Head of National Media Group: "Viewers need both news and cats"

09.04.2025

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Photo is illustrative in nature. From open sources.

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Svetlana Balanova, CEO of the National Media Group, which includes STS, REN TV, Wink, MIC Izvestia and other assets, spoke to RBC about her favorite TV series, foreign films and the “enormous evolution of the media environment” Svetlana Balanova

Content:

On the role of television and the Internet
About content monetization
About the purchase of Medialogy
About the launch of the Stories app
On YouTube Slowing Down
About financial indicators
About advertising
On the Return of Hollywood
About piracy
About Russian TV series
About international cooperation
About investors in cinema

"TV is the primary frequency for conveying meanings"

— NMG has a large portfolio of assets: TV channels, an online cinema, companies in the production and distribution sphere, and much more. How do you see the role of television, cinema, and the Internet in 2025, taking into account the current geopolitical situation and the transformation of information consumption?

— Today we are witnessing a huge evolution of the media environment: there are no longer separate cinema, television, radio and other areas. There is a single hybrid media environment, where people come for two things: information and relaxation. This media environment forms the moral and value field of a person, and in today's geopolitics this role is more important than ever.

What is NMG known for?

National Media Group (NMG) was created in 2008 after the merger of media assets of JSC AB Rossiya, businessman Alexey Mordashov, JSC Surgutneftegaz and the insurance group Sogaz. The group does not disclose the current composition of owners. NMG positions itself as the largest private media holding in RUSSIA. The structure of NMG assets is as follows:

ten terrestrial TV channels, including STS, REN TV, Channel Five, Domashny, and a share in Channel One;

online cinema Wink, which NMG is developing jointly with Rostelecom;

ten companies in the field of content production and distribution, including NMG Kinoprokat, the Vodorod film company, which filmed Invasion, Attraction, and Ice, and Art Pictures Studio, whose filmography includes 9th Company, Soulless, Stalingrad, Battalion, and Attraction;

information resources of the MIC Izvestia, Delovoy Peterburg and Sport-Express;

as well as the pay TV company Media-Telecom and a number of companies in the field of advertising and Internet technologies.

— Is television still the main way of communicating with a wide audience?

— When we talk about a wide audience, it is important to talk about the “contact spot” (a marketing concept, a set of characteristics — the “weight” of a brand, the speed and intensity of its communications, the scale of interaction with the audience, etc. — ). And television, due to its reach and the possibility of long-term viewing, is the main carrier frequency for conveying meanings and information to the masses.

— So sociologists are wrong when they say that the Internet will win?

— It may be provocative, but in my view, the Internet cannot exist separately from television today. I repeat: there is a single hybrid media environment. Television is the main means of delivery. But the “contact spot” needs to be completed. If you want to deliver some information about national meanings or federal advertising messages, it should be a hybrid with television. When the question about the role of television arises, I always suggest looking at who is the largest advertiser on television today. These are Internet companies. If television did not reach anyone, they probably would not be on this list.

— Is this true for all age groups and segments of the population?

— The consumption mix may be different, but television still remains a mass carrier frequency for everyone. Then you can expand it via the Internet, outdoor advertising, etc. But you need to understand that today the most successful producers of mass content are still people who work with television. In fact, it is no coincidence that television viewing on the Internet is actively growing.

— Does your morning start with the “First” button or by looking at the news feed in Izvestia?

— I'm watching the monitoring.

— Do you want to manage, let's call it, "a classic picture" in the next five years? A classic media holding with an emphasis on TV? Or do you see vectors for the transformation of the media business?

— What is a “classic” media holding? It knows how to produce content and monetize it systematically. I emphasize the word “systematically.” This is not about a story recorded on the street once by chance. You know how to produce content systematically and make money on it. Therefore, in five, ten, 15 years, we will produce what gets into people’s hearts. When you watch television content via the Internet, is it television or is it the Internet?

- This is content.

- This is content.

