The Russian film industry is 90% provided with foreign equipment, which currently has no competitive domestic counterparts, and therefore the industry is in critical need of government incentives. According to RBC, this is stated in the explanation to the financial statements of one of the largest participants in the film market, the M. Gorky Film Studio, compiled at the end of 2022.
In recent years, the government and the Ministry of Culture have significantly increased funding for the film industry with the aim of import substitution of film products – in this regard, the support of the state is felt, says Andrey Danilin, Deputy Director General for Technical Issues, Procurement, Security and ACS of the Gorky Film Studio. So, in 2022, more than 10 billion rubles were distributed through the Ministry of Culture and the Cinema Fund, and 11.6 billion rubles are planned for 2023.
“But import substitution in the production of equipment and software for film production is a process that can take years or even decades and is extremely relevant for the film industry,” Danilin notes. It is impossible to feel the effect of government efforts in this direction in a year, and in anticipation of the appearance of Russian analogues, film studios are forced to use foreign technologies from friendly countries, he says.
The projected effect of sanctions pressure on the film industry, as the report says, “is estimated at a 50% decrease in the total market volume.” As Danilin explains, in 2022, the industry, already weakened by the pandemic, faced a significant drop in box office receipts along with the loss of production of world majors “up to 50%”.
Source: Rosbalt
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