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Borislav Chouchkov • Chouchkov Brothers

Producers on the Move 2011 - Bulgaria

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- Borislav Chouchkov è il produttore di Tilt, il secondo film bulgaro di maggior successo degli ultimi due decenni

Questo articolo è disponibile in inglese.

A graduate from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (Bulgaria) and from the MEGA Media Business School (Spain), Borislav Chouchkov set up the Chouchkov Brothers production company in 2003 with his brother Viktor Chouchkov. Since then, he has produced several features, including the Bulgarian-German co-production Tilt, which was domestically released in February 2011 and stayed at the top of the Bulgarian box-office for four weeks, becoming the second most successful local film in the past two decades.

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Cineuropa: What is the best thing about being a producer in Bulgaria right now? And the worst?
Borislav Chouchkov: The best thing is that you feel like an angel or a guerrilla fighting for a good cause and helping people realise their talent. Seriously, the best is that the competition is not so high compared to western Europe, and you can still enter the business. There is a lot of young, exciting talent. The worst thing is that no one wants to enter the business, because there is no money in terms of financing and market. And many young talents are leaving the country.

Are you preparing new projects? Can you tell Cineuropa about them?
We have a number of projects in development right now. The most advanced is 18% Gray, which is a film based on the best-selling book by Zachary Karabashliev. I have already presented it in Cannes during the Producers on the Move and European Producer's Club Co-production forum. It is a wonderful story about a European who discovers an America we rarely see. We are looking for both European and US partners. The film's budget is around €1.5m.
The story centers on 30-something Zack, a failed photographer and a Bulgarian expatriate now living in California and holding a steady but boring 9-to-5 job in a pharmaceutical corporation. When Stella, the love of his life, disappears without trace, Zack crosses the border into Mexico. In a border town, he is accidentally involved in a violent assault, and, in trying to save a stranger's life, nearly loses his own. He fights the assailants, manages to escape with their car and makes it back to the US. The complications begin when Zack finds a huge bag of marijuana in the trunk...

Tilt remained at the top of the Bulgarian box-office for four weeks, to what do you attribute the film's success?
First of all, the film is good. Secondly, we had a very successful campaign for which we received the Effie award for effective marketing and communication. We managed to convince many partners to invest and support the campaign and covered all possible media in Bulgaria, from TV, through outdoor and Facebook.

What's the most important thing for a film's domestic success?
I think it is not enough to make good films, but also we need to be active in making good PR and distribution campaigns. To reach out to the people and make it an experience they cannot miss. This can help us to have a bigger share in our local markets for domestic films. For example, in Bulgaria, the share of local films in the box-office went from 4% a few years ago to around 20% this year, according to predictions, because of good campaigns.

Bulgarian film-makers have experienced a tense relationship with the local Film Center and public funding. What can be done to improve Bulgaria's film production and this relationship?
Actually, we do not have a bad relationship with our Film Center. They are on our side, and we are accustomed to having good film laws. The problem was and still is with the government, who have refused to comply with the Bulgarian cinema law. What should be done is something that I believe we are doing at the moment: make good films and convince the people in power how important they are for the national culture and the future of our children. By being active in the public domain – in a way, acting as politicians ourselves – we can bring influence to bear as artists and public figures.

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