AFM Creative Space: Ukraine’s Green Light Films Targets Market Leadership Despite Launch in Wartime
Few industry executives would have the moxie to launch a new film company in the middle of a full-scale war. But ahead of AFM, distribution veterans Veronika Yasinska and Nadiia Zaionchkovska unveiled the start of Green Light Films, an all-rights distribution and co-production outfit for Ukraine. Backed by the holding company that owns Ukraine’s Multiplex cinema chain — which operates 25 theaters with 148 screens across 12 cities and accounted for more than 40 percent of the local box office last year — Green Light is betting big on the theatrical business.
Despite the war, theatrical revenues in Ukraine have grown strongly in the past two years, bouncing back from the COVID hit, with a total take in 2023 expected to top the $60 million mark.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
“The box office number gives us reason to believe that the market has fully recovered from COVID and would be booming if it weren’t for the Russian invasion,” says Yasinska, Green Light Films’ CEO. “We see a window of opportunity launching now.”
Green Light Films chief content officer Zaionchkovska notes that Ukraine “from an economic and security perspective” is already part of Europe and is “on a fast track to join the European Union.”
She adds that Ukraine has been “self-sufficient” for some time now, a subtle dig at the pre-war tendency for film distributors to bundle Ukraine together with Russia and other former Soviet Union nations into a single rights territory, the CIS. “It was a Moscow-centered shame,” she says.
With nearly 40 years of experience between them, the pair certainly have the industry chops. As head of indie distributor Volga Ukraine, Yasinska has released such hits as Paddington and The Hunger Games franchise in the territory. Zaionchkovska is an acquisitions and production vet who has worked at regional powerhouses including Aurora Distribution, Film.UA, 1-2-3 Production and OTT platform MEGOGO.
Going into their first AFM, they spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about launching a company in the middle of a war, why the Ukrainian box office is booming and their plans to become the territory’s leading buyer, fully independent of Russia.
This might be a stupid question, but why did you want to start a distribution company in a country in the middle of a war?
Veronika Yasinska Maybe I can start by telling you a little bit about us Ukrainians. The main characteristic of our nation is resilience. We are now [more than] 600 days into the full-scale invasion but we continue to live, we continue to work, we continue to develop and build new businesses. The reality of life, the reality of business, is that people have adjusted to the situation, and our business, the media and licensing industry, has also adjusted. The first month of the full-scale invasion was difficult, but we adapted and we started to think about the future. The decision to launch Green Light Film is the result of an in-depth analysis of the Ukrainian media market, of Ukrainian theatrical distribution from 2020 to 2023. We see now as the perfect window of opportunity and growth potential for our sector despite the current wartime. There are challenges but the 180 theaters currently operating in Ukraine are generating healthy results. This year, both in local currency and dollar currency, our box office will exceed 2022 results. We see this window of opportunity now because the moment after the end of military aggression will lead a rocket-speed growth in our market.
Nadiia Zaionchkovska And Ukraine is a very competitive market, it’s a pre-sale market. So we are [at AFM] mostly pre-buying big titles, the kind of big commercial theatrical DNA titles being pre-sold at the script level for release in 1-2 years’ time. Because our intention is to start operating as soon as possible, at AFM we also actively looking at completed films and titles in post-production. But for the big splashy franchises, this is the time to buy them on the script level, to build our slate for 2024-2025.
Why has the theatrical business in Ukraine held up so well, despite the war?
Nadiia Zaionchkovska You should understand that Ukraine is a huge country and the war isn’t everywhere. It’s not like the whole country is in a state of constant fear. The system for air raid signals is all digital and very well-organized, so if the siren sounds, people can get out of a cinema to safety quickly. If a screening gets canceled because of an air raid, the tickets are still valid for another screening. We’re backed by a big group which owns a chain of cinemas and they are planning new openings within the coming year. People have adjusted to the new reality and, at the same time, people need entertainment. Normal life includes family time, entertainment, and escapism. Life goes on.
Veronika Yasinska Ukraine as a market has been growing steadily since the early 2000s, in terms of cinema admissions, screens, ticket price, and box office. The box office numbers in the past two years give us reason to believe that the market has fully recovered from COVID and would be booming if it weren’t for the Russian invasion. There have been impacts [from the war]. We now have around 108 cinemas operating in the country, compared to around 230 pre-war. Around 53 cinemas, about 23 percent, were either destroyed or damaged and or are located in the temporarily- occupied territory. Despite this, we expect 2023 box office results to exceed 2022, both in local currency and in U.S. dollar terms. Right now our market is comparable to Romanian and the three Baltic states combined, at their peak 2019 box office levels.
But there has been a change in demographics because of the war. We have seen massive migration, approximately 6 million Ukrainians left the country, mostly women with children. And then there are those who are directly involved in defense operations. So the performance of female audience movies, family films, and animation has weakened, while the response to young adult content has improved.
Given that, what kinds of films are you looking to buy at AFM?