Photo: Mikhail Grebenshchikov / RBC

— But its production for different environments means different formats, investments , approaches. And the blogger is a producer, and you.

— When we release the series “Daddy’s Daughters,” it is first watched by 30 million people on STS, and then millions more in online cinemas. There is a hypothesis that some other product needs to be produced for online cinemas. But if we are talking about classic formats — series, movies, some shows — then the projects that were produced for television are still widely watched on the Internet. They are initially made according to the law of the mass genre. And what is produced only for online platforms most often still has a certain niche and limitation in terms of the audience it reaches.

"We have reached industrial scale production"

— Into what new areas for the holding do you plan to expand?

— Over the past three or four years, we have had the task of building the best media factory in the country. We have reached an industrial scale of content and news production. It is clear that this task cannot be finalized and we will continue to work on it. But now we have a need to look wider than just the media segment. The next goal we set for ourselves is to become a leader in the information and entertainment market. It is not only about media formats. We are exploring all possibilities, including offline.

— Nevertheless, your area of expertise is media.

— Yes. And now we are looking at what is next to the media, where our media expertise can give us some competitive advantage. Therefore, we are planning to acquire the company "Medialogia", which is "number one" in the market of information and news monitoring. This company is one of the leaders in reputation management, as well as information risks. We often forget that the appearance of some negative comment in social networks or in the media, if processed correctly, can turn into a positive case for a brand, for a government agency, etc. But if it is neglected and not processed in time, it can entail very large reputational risks, negatively affect competitiveness. "Medialogia" works in this field. For us as a media holding, this is a very complementary business .

— Are we talking about buying out 100% of the business? And can you disclose the parameters of the deal?

— Yes, we are negotiating a full purchase of the business. We are not disclosing the details.

Svetlana Balanova (Photo: Andrey Lyubimov / RBC)

— Do you see any risks in the media industry’s dissatisfaction with the fact that the Medialogy citation index will now end up in the hands of one of the largest media groups?

— There is a clear methodology there. Much more transparent than the Kinopoisk Index Pro, for example. The market is well acquainted with it.

"We don't want to compete with user-generated content platforms"

— What do you currently lack in the group? Assets of some specific direction? Inventory, so that you can form a picture of "production - distribution"?

— Of course, we would like to have unlimited inventory in all environments. In the near future, we will launch in test mode, by invitation, a new application called "Stories", which is designed to show short professional content in a vertical format. Today, there is no such offer at all on the Russian market. All social networks that exist are still user content, even if somewhere relatively professionally filmed. We are talking primarily about a platform only for professional short content. We will start with specially adapted series from the Domashny TV channel. They will be reformatted into a vertical format and for short viewing of one and a half minutes. Later, we will add other formats there - reality shows, series from other channels. Maybe at some point we will talk about original production for this platform.

— Why isn’t user content supposed to be on the platform? This is already a popular, tried and tested model.

— It’s a completely different business model. Ours will be designed for professional content with a very clear duration and target audience. First of all, we focus on women and see them as the main users. We don’t want to compete with user content platforms in any way. It’s a very competitive niche, in which we don’t see any free options.

Other short formats and the "garage universe"

As Balanova explained, a youth project by NMG will appear in the “short” genre: “We have already announced a series for an audience of 12 to 20 years old with the working title “Evridey”, which is planned specifically for social networks. In the end, it will be released under the name “Our Garage”. The setting will actually be a garage to some extent. This will be professional content with some elements of reality, vlog. An entire universe will be built around the project within social networks with characters, a community, etc. This is a new niche for us, which differs from the traditional television format and gives us the opportunity to create a certain world with young heroes around it.” According to Balanova, the project will be monetized through the integration of sponsors and advertising opportunities of social networks.

"There is no advertising monetization of YouTube in new environments"

— How did the shutdown of popular foreign platforms and the slowdown of YouTube affect NMG and, in general, media consumption?

