Russian Producer Artem Vasilyev Launches Dublin-Based Label Lazy Sunday, Unveils Slate of Projects Including New Kirill Sokolov Feature (EXCLUSIVE)

Artem Vasilyev, the Russian producer and CEO of Metrafilms and its animation arm Studio Metrafilms, has launched the new label Lazy Sunday, based in Ireland and dedicated to developing and producing both animation and live-action projects for international audiences.

The new outfit will serve as a bridge linking Western Europe with Eastern Europe, Vasilyev hopes, while also connecting with his current base of operations in Moldova.

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“I strongly believe that the Eastern European region is extremely rich in world-class talent and exciting stories that are yet to be told,” he said. “Eastern European talent can bring a lot to the international film industry table, and Lazy Sunday is a company that can bridge East and West thanks to our experience, history and where we are today. This is truly an exciting position to be in.”

Lazy Sunday, which will have an office in Dublin, is actually the rebranded Irish arm of Film and Music Entertainment, the production company set up by Mike Downey. With Downey retiring, Vasilyev says he was asked by the producer if he wanted to take it over.

The company will be headed up by creative producer Alan Keane. With nearly two decades of experience in the animation and live-action industries, Keane has worked on critically acclaimed projects such as “The Amazing World of Gumball,” the three-time Emmy nominated “The Oddbods Show,” and Sony Animation’s “Open Season: Call of Nature.”

Alongside the announcement, Vasilyev has also unveiled a healthy slate of English and local language projects across film and TV that will fall under the Lazy Sunday banner.

On the film side, the company is producing the next project from acclaimed Russian writer/director Kirill Sokolov (“Why Don’t You Just Die”), currently finishing his first English-language in U.S., “They Will Kill You.” The new feature, “Alone in the Ocean,” is based on the autobiography of Slava Kurilov, the Soviet, Canadian and Israeli oceanographer who in 1974 made a daring escape from the Soviet Union by jumping overboard from a cruise liner and swimming to the Philippines. An A-list cast is reportedly in negotiation to star.

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Elsewhere, other features include “Malika,” the feature directorial debut of Kazakh writer/director Natalia Uvarova and a female-led drama about a secluded diaspora in Kazakhstan, “A Most Delightful Game,” a female-driven English-language horror from producers Vladislav Severtsev and Milos Djukelic and set to shoot in 2025, and the English-language thriller “Bad News” written by German scriptwriter Ilja Zofin and about Eastern European society in the West.

Renowned director of photography Roman Vasyanov (“Fury,” “Suicide Squad”) is also directing “The Teller Trip,” written by Andrey Zvyaginstsev’s frequent collaborator Oleg Negin (“Leviathan,” “Loveless”) and a tragedy about an old friend who visits a once successful plastic surgeon on a luxury island. Production is due to start in Southeast Asia in either late 2025 or early 2026. Meanwhile, the ballet drama “Supernova” comes from director and former Bolshoi soloist Alisa Khazanova and writer Anton Yarush (“Beanpole,” “Unclenching the Fists”), and is based on the the life of Oksana Kardash, who will play the lead role. “My Giant,” currently in development, is a sports drama from writer Stas Ivanov about a Vietnamese student suddenly thrust into the world of professional basketball.

On the TV side for Lazy Sunday is “High Season,” an 8-part series now in post, also from Ivanov and an action-packed drama about the search for a holidaymaker whose disappearance is linked to a mysterious new drug. Set in the Balkans, “Fingerblast” is a darkly comic mini-series following a superstar video gamer and a gritty tale of redemption involving the mafia, forbidden romances and family secrets, while “The List” is a crime thriller based on “The White List” by Alisa Khazanova (which Metrafilms produced) and about two detectives investigating a series of teenage suicides.

Lazy Sunday also has a four-strong lineup of English-language animated projects, including the series “Occupation: Witch” (which pitched at Cartoon Forum), “Sonya From Toastville” and “Beep Boop,” and feature film “Cabbage vs. Carrot.”

“We continue to work with many talents who we have begun a relationship with earlier. Filmmakers like Kirill Sokolov, Roman Vasyanov, Alisa Khazanova, who have established themselves also in the international scene,” said Vasilyev. “We are thrilled to have this opportunity, because each of these filmmakers have a unique voice that we want to champion and support. At the same time we also have new international talent involved in our projects from the UK, US, Canada, Serbia, Kazakhstan. We are actively developing projects for the Southeast Asian region as well.”

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