Ex-Film.UA distribution chief Igor Storchak launches Ukrainian sales house

Igor Storchak, the former CEO of distribution at Ukraine’s Film.UA Group, has set up a Kyiv-based production and distribution company that he launched immediately prior to the Russian invasion.

Igor Storchak

Storchak left Film.UA last month after more than 15 years at the company and was putting together his new venture, Gingers Media, in mid-February, with a view to announcing the company this month.

“Originally, I aimed to focus on three main things: distribution, local production and international coproduction,” Storchak told C21.

“After February 24, the world changed and most of my plans needed to be totally modified. The production of local content in Ukraine is on hold at the moment, and distribution became the best way to spread the ‘we are alive’ message and a better monetisation tool.”

Storchak, who was also previously director of programming at StarLight Media-owned Ukrainian broadcaster Novy Channel, has staffed up with a small team at Gingers Media and is now working under a different strategy than was originally planned.

“Last week, a group of leading Ukrainian producers united to create a pool of documentary projects about the Russian-Ukrainian war, and it is a big honour for my company to be a part of this collaboration,” said Storchak, adding that the main focus at Gingers is “to bring this message to as many players at as possible.”

The programmes that Gingers is shopping to clients – virtually, for now – include Bad Segeberg and The Stations, two documentaries about Ukrainian refugees living in Germany; another called 9 Lives, about animals during the war; a military documentary called Against Odds; and a project about propaganda in the age of mass media.

“We also have a project about the Budapest Memorandum [on Security Assurances], which was meant to guarantee the security of Ukraine but turned out to be just a piece of paper,” Storchak said.

The Budapest Memorandum was signed in 1994 by Russia, the UK, the US and other nuclear powers and was intended to provide security assurances to Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan in return for them giving up their Soviet-era nuclear weapons.

While at Film.UA, Storchak oversaw the company’s boost in programme exports, with dramas like The Sniffer, Hide & Seek and Love in Chains being sold into many markets.

Upbeat about the future of his new company, Storchak said: “We have many plans, despite the dark times,” adding that he and the Gingers team would be attending next week’s MipTV programme market virtually. “We Ukrainians really appreciate how Europe, the UK and the US supports us,” he said.