START Sets New Trends in Russian Drama

Daria Bondarenko, executive VP of sales and acquisitions at START, tells TV Drama about what’s driving the gains at the platform.

Serving Russian-speaking audiences across the globe, the SVOD service START has been heavily investing in originals to differentiate itself in the market. With international successes such as 257 Reasons to Live, Russian Affairs (Gold Diggers), Sherlock: The Russian Chronicles and Better Than Us, that strategy has paid off.

TV DRAMA: Tell us a little about where START sits in Russia’s SVOD landscape. What do subscribers know they can get from START that they won’t find elsewhere?
BONDARENKO: START is a subscription-based streaming service, co-founded in 2017 by the producers of Yellow, Black and White, a leading film studio producing box office hits and a broad range of entertaining movies. As of February 2021, 50 percent of START shares belong to MegaFon, a key telecom operator in Russia. According to Telecom Daily and TMT Consulting reports, START has shown the fastest finance growth among streaming services in Russia for two years in a row. START experienced the highest growth in the industry, with a 172 percent increase in streaming revenue last year. It’s important to emphasize that START is available worldwide and over 40 percent of our subscribers are based outside Russia—it sets the company apart from other Russia-based streamers.

START is the leader in the production of premium original content among VOD services in the CIS market. It has always been the company’s priority since its launch in 2017. Over the past three and a half years, START produced more than 40 originals in-house, ten of them in the past six months. It’s easy to understand the company’s pace of development with over 50 projects in production this year. The main offering consists of original productions. Highlights of the slate include high-end drama of various genres, documentaries, feature films, short-form films and series, and kids’ content.

Among new releases this year, we have a brand-new drama about surrogate motherhood called Container, which is the key premiere of this fall. There are also returning hits like Russian Affairs (Gold Diggers) season three, Ms. Sweet season four and our special fantasy detective series Sherlock: The Russian Chronicles, distributed internationally by ZDF Enterprises.

If we look outside in search to buy something, it is often an iconic top-notch Russian piece. It could be anything from a short-form series to animation, documentaries or features. We care about our audience and have ambitious plans for them over the next few years. We aim to have a new premiere release every week, as now we release two originals every month. We want our viewers to associate START with diversity and positive vibes only. In other words, we like to think of START as the home to premium Russian drama.

TV DRAMA: Your originals slate continues to expand. Tell us about the strategy there and what’s driving your success.
BONDARENKO: Before launching a series into production, we always evaluate its international potential because we compete with Russian and global streamers. We know that our shows are competitive—Russian Affairs (Gold Diggers) has been shown on Amazon and Walter Presents, and Better Than Us was the first Russian series to be presented as a Netflix original and has been translated into over 20 languages. We are breaking barriers in both domestic popularity and international recognition. Our series regularly top Russian audience charts and entertain global viewers through partnerships with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Walter Presents, Oble, CJ ENM, NHK Enterprises, ZDF Enterprises and more coming soon.

We produce some of the most-watched films and premium TV drama series in Russia. The main driver for our subscribers is original content, especially the shows that bring us the juiciest performance results. Among such hits are Addicted, Russian Affairs (Gold Diggers), 257 Reasons to Live, the recent production The Vampires of Midland that has been greenlit for season two and more. For us, original content works both ways to attract and retain subscribers.

A trend we have started to see is demand for young adult (YA) series. We began to notice this when we acquired rights to the production The New Guy, a drama about school bullying and issues of growing up. This show looks at what happens when people you trust turn a blind eye. Right now, we are co-producing season two, which will be released this August. Another ambitious goal is to retain this audience and to attract more youngsters. With that in mind, we have a strong emphasis on the YA series in our upcoming lineup for 2022-23.

We have secured a few foreign deals to expand in this genre and plan to build up a strong lineup that would allow us further to introduce our in-development original series for young adults.

Also, I think this is an organic process. Last year we became home to Walter Presents in Russia and CIS, and we’ve found key shows that work for us from the Walter Presents slate are series for the young adult audience. Some good examples of this are Stalk and We Are Now, and we have high expectations for Cry Wolf.

TV DRAMA: What role do acquisitions play for START?
BONDARENKO: Our main focus is original content. We see START as the home to Russian premium drama, so whenever we look for acquisitions, they need to match our standards. They need to be of high quality with a compelling plot. At START, we like to use the description of Matryoshka (Russian doll) storytelling. I like this metaphor as it illustrates how deep the entire IP should be. The program needs to be multilayered, with each new layer unraveling another, possibly with a mix of genres. This is exactly what gives you diversity and distinctiveness in a show.

We have a big slate of short-form films, and most of them come through an acquisition arm, which means if we buy, we usually do this from local companies and productions.

TV DRAMA: The U.S. studios are focusing more on their own services. What does that mean for your approach to American imports?
BONDARENKO: We are not on the hunt for the next big U.S. series, unlike other local streamers that would look to put in the highest bids. Rather than doing this, we focus on investments into our original productions and building up a complex, multifaceted offering with a mix of genres. START is not just a streaming service; it is a group of companies that encompasses a streamer; in-house production; a feature film distribution company, All Media; the START Talent agency; kids’ animation development and other multiple assets.

Nowadays, foreign streamers (with a new one appearing every month) are in greater competition for their target audiences and, as a result, are on a bigger hunt for content. Right now, Russian content is being sought by U.S. and European players.

This season we have a strong slate with The Vampires of Midland and Container. Series can be influential in changing perceptions, but we are in the business of entertainment. Sometimes authenticity is needed to keep audiences engaged for certain stories like Container, which does encompass the Russian environment and culture but touches upon an international topic of surrogate motherhood, and the impact this situation had on the female protagonist. Sometimes TV is also pure escapism, uplifting and unbelievable—like our current hit series in the genre of fantasy and adventurous comedy-drama, The Vampires of Midland.

TV DRAMA: What is the approach to distributing your own IP to other platforms?
BONDARENKO: For some of our shows, we will be distributing them on a title-by-title basis through our drama distribution division. In some cases, a title may not be available in a specific territory due to a strategic partnership with another broadcaster or streaming platform.

Some regions may consume START shows directly through the platform, but in other instances, we will keep having exclusive deals with our strategic partners. A good example is our deal for Russian Affairs (Gold Diggers), which was available on Amazon only in German- and French-speaking territories during its license term.

TV DRAMA: As we head into 2022, do you have any particular content acquisition needs?
BONDARENKO: During the pandemic, there was a sort of “ice age” for the productions when many shows were on pause, so right now, the local market may face a bit of a content deficit with fewer feature films and theatrical releases out there. However, with all the unprecedented measurements taken, hopefully, we will soon return to a normal business routine.

As for START, the priorities will remain the same: premium Russian content. We will keep an eye on [new content] released by local partners and neighboring markets (Ukraine, Serbia) as this is ideologically close to our content demands. However, the core of the business remains focused on our original productions. We have over 50 various series and films in different stages of development and production for the next year. This number does not cover feature films, short films, animated series, so I honestly think the amount will only go up. We will definitely have something to surprise our audience with in 2022!