Nadiia Zaionchkovska What Veronica has said about changes in demographics, with genres that have declined, is really just a matter of correct pricing. We do a very detailed financial analysis of the performance of similar titles over the previous years. But first and foremost, we are looking for theatrical films. Because, unlike other countries, the theatrical component is the main component of our business. The VOD and TV markets have been hit badly in Ukraine, broadcasters are still recovering. So we focus mainly on the theatrical potential when evaluating a title, that’s our main priority. We are looking for titles with this theatrical DNA and commercially-minded in terms of genres and cast. Of course, they can be prestige titles, but, again, they have to have theatrical potential. Action, of course, action comedies, love stories, rom-coms. It can be animation, it can be family titles. Horror is actually performing quite well in the theaters in Ukraine. It’s just a matter of what kind of pricing they are putting behind them.
You’ve got the backing of the group that owns Multiplex, a major exhibitor. Will you only be buying for their theaters?
Veronika Yasinska The holding company has a focus on the creative sector, including Multiplex, the largest cinema chain in Ukraine, but we are going to cover the country’s entire theatrical sector and not just theaters but, as an all-rights buyer, TV and VOD as well.
And you’re also looking to do co-productions. What sort of film are you looking to get on board?
Nadiia Zaionchkovska First and foremost, local production because it’s an extremely important component for us. Ukrainian films have been performing extremely well, especially this year, where they went from around 5 percent of the market to where they are currently at 18 percent of gross box office. I was buying for and running distribution companies for some time before I moved to MEGOGO and then I was a producer, doing productions and co-productions. So, because I have this background, I know how tricky local financing can be. As a theatrical distributor can be an important component in a financial plan of a title and we’re interested in helping get projects off the ground and to get them seen. We’re in touch with all the local producers and are evaluating what’s available at the moment at all stages.
How did you two meet and how did the idea come about to form this company together?
Veronika Yasinska I’ve known Nadiia for maybe 10 years now, I don’t even remember. The idea to create this new company, came mid-spring of 2023. We started to notice the opportunities in the market and I proposed to Nadiia she join the company with her main role in the first stage to be content acquisition.
Nadiia Zaionchkovska We really came together at Cannes last year, where there was this big delegation of Ukrainian producers and companies. Everyone was all over the place scattered across Europe and it was a good chance to reconnect. Ultimately, this idea materialized and I’m very happy that we’re moving forward with it.
Traditionally in the film licensing business, Ukraine has been lumped together with Russia in the so-called CIS territory. Is starting this company also a way of establishing Ukraine as a proper stand-alone independent film market?
Nadiia Zaionchkovska I started buying as an all-rights buyer back in 2004 and you’re right, the majority of licensing deals were done like that. But it was a Moscow-centered shame, the CIS is an artificial term, a made-up concept.
But even then, when I was running Aurora Distribution, roughly 30 percent of our acquisitions were done directly, just for the Ukraine market. I bought PS: I Love You, Love in the Time of Cholera, big titles, directly. I had a cooperation with StudioCanal. So, this isn’t something completely out of the blue, some entirely new trend. It’s just the focus is changing, because, obviously, February 24, 2022 [the start of the Russian invasion] became a point of no return. Ukraine as a market already has the potential, the tools, and resources. We have been self-sufficient for a while now. Everything is in place to be a fully independent market. Just like Romania, Poland, and Hungary. We have the buying power. We have companies, we have the infrastructure and the people to work with them. And right now, Ukraine is on a fast track to join the European Union. From an economic and security perspective, Ukraine is already part of Europe. What’s important is that, after the invasion, we have no more Russian broadcasters or Russian online platforms operating on our territory. Previously they could be used as an argument to do pan-territorial deals and arrangements. But now they’re gone. Ukrainian broadcasters are not working with those companies. If people find a need to put us in some kind of a bucket, please put us in the Central/Eastern European bucket of countries. That’s where we belong. Ukraine is not part of CIS no part of this made-up term lumping together a big chunk of territories. We’re definitely not part of that anymore.
Can I ask both of you, what are your hopes and goals for this company?
Veronika Yasinska We want to be the market leader. I’ve created the number one independent distribution company in the past [with Volga Ukraine] and I want to improve on that knowledge and previous achievement.
Nadiia Zaionchkovska We are both in a unique period both in our personal and professional lives, where we want to build something to last for years to come. This isn’t about a contract, it’s about a career. We’re putting all of our expertise, basically two decades each, into this. I have 360-degree expertise, from content acquisition and releasing to production, co-production, and creative development. Veronika has released more than 350 movies theatrically in Ukraine. Her superpower is numbers, she’s like a database, a drop-down menu of how this or that film — given the budget, the stars, the genre — will do at the box office in Ukraine. And we are long-term partners with the broadcasters and streamers. The people we grew up with in this industry are now the people who are running these companies. They’re very happy to welcome us as a new player.
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023
Men in Blazers, Hollywood’s Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