— A person has a certain number of hours that he can spend on media consumption. Because, in addition to this, he still eats, works, sleeps, and does other things. Of course, the YouTube slowdown has given certain impetus to the development of other media consumption opportunities. First of all, we see this in children's content. Let me explain: all parents are grateful to us for the TV series "Three Cats". And in this example, we saw how, in the period after the YouTube slowdown, the viewing of "Three Cats" in online cinemas increased by 4.5 times.

— Are YouTube or TIKTOK areas of risk or opportunity in your business models now ?

— A huge amount of our content was on YouTube and monetized through it. Now this content is available in other environments. We work based on today's market conditions.

Photo: Mikhail Grebenshchikov / RBC

— But how relevant are these new environments to YouTube in terms of monetization opportunities?

— Today, we don’t get the same advertising monetization in new environments as on YouTube. But other channels have appeared: we have more opportunities to sell our content, for example, to online cinemas. Therefore, in principle, we get a comparable effect.

— You probably already have a scenario of what to do if YouTube starts working again without slowdowns...

— We existed perfectly well when YouTube worked without slowdown, and we exist perfectly well when it works with slowdown. We will adapt to the market situation. We will definitely be present on platforms that will be legally available in the country, where there will be consumers and business opportunities.

"We experienced some loss of income"

— NMG does not publish financial statements. How can you characterize the current position of the group?

— We experienced a certain loss of income due to the departure of some of our Western partners. But over the years, we have not only been able to compensate for the losses, but also show quite significant growth. Due to what? Firstly, the advertising market has grown. Within its framework, we also have very good figures — almost twofold over the last two years — the sponsorship revenue segment shows, since we have increased our production and received the opportunity for more such integrations. Product placement (a technique in which the hero of a film or TV series uses a product or service of a certain brand in the frame — ) has grown well in TV series. Secondly, revenue from content sales has grown almost fourfold over the last two years. Plus, new areas have emerged, for example, NMG Kinoprokat.

Svetlana Balanova (Photo: Andrey Lyubimov / RBC)

— In recent years — and this has clearly become noticeable with the covid-19 pandemic — there has been a wave of content consumption: at first, everyone only wanted news , then everyone got tired and started looking only for entertainment, then a military operation began — and again, only news. What period are we in now? News or conditional cats?

— The viewer needs both news and cats. The audience is very diverse — there are always people who are more interested in the news agenda, and there are those who are less. The strength of NMG is precisely that we have the ability to meet the needs of any user. We cover any target audience — age, gender, interests. But each channel has its own “brand lens”. We can’t say for sure that only entertainment or only information television is flying right now. If the product is made professionally, it flies in any version. And from this point of view, each channel operates within its own “lens”.

— What is your attitude to the current model of Mediascope TV channel ratings? The question is relevant against the background of the development of a single media environment and multiplatformity.

— It is a single currency that is accepted by the market today. And in fact, quite a lot of changes have been made to this system in recent years. For example, Mediascope added the ability to measure on mobile phones, that is, “out-of-home” viewing, using a completely new technology. Of course, they need to develop the system further to learn cross-platform measurements. Mediascope is now a measurer, including in the Internet environment. But the indicators that Mediascope receives via the Internet are very difficult to compare with television. There is no such socio-demographic accuracy there. Of course, in my opinion, it is very important for the media industry to learn to measure a unit of content in all viewing environments at some point. But these are complex technological problems that no one in the world has solved yet.

- Who can solve them?

— I want to believe that the Russian company Mediascope will be the first to do this.

"The window of opportunity may close"

— What is the current state of the Russian advertising market? Is it a period of rapid growth or a wait-and-see attitude? Is it currently affected in any way by the possibility of returning budgets to foreign companies?

— Advertising is always a function and a derivative of the general economy. Today, the key rate affects advertisers, since they have to choose what they invest in: advertising, production, or something else. But Russian companies, again against the backdrop of discussions about the potential return of some foreign players, need to understand that their window of opportunity may at some point narrow to a window and they need to have time to take their position on the market.

