Andrejs Ekis, founder of Latvia-based Cinevilla Studio, discusses coproductions, AI and putting gaming and film together.
Andrejs Ekis
Andrejs Ekis is a Latvian film director and producer known for his significant contributions to the cinematic and television landscape in both his home country and internationally.
He began his career at Latvian state broadcaster LTV in 1984 and went on to launch LNT, one of the country’s most successful commercial TV broadcasters, before selling it to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation in 2007. After buying it back, he then sold it again in 2012, this time to Sweden’s Modern Times Group.
Alongside this, Ekis found himself pursuing the idea of creating a production base, using “an American business model, a studio where everything is in one place.” This eventually led to the creation of Cinevilla Studio, a facility located in Kurzeme, 60km from the Latvian capital, Riga. Work on the studio began in 2004 and it has since expanded to cover an area of 150 hectares, making it the largest open-air backlot in Northern Europe.
According to Ekis, the reason for choosing Cinevilla Studio’s location was financial. It was built on cheap land and bypassed the high costs that studios face in downtown sites.
Cinevilla Studio was first used for the shooting of Defenders of Riga, a local historical drama film that has been distributed in 21 countries and dramatises Latvia’s struggle for freedom in 1919. The studio now includes diverse street settings, pavilions, historical villages, a train platform and even a section of a river.
Several Latvian feature films have been shot at the backlot over the years, including Rudolf’s Gold and Dream Team 1935, as well as a number of foreign titles.
Historical drama film Defenders of Riga centres on events in 1919
Ekis also owns the production company Cinevilla Films, which is an arm of Cinevilla Studio, and to-date has made more than 24 films and TV series. Significantly, he has been responsible for producing and directing nine of the top 20 films made in the country since it regained independence.
Most recently, Ekis finished work on the seven-episode TV series Mutiny, which is set in 1975 and based on a true story about an officer who led a mutiny on a Soviet warship in the port of Riga. “I’m looking at how to inspire some Russians today to start a mutiny against Putin,” he comments.
Although Mutiny has so far only been shown in Latvia, it began to be sold internationally on September 1 by the distributors Canoe Film (UK) and Michael Werner (Sweden).
Ekis’ portfolio also includes the series Don’t Be Afraid of Anything, based on the career of notorious drug trafficker Roland Priverts. Shot on location in Costa Rica, it ran for two seasons.
In addition, he directed and coproduced hit comedy film Swingers with Centaur Films’ Kristians Alhimionoks. The original screenplay has been adapted and made in a total of nine markets including Latvia, Ukraine, Poland, Norway and the Netherlands. Ekis directed the adaptations in all but one territory, South Africa.
Looking to the future, Ekis says he is a strong believer in coproductions, which he believes are now impossible to avoid. He is currently looking for French, Norwegian and Latvian partners for the film The Vikings of Helgemoon, inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s play The Vikings of Helgeland. Rather than being set in the 10th century, the new version will take place in the year 5000 but aims to retain similar “intrigues and dramas.”
Murder Case was produced with Latvian technology company Tet
Ekis adds that although he expects to start shooting the film in two years’ time, he has already secured “two very good writers.” One is the American playwright and crime novelist Jeff Lindsay, whose first book was developed into the popular Showtime television series Dexter. The other is Kurt McClung, who is a game script writer with whom he is already working on several projects.
Ekis says: “It was a big surprise when Jeff agreed to write the script and we have the first treatment.”
He has also started shooting a new domestic detective series titled Murder Case. Produced with the Latvian technology company Tet, it is Ekis’ first foray into the detective genre and is expected to premiere on the streaming platform Tet+ at the end of this year.
In addition, Ekis reveals he has started working on a “much larger project,” namely the spy thriller Dark Border. “It’s a film about events on the Latvian-Russian border in 1939, as the Soviet Union began preparations for the occupation of the Baltic States,” he says.
“This project will be a coproduction with Estonia. Although the contract hasn’t been signed yet, we’ve started discussions with Kris Taska at Taska Films in Estonia.”
Furthermore, the movie has already been fully funded by the National Film Centre of Latvia and local platform LMT.
Mutiny is based on a true story about a mutiny on a Soviet warship
Ekis is bullish about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and thinks that now is “a similar time to when big Hollywood Studios owned cameras. For example, Panavision [cameras] and film cost so much money. This made it almost impossible for independent filmmakers to participate in film production.”
A lot has happened since then, with cameras now cheap and the biggest expense being the sets used to make major films. In his view, AI will “help us to do artificial sets and the possibility to make films cheaper.”
However, he adds, to work with AI requires intelligence. “For example, in my studio I’m not afraid because sometimes when I have the background and I do something deeper or wider we can combine physical and artificial sets. I think there are lots of possibilities. We are living in very good times when you need only a brain and ideas.”
While Ekis would like more LED screens at Cinevilla Studio, his real ambition is quite simply to make more productions. He is now talking with McClung and the two hope to “somehow put together gaming and film.”
