CTC Media Sets Up Story First Production

MOSCOW: Russia’s CTC Media has set up a new production company, Story First Production, which merges the Costafilm and Soho Media platforms into a single subsidiary.

The newly established outfit will be led by Vasily Balashov as general director. Balashov, who had been production director at Walt Disney Company CIS, joined CTC Media as chief production officer last month. He will be supported in his new role by the teams from CTC’s existing in-house production companies. Konstantin Kikichev, the head of Costafilm, will serve as general producer of Story First Production, while Irina Kalinina, the head of Soho Media, becomes the director of TV programs production.

Anton Kudryashov, the CEO of CTC Media, commented: "We have taken the decision to reorganize our production process with the aim of making it more efficient, to increase the volume of internally produced content and implement a more advanced control system at each stage of the production process. We have decided to not drift far from CTC Media’s founding principles and its original name ‘Story First Communications,’ which was ahead of its time in many ways and became the embodiment of all that was progressive and innovative in our media space. Vasily Balashov has been involved in the creation of a variety of successful television series and motion pictures, both in Russia and abroad. We greatly appreciate Vasily’s international experience as well as his ability to apply this experience to our business."

Balashov added: "I am very pleased to join CTC Media and I look forward to proving my worth. We have some very exciting tasks to undertake and the dynamic and creative atmosphere within the Company is very attractive. I am confident that together we will succeed!"