We do not see any activation on the part of the companies that left. But there are a large number of those who did not leave, but simply froze their marketing budgets. It seems to me that they may be the first to return to an active position.

— Is the demand for television equipment growing?

— The current situation in terms of demand for advertising inventory is within normal market indicators.

Photo: Komsomolskaya Pravda / Global Look Press

— But if budgets are “unfrozen”, how will this affect the cost of advertising?

— There will be great competition for television inventory. We may again face a situation of its shortage, which happens regularly in high seasons.

"The state must determine what the rules will be"

— NMG channels are one of the few where Hollywood cinema has been preserved. What is your current relationship with Western studios?

— We purchase the foreign films that are available for the Russian market, show the films for which we have the rights, and then we are guided by the situation.

— If Hollywood studios return legally, will Russian viewers prefer Harry Potter or stick with The Last Knight and Cheburashka?

— The Russian content production market has made an incredible leap in the last few years. We have proven to the viewer that we can make very competitive and very popular content. Everyone already understands this, and everyone sees it. Let's see how the situation develops. But I think that today many viewers actively prefer to watch Russian films.

— Do you have an understanding of how to rebuild work with foreign copyright holders? Is some additional “insurance” needed in commercial agreements against sudden departures?

— I think this should be a government decision — it should determine what the rules will be and how they should change. We definitely need to understand that the moral and spiritual values that are in the content entering the Russian market do not contradict what we want to see here. Therefore, not all content produced by large studios can appear on the Russian market even due to legislative norms.

Svetlana Balanova (Photo: Andrey Lyubimov / RBC)

— What is your attitude towards the issue of content piracy? It seems that some media companies providing access to movies and TV series have even begun to welcome this approach towards the projects of the departed copyright holders.

— We do not welcome piracy in any context: when it comes to our content, and when it comes to the content of competitors. It is very important that the consumer is increasingly getting used to paying for content. And the consumer needs to understand that piracy does not provide an opportunity to reinvest in the creation of something new.

- That is if you approach it very consciously. But what if you want to watch a movie or a TV series right now, tonight?

— Of course, piracy is a problem. We are fighting it within the framework of the industrial memorandum, because it is killing the industry to some extent. If we talk about Russian content, piracy is decreasing. All Russian producers have learned to fight it effectively.

— The other side of the coin is piracy of content that is not legally available in Russia. To what extent is it morally, ethically and economically acceptable in the current reality?

- This is a question for those who are involved in this piracy.

About monetization models

"In Russia, in principle, only two models can exist - subscription and advertising. I don't believe in a hybrid," Balanova says. "The model of 'pay less and still watch the ad' won't work on the Russian market."

Thanks to television and multiplexes, viewers have become accustomed to receiving high-quality content for free, but the subscription model is also gaining momentum, Balanova says. However, she calls the subscription format not for entertainment, but for news content “a more complicated story” and believes that in the information sphere, users are more accustomed to the advertising model.

"That case when one plus one equals three"

— The case of the merger of your more.tv platform and the online cinema Wink, owned by Rostelecom, is one of the few examples of the merger of competing streaming services in Russia. Wink is now one of the three largest online cinemas. How effective was this deal?

— This is the case when one plus one equals three or even four, because the technological expertise and huge distribution leverage of Rostelecom together with the content expertise of NMG gave the very result that you announced. This is exactly what we expected. Wink is probably the only truly profitable online cinema in Russia today. Therefore, it can afford to invest in content and development.

Photo: Mikhail Grebenshchikov / RBC

— What emotions did Wink hits like “Slova Patsana” and “Ladyshi” evoke in you as a viewer? How do you explain their popularity?

— They are about the truth, about that very authenticity that is in demand today. These are projects that raise truly difficult topics, but they raise them sincerely. This is about the sincerity of the authors and sometimes even an unplanned hit on what the viewer wants to think and talk about.

— How long will the history of using the nostalgic track in TV series continue?

