

To support all our agents in their sales efforts with marketing and promotion. And, of course, we should never forget about important goals, such as meeting with colleagues and friends, the exchange of ideas for new projects, and have a good time in Cannes.