Andrey Kravets talked about where the audience will go, what the producers think about the audience and why "Doctor House" captured the minds of fans of TV series.
Andrei Kravets once revealed to us for the first time "Lost", "House M. D.", "Lie to me" and many other American TV series that cause almost drug addiction.
Serials that have changed our attitude towards the very concept of "serial". Serials that are fundamentally different from what our TV shows.
Andrey, what were you doing before you became interested in serials? How do you earn now?
- I worked as a film and television director by profession. He made films, TV programs.
Over the past three years, a unique recording studio has been built. It is called "Kravets" and is located in St. Petersburg. We have developed technologies that allow you to quickly and efficiently sound films, TV series, audiobooks. This is how we earn. And what the studio does for Lostfilm.tv is a contribution to advertising and the enjoyment of work.
And you yourself are still standing at the microphone, voicing something?
- No, I practically don’t voice anything. When I took up American TV series, I had to do a lot myself. But three years ago it became clear that the load was too much. And I had to recruit a team. Therefore, I rarely voice or mix the finished material myself. For a long time, specially trained people have been involved in everything: translators, actors selected at the casting, sound engineer and editor.
Do you use translation from notabenoid.com or do you have your own translators?
- We only have our own translators. There are enthusiasts who cooperate with us for free, and there are paid specialists.
I think the notabenoid.com project is interesting, but pointless. You cannot translate the material in a crowd. It turns out a swan, cancer and a pike. The collective translations I've seen are terrible.
You know, it's as if, say, Rembrandt painted a picture and left without finishing painting the canvas. Immediately some people came running up and began to paint, who as they can. With good intentions, of course. Only after this daub nothing will be left of Rembrandt. And it will be a different picture.
Now, if such a project brought together professionals, then yes. But, alas, professionals will hardly have time to do this.
Do you earn something from Lostfilm.tv or, on the contrary, do you have to invest in the project?
- Well, we don’t work negatively … (smiles. - Yu. E.)
Lostfilm founder Andrey Kravets.
- There have been a lot of TV series on Lostfilm.tv lately. Who selects them? If a new series has a low rating, do you give up translating it?
- We choose based on our taste. Ratings are of little interest to us. As a rule, we don't throw anything. Rather, we remove from priorities. But in general, we try to finish everything we started.
Considering the unpleasant history of breaking up with the founder of Novafilm, we will not talk about direct competition. Each studio has its own fans, and they themselves can assess the quality of the work of certain translators. I would like to ask, how do you see the prospect of this unusual case in general?
- When I started doing translations five years ago, I had a dream that our TV would stop producing sloppy translations and dubbing. I wanted new interesting serials to be shown on TV and not to broadcast them in a year or two on night air (as was the case with the serials "24 Hours" or "Lie to Me" on ORT. - Yu. E.). But at that time, the serials were not interesting to anyone. Even pirates selling cheap discs from trays were squeamish.
See what's going on now. Television began to show fresh episodes of a good series in a few days (I mean the sixth season of Lost on ORT). Over the past five years, many fan sites have appeared, and there are at least a dime a dozen amateur translation release groups. It's nice to know that I had a hand in this (smiles - Yu. E.).
What's next? I want the experience of my studio, its technologies to be useful and in demand on television.
Do you think that in the future there will be more and more single enthusiasts who will offer their countless versions of translations, or will they gather in more or less large studios? And does the number of versions affect the quality?
- They will certainly appear. After all, it seems to them, a way to declare themselves.
Another question is that, as a rule, apart from local fame in a narrow circle, this occupation will not bring them anything. Alas, this is so. But they believe in mountains of gold. I don’t know, probably this is good.
Immediately after the release of a fresh series on Lostfilm.tv, a user, having taken a movie from you, in a couple of hours starts distributing it on third-party resources (torrents, online screenings, his own website), increasing his personal rating, popularity and traffic. Some even manage to make money from advertising. What do you think about it?
- My attitude is bad. But this is inevitable. Fighting this is tantamount to fighting windmills. This is the flip side of my work. That's that.
Do you know how Europe watches these series? Do they all have a license, or do they also have online translation enthusiasts?
- They mostly watch the original with subtitles. This is the field where the enthusiasts work.
Help me understand the voice acting offered by the TV channels. If I understand correctly, "House Doctor" on "Domashny", as well as "Remember What Will Happen", "Lost" and "Lie to Me" on Channel One were voiced by some of their own studios or contractors? Why don't they buy from you?
- Interest Ask. I spoke with various representatives of studios, distributors, channels. Everyone says something like this: "Cool, great, yes, we know you." But that's where it ends.
Here is an example of the Domashny TV channel. Realizing the informal popularity among fans of "House Doctor" in the translation of my studio, they decided to contact us. But then they changed their minds, hired two translators and left the old voice acting voices. Notice that it didn’t even come to a discussion with us. It turned out, probably, that it is more profitable this way. Although they could at least ask for the texts of translations. I assure you, we would agree.
But they have this logic …
Customers do not care about the quality of translations and dubbing. The main thing is that the technical parameters of the work correspond to the standards. The finished product (series, film) has already been sold in advance and the money has been received. Before working on translation and dubbing. They have no interest, no motivation to do better. Naturally, I'm talking about voiceover.
