The National Media Group has come to an agreement on a multi—level partnership in the content distribution field with one of the Russian film production leaders - Bazelevs studio. As part of the partnership, NMG receives exclusive rights to theatrical distribution, television сoverage and digital release as part of the company's new films package.
NMG Kinoprokat, a subsidiary of the National Media Group, receives the rights to the theatrical release of three flagship projects of the Bazelevs studio:
· "YOLKI 10" — the anniversary part of the popular New Year's franchise — "Yolki". The legendary project was relaunched last year along with a new showrunner — actor, comedian and blogger Evgeny Kulik. Last year, the ninth film of the franchise held the lead in the New Year's Eve film distribution for two weekends, collecting 613 million rubles and becoming the leader of the show on streaming platforms in January 2023. "Yolki 10" will be released in Russian public screening on December 7, 2023;
· "KHOJA NASREDDIN" is an animated film about the most popular character of Oriental folklore, Khoja Nasreddin. The project is being implemented in an international co-production with Turkey, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, with the participation of Tatarstan. China and the countries of the Arab East are planning to join the production of animation about Khoja Nasreddin. The project is scheduled for release in 2024;
· "THE RETURN OF THE MAMMOTH" is an animated film that will be a continuation of the cult Soviet cartoon "Mom for the Mammoth". The project is scheduled for release in 2025.
"It is noteworthy that we are connected with the Bazelevs film company by a rich history of professional relations, during which a number of films were released that became classics in the new history of Russian cinema," said Vadim Smirnov, General Director of NMG Kinoprokat, "And this is truly a symbolic moment when within the framework of the film distribution structure at the NMG media holding, we were once again lucky enough to join efforts to release both one of the most famous and popular domestic franchises, Yolki, and a line of new large-scale projects that claim to become national blockbusters."
"Together with Vadim, we released the very first part of "Yolki" in the cinema — and it is emblematic that with the tenth anniversary film we are returning to his team again, acquiring a powerful partner for our flagship projects — NMG holding. Bazelevs Studio is famous for folk cinema, NMG Holding is one of the leaders in audience coverage in the country: our distribution partnership will make our new films real audience hits," comments Timur Asadov, co—owner and CEO of Bazelevs Studio.
In addition to the distribution, NMG receives TV rights to the screenings of "Yolki 10" and "Khoja Nasreddin" on the holding's TV channels, as well as exclusive rights to the digital distribution of these films. The parties are also ready to discuss scaling up the partnership.
"Bazelevs film studio projects are always an event on the market. They are watched by families, they have been watched for years. And we are glad that with the help of NMG, high—quality cinema will be available to the widest category of viewers — where it will be more convenient for them to watch it," said Svetlana Balanova, General Director of the National Media Group.
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Background information
The National Media Group is the largest Russian private media holding. NMG manages a diversified portfolio of assets in the production, distribution and monetization of high-quality information and entertainment content in all media environments.
Among the key assets of the holding are the leaders of the Russian media market: terrestrial TV channels — REN TV, Channel Five, CTC Channel, Domashny, Che, CTC Love, CTC Kids; Multimedia Information Center MIC Izvestia (as part of the portal IZ.RU, Izvestia newspaper, Izvestia TV channel, news services of REN TV channels and Channel Five); as well as newspapers — "Sport-Express", "Business Petersburg". The Group owns a stake in Channel One.
The holding owns the company "NMG Studio". In 2019 NMG launched an online service more.tv.
In November 2022, the holding company announced the creation of a film distribution company "NMG Kinoprokat".
Bazelevs is one of the oldest and largest Russian film studios, founded in 1994. The films produced by Bazelevs studio are among the highest—grossing films in the entire history of Russian cinema: "Night Watch", "Day Watch", "Irony of Fate. Continuation", "Bitter!", "The best day", the franchise "Yolki", etc.