PRESS: Russian Internet giant Yandex starts financing films

MOSCOW, Feb 9 (PRIME) -- Russian Internet giant Yandex has created a producer center to finance and provide expertise in film production, business daily Vedomosti reported on Friday, referring to the company’s statement.

Olga Filipuk, director for media services development at Yandex, said the center will exploit Yandex’s technologies and assist in promoting films of various genres.

One of the first films Yandex co-funded was Rough Draft, a big-screen adaptation of a book by Sergei Lukyanenko about a games designer-turned customs officer on the border of parallel worlds. The film, whose production was said to cost 289 million rubles, is provided by Sony Pictures. The Russian first night is scheduled for March 15.

Spun off by Yandex in January, the media services direction comprises Yandex.Music, Kinopoisk, Yandex.Afisha, and Yandex.TV. Total monthly audience of these services exceeds 50 million users.

(57.6736 rubles – U.S. $1)

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