— It will last for some time. We are currently producing the same “Fisher-2”, which is also about the past. There will probably be some other projects… We always want to turn to our history, we search there or interesting facts , or some meanings that are in demand today. The same "Children of Change", which also returns, if not to the era of "The Word of a Boy", then to the next decade. And also with great success, by the way.

About the favorite premieres of the HEAD of NMG

Svetlana Balanova admits that she "took advantage of her official position" and watched all the episodes of the series "Between Us, the Chemistry" before they were shown on Wink (the premiere took place on March 6, directed by Karina Chuvikova, starring Alexandra Bortich and Nikita Efremov): "An amazing story that touchingly raises the topic of oncological diseases. A very successful project that was not so loudly announced, but people will talk about it after all the episodes are released."

Balanova also notes last year's biggest hit, "The Boy's Word," "whose success will be hard for anyone to repeat in the near future." The series "Lilies of the Valley. Such Tender Love" exceeded her expectations.

— Do you see any competitive advantage of Wink over other online cinemas, such as Kinopoisk?

— No other online cinema has such a strong content team as we have today at NMG Studio. Fyodor Bondarchuk, Zhora Kryzhovnikov, Dmitry Tabarchuk, Lyubov Lvova and Sergey Taramayev, Andrey Zolotarev and more, and more, and more... What is important is that they do not just make their own projects, but as a team they are responsible for all the projects that we release. This is a completely different level of interaction.

— Is there a shortage of creativity now?

— It always exists because there is a shortage of professional people on the market. There is a great shortage of professional scriptwriters. Especially those who can write comedies. There is a shortage of professional cameramen, there is a shortage of technical people.

— Do screenwriters have any fashionable trends in plots?

- Now everyone is trying to write fairy tales, because it seemed like a new oil . But I wouldn't say there are any megatrends. People still come with different projects. I repeat: the hardest thing is to find specialists who can write comedy, and who can write it delicately, not vulgarly. "Good family content" for STS is probably the most difficult production.

Svetlana Balanova (Photo: Andrey Lyubimov / RBC)

— How do you assess the situation on the Russian Internet platform market as a whole? The environment is highly competitive — should we expect new mergers, consolidations, acquisitions? How marginal is this business in Russia?

— We do have a lot of online cinemas in the country. Almost none of them are economically efficient. Given the high interest rate and difficulties in obtaining investment money, they may face a rather difficult economic moment. In general, we wish everyone good luck, of course. But maybe someone will not survive.

— You said “many online cinemas.” Does that mean “it’s good that consumers have a wide choice” or “many are too many and can be cut back”?

— In our market, it seems to me, we could get by with fewer of them, simply because the consumer is already overloaded and at some point starts to get lost. Do you have the opportunity to see everything that comes out on online platforms?

— We have subscriptions to all streaming services.

— Do you have time for them? There are a lot of projects, and it’s difficult for the viewer to navigate.

"We had unexpected sales to Japan"

— Is NMG Kinoprokat interested in foreign cinema, but not Western, but previously “exotic” — Japanese, Chinese? Is there a demand for this content among the Russian audience?

— We had several screenings of foreign films from small studios. And we must admit that this was not a super successful experience. Although there were no high expectations from them. Today, it is probably impossible to talk about the demand for non-major films in Russia. That is, some films can be successfully screened, but on average, Russian cinema shows much more interesting results. We still continue to experiment and are open to such screenings. And on NMG TV channels, by the end of 2024 , the screening of projects from BRICS countries has increased four and a half times compared to 2021.

— Isn’t this the “zero base” effect?

— База была не очень большая, но мы точно видим, что интерес есть. В принципе, если научиться работать с этими фильмами, они дают результат. Потому что, напомню, что, например, единственный канал, который умеет показывать турецкое кино так, чтобы это интегрировалось в высокие рейтинги, — это «Домашний»: его команда точно понимает, что нужно российскому зрителю. Мы учимся работать с зарубежным контентом, смотрим, как на него реагирует аудитория, какие есть показатели, что более востребованно, что менее востребованно, и, соответственно, учимся подбирать это кино для зрителя.