What do you think about the fact that young people completely abandon TV in favor of the Internet (the same torrents)? Do you think that TV people still have a chance to bring young people back to the screens?
- TV missed its chance. And practically nothing is done in order to somehow reverse this situation. The attempt of Channel One to make “quick” translations (“Remember what will happen”, “Staying alive”) is a drop in the ocean. Looks just like an excuse or something. Because such work should be accompanied by active work on the Internet: communication with fans, advertising and so on. The way it is in America. But our television does not care about its viewers (I mean the younger generation of the Internet), and even more so about fans.
Representatives of the central channels believe that they already know everything. They have the opinion that the Internet community can be ignored, because it is quantitatively small in comparison with those who only watch TV. This is partly true. But the internet audience is growing every day. And the integration of television and the Internet is inevitable. It is the matter of time.
I talked about this with various representatives of the TV channels. They are smart people. And they understand that networking is the future. But, as they say, things are still there. Most likely, because it is not these advanced people who make epoch-making decisions.
This is my version. As a matter of fact, I do not know. But we have what we have.
Or maybe the fact is that television works for the provinces, and does not need an advanced audience? Viewers are considered idiots?
- Of course, no one considers anyone to be idiots. You know, last summer I was with my relatives in the outback of Russia. There, two TV channels are caught on an ordinary antenna - First (with interference) and "Russia". The entire village (its older population) is watching Carmelita and everyone is very happy. There is no choice. What they show is what they look at. And the youth without the Internet drink and have fun.
This, of course, does not mean that this is the case everywhere in Russia, but I think this example is indicative. There are few especially advanced audiences in the provinces. And TV channels almost completely satisfy her need.
What do you think about the prospect of high-quality American TV series appearing on our TV and at the same time the emergence of the “School” series?
- The series "School" … (sighs. - Yu. E.)
You know, viewers who are fond of American TV shows ask themselves the question: “When will we have such a movie in Russia? Why don't we have such serials?"
But we have at least one TV show. It is called the "Detachment". Yuri Minzyanov, the producer of the series, took a chance and shot a rather interesting thing. And where is this show? Nowhere. Channel One (and others too) refused to show it, referring to the non-format. And if the series did not pass on Russian channels, consider a loss.
That is, a series with a detective story, science fiction, adventure, mysticism is not a format, and the frostbitten children in the “School” series are a format. That is, in fact, the whole answer.
Therefore, we do not have good domestic serials that the channels do not take?
- Now in Russia all creative processes are directed by producers. They decide what to film and show. Their taste and budget for filming shapes what we see on TV.
Here's an example. My friend is a great screenwriter. On his conscience there are several quite interesting films and TV series. A certain TV channel specializing in gangster detective films asked me to write an interesting script for a new detective story. Like something new and fresh. The friend immediately cheered up and gave free rein to his imagination. He wrote a script for a detective, where a special department, consisting of people with paranormal abilities, helps to solve the most deaf cases. The channel's representative, having looked at the synopsis, said: “No, no mysticism or fantasy. Only the realities of life. " And a friend wrote a simple, standard script for a detective series. After all, everyone wants to eat. And this is not an isolated case.
We don't have any institute of producers? neither virtual nor real. In the West, a producer does not invest money, but finds it. And only then he invests his funds in the project.
With us, a sponsor producer is a common thing. And, as a rule, he dictates what, how and why to shoot, that is, forms what we will watch. The director is just a tool.
Bortko, by the way, is an excellent producer. More of a producer than a director.
You've probably heard the story about the "Big Bang Theory" and the Belarusian "Theorists". Can you comment on this situation somehow?
- And you know, I think it's good that at least this has appeared, albeit in Belarus (revised edition). At least something will dispel the atmosphere of detective-love-sugary TV series and films. We learned to copy well, at least sitcoms.
Why exactly such genres are taken, and not like "House"? Even legally, when buying a license, they reshoot "Nanny" ("My Fair Nanny") or "Married … with children" ("Happy Together")? Our viewer is not ready to watch anything but stupid comedies and TV series about cops? It is clear that Lost is a lot of money, and ours will not be able to film it. But "House" is filmed in the scenery, and money is needed only for the script, actors, director. Although, recalling the rumors that Mikhail Porechenkov will act as a genius doctor, it seems that it would be better not to shoot at all
- Our "Lost" will pull, it's just that, alas, no one needs it. In Russia, the main task of producers is to shoot for a penny and quickly.
With regard to "Doctor Tyrsa", then we must see what happens with the authors. I would not indiscriminately scold something that does not exist. Who knows, maybe something really new, breakthrough in Russian cinema will come out? Anyway, one would like to hope.
What TV shows do you yourself watch?
- To be honest, there is no time. And it’s hard to watch movies and TV shows. I always notice inaccuracies or mistakes in my work. Not only in my work. Profession costs.
Why do you think House has become a world leader and people cannot tear themselves away from him, are fanatics, compare Hugh Laurie with God? What's the secret?
- The secret is simple. And God has nothing to do with it. The prudent viewer wants to do as House does. In real life, if you do this, everything can end in disrepair. But to imagine yourself as Doctor House for 40 minutes, to experience cool emotions - that's all right. This is the miracle of cinema.
Interviewed by Yulia Eidel "Private Correspondent".