— Но в 2022 году были ожидания, что эти фильмы смогут стать альтернативой европейскому или американскому кино. Прогноз не оправдался?

— Да, все попробовали, но все равно российский контент настолько хорошо взлетел за эти годы, что потребность в этой альтернативе не очень высока.

— Мы научились делать российское кино таким, чтобы оно было популярно на родине. А какой спрос на него за рубежом? В каких странах оно лучше всего продается?

— Продается довольно много. Понятно, что наиболее проблемной зоной у нас выступает Западная Европа. Там сделок или не очень много, или почти нет. Мы в первую очередь смотрим на страны БРИКС, на Латинскую Америку, на Ближний Восток, на Китай. В Китай мы недавно продали фильм «Вторжение», он будет показан на местном центральном телевидении. Прокатное удостоверение национального фильма в Китае получил наш совместный фильм «Красный шелк». Сейчас как раз идет определение, когда начнется его показ на большом экране, кто будет прокатчиком, возможны ли его потенциальные продажи на телевидение и т.д.

— Это коммерчески успешная сделка?

— Пока сложно сказать. Когда пройдет прокат, мы поймем, сколько мы заработали на этом. Китай — это вообще очень сложный рынок. У нас давно не было там проката.

— О том, что получение китайской квоты — это испытание для российского проекта, говорят давно. Нет ли на уровне государства или бизнеса, в том числе НМГ, переговоров с китайской стороной о том, чтобы для россиян либо выделили дополнительное место в прокате, либо упростили процедуру допуска?

— Насколько я знаю, с Китаем идет довольно много переговоров, но в первую очередь, конечно, по развитию совместного производства. И надо сказать, что «Красный шелк» как раз задал тон этому разговору и был одним из примеров, на который, собственно, сейчас все и опираются. Совместное производство более эффективно, потому что оно позволяет не входить в иностранную квоту, получать удостоверение национального фильма и при этом быть интересным и российскому зрителю, и китайскому. Но мы смотрим на coпродакшен не только с Китаем. У нас в разработке находятся несколько потенциально громких проектов.

— Анонсируете?

— Скажем так, один в Латинской Америке, один на Ближнем Востоке.

— С какими еще странами были сделки по продаже контента в последнее время?

— We had unexpected sales to Japan, and for the first time in many years. We sold several series there at once: "The Chicks", "Home Field", "Ballet", Happy End. "The Word of the Boy" was bought by Poland , six countries of the former Yugoslavia, Mongolia, Brazil and Japan . Series from the "Domashny" channel are bought by Latin America. So far, these deals are not generating large cash flows. Although we see growth: almost four times in two years, including deals within Russia, including due to increased production. So we expect further growth in foreign sales.

— What do we offer to foreign viewers? Do we bring, so to speak, standardized formats of Russian fairy tales? Or should we adapt to the local mentality and agenda? How to conquer these markets?

— The general rule of filmmaking is that you should first and foremost shoot for a viewer from your own country or for a viewer with a common cultural code with you. When you shoot for a viewer you understand well, you can get a high-quality, talented product. Such a product has a chance to interest other markets and countries. At the same time, we clearly understand that it is important for a Chinese viewer that a film has something about his native country, that there is some Chinese theme. And there are projects that naturally incorporate this. But first and foremost, we still make films for a Russian viewer.

— Are you considering scaling your presence on the international market in terms of bringing your assets there?

— At the beginning of this year, Wink, together with a local partner, launched a subscription for residents of Belarus, and a couple of years ago, it began working in Armenia. Our TV channels also broadcast where possible, for example, in Israel, Mongolia, Germany, in all countries of the world on partner OTT platforms (the abbreviation OTT is formed from the English phrase over the top and implies a method of providing video services via the Internet. — ), last year we launched broadcasting in India and Thailand. But in terms of international activities, we are still more focused on content sales and co-productions. We have no other plans in this area today.

"The main investor in cinema is the state"

— You have a Commercial Fund for the Development of Film and Animation, created jointly with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). What do you expect from it? What are the KPIs for this fund in terms of production and audience?

- It is an investment fund, the main task of which is to invest in cinema and animation with subsequent return on these investments. Actually, the scheme is very simple.

На сегодняшний день определен объем этого фонда, он составляет 8 млрд руб. Первые транши партнерами уже переведены. Мы ведем переговоры с несколькими крупными производителями кино. Обсуждаем в том числе и пакетные сделки, не только отдельные проекты. В текущем пайплайне есть несколько потенциальных «миллиардников» (проектов с кассовым потенциалом более 1 млрд руб. — ). Сейчас это все в процессе переговоров и операционной работы.

— Кто сейчас вообще готов тратить деньги на кино? Есть ли какой-то пул заинтересованных инвесторов, даже непрофильных?

— Главный «инвестор» в киноиндустрии сегодня — это государство. Снять крупный масштабный проект без господдержки и получить возврат этих инвестиций просто невозможно. Поэтому Федеральный фонд социальной и экономической поддержки отечественной кинематографии (Фонд кино) выступает хоть и не коммерческим, но фактически главным инвестором. Другая составляющая государственных денег в индустрию приходит через ИРИ (Институт развития интернета. — ) для производства сериалов и программ. Те же «Слово пацана» и «Ландыши», например, снимались при поддержке ИРИ. Что касается тех денег, которые приходят в киноиндустрию от непрофильных инвесторов... Если речь не идет о какой-то благотворительности или о разовом проекте, то людям, заинтересованным в кино экономически, все равно придется превращаться в профессионалов индустрии. Но все-таки в большинстве случаев это имиджевые истории, а не инвестиционные.

— Для РФПИ кино тоже непрофильный актив.

— В данном случае РФПИ, будучи профессиональным финансовым инвестором, вступил в партнерство с профессиональным производителем в лице НМГ, который адресно занимается именно индустрией кино. Мы даем им свою экспертную оценку. Опять же, понятно, что это портфельные инвестиции, и там могут быть как более, так и менее успешные проекты. Но в целом мы отбираем то, у чего есть шанс на большой коммерческий успех.

— Как долго еще продлится зависимость российского кино от государственных денег? Есть ли какой-то горизонт, за которым оно сможет выйти в чистый бизнес?

— Я думаю, что мы уже подходим к этому горизонту по каким-то определенным жанрам, которые, очевидно, пользуются большим коммерческим успехом. Например, семейное сказочное кино. Оно, правда, очень дорогое в производстве, поскольку подразумевает много компьютерной графики, грима, дорогих элементов для создания красочной картинки. В таком кино каждый рубль виден на экране. Но оно и может быстрее подойти к горизонту окупаемости. Второй пример — это продолжения франшиз. Они становятся более коммерчески успешными, потому что понятны и знакомы зрителям.

This is also affected by the growth of international distribution. If you only make money in one territory, you have less potential for growth and return on investment. If you can enter foreign markets, if you have access to a lot of viewers and money outside your home country, then this adds commercial opportunities.

At the same time, the state's support of the media industry is primarily not aimed at obtaining a return on investment. The state, through the media environment, systematically influences the formation of the moral and ethical-moral framework of society. Therefore, it is important that these investments continue and are long-term.

Five facts about Svetlana Balanova

Born in 1970 in Moscow.

In 1992, she graduated with honors from the Maurice Thorez Moscow State Linguistic University. Later, she received an MBA from the Open University Business School in the UK .

Since 1993, she began her career at 3M, where over the years she held positions ranging from sales and marketing department coordinator to general DIRECTOR of 3M Russia, and then chief operating officer of 3M Attenti and global president of 3M Electronic Monitoring.