NEWS
The Final of the Film Start-up Pitch
Photo: Press service of the Short Film Days Festival
December 18, 2025, Moscow
On December 15, the Art Centrer at KrasnyOktyabr of the Modern Art Institute held the final of the 4th Film Start-up Pitching Session, an annual platform for presenting innovative technological solutions in filmmaking. Nine shortlisted projects presented their developments to the expert jury, which included the opinion leaders of the Russian and international film industry.
The event was organised by MovieStart Production Centre with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives as part of the International Short Film Days Festival.
The Leaders of Expert Review
The selection committee has cast the maximum votes to the KinoProfi and Timeliner platforms (7 votes each), the TOGO radio system for film crews (6 votes), the AMI location rental service (5 votes) and the radar.film and DIVO platforms (4 voices each).
Comments by the Organisers and Experts
Dmitry Yakunin, General Director of the MovieStart Production Centre and manager of the project:
The event was organised by MovieStart Production Centre with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives as part of the International Short Film Days Festival.
The Leaders of Expert Review
The selection committee has cast the maximum votes to the KinoProfi and Timeliner platforms (7 votes each), the TOGO radio system for film crews (6 votes), the AMI location rental service (5 votes) and the radar.film and DIVO platforms (4 voices each).
Comments by the Organisers and Experts
Dmitry Yakunin, General Director of the MovieStart Production Centre and manager of the project:
“
We see a steady interest of participants in platform solutions and aggregators. It is this category that has developed the greatest competition. This reflects the industry’s real demand for infrastructure services.
Ivan Kudryavtsev, Director for Film Channels at Digital Television Media Holding, Programme Director of the Moscow International Film Festival:
“
We have seen an impressive level of ideas and projects at this pitch. These are not mere start-ups, but real solutions that are ready for implementation and scaling. Many of them have huge commercial potential, and I am sincerely glad to see such enthusiasm in the industry. New technologies facilitate and accelerate the creation of new products. For example, a friend of mine recently created his own task manager in just six days, simply following text prompts. This would have required an entire development team some time ago. Thus, no-nonsense competition and an increase in the number of interesting solutions are up ahead.
Borislav Volodin, CEO, ANO National Open Championship of Creative Competencies ‘ArtMasters’
“
I was pleasantly surprised by keen interest of the project participants and the high level of the proposed technologies. Start-ups that can effectively replace foreign solutions have attracted special attention. These ideas can really speed up production processes and significantly improve the quality of Russian filmmaking.
Pavel Peregudov, pitch creative producer:
“
This year, we see projects using generative AI, which is a positive signal. We expect the share of projects with neural network solutions to grow significantly in the coming seasons.
Expert Jury
The shortlisted projects were assessed by a reputable jury, which included leading experts of the Russian and international film industry: Tatiana Belichenko (StarDust Talent Agency), Alexey Bokov (producer of START documentary projects), BorislavVolodin (ArtMasters), YaroslavGorodetsky (CDNvideo / Beeline), Olga Zhukova (Association of Film and TV Producers), Natalia Ivanova-Dostoevskaya (Studio and Dostoevskaya CG aggregator), Mikhail Kalinin (Russian Union of Cinematographers), Ivan Kudryavtsev (Digital Television media Holding, MIFF), Georgy Prokopov (Moskino), Karina Mia Satlykova (Kunay Film, Turkey), Natalia Starostina (Hop.Agency, udtx.vc ), Alexander Shebanov (VK) and others.
Outcome and Support
The most noteworthy projects and pitch participants will receive advice from the organisers for further participation in grant competitions and acceleration programmes. The shortlisted teams will be able to benefit from production support, assistance in preparing applications for government subsidies and access to the presentation venues with venture capital investors.
Background
The Film Start-up Pitching Session is an annual platform for presenting innovative technological solutions in the field of cinematography that bringing together developers, investors and representatives of the film industry who develop domestic technology in cinema.
The first pitching session took place in December 2022 in Moscow at the Digital Business Space (17 applications, 9 short-listed projects). In 2023, the event moved to the Kaliningrad region. The second pitching session was held at the Ember Hall Variety Theatre in Svetlogorsk(19 applications, 9 short-listed projects). The third pitching session returned to Moscow in December 2024 and was held at the Cinema of the Museum of Moscow (15 applications, 9 short-listed projects). This year, the competition received 20 applications, of which 9 winners were selected.
Contacts for the Media
MovieStart Production Centre
Pitching website: cinemastartup.ru
Organiser’s website: moviestart.ru
The shortlisted projects were assessed by a reputable jury, which included leading experts of the Russian and international film industry: Tatiana Belichenko (StarDust Talent Agency), Alexey Bokov (producer of START documentary projects), BorislavVolodin (ArtMasters), YaroslavGorodetsky (CDNvideo / Beeline), Olga Zhukova (Association of Film and TV Producers), Natalia Ivanova-Dostoevskaya (Studio and Dostoevskaya CG aggregator), Mikhail Kalinin (Russian Union of Cinematographers), Ivan Kudryavtsev (Digital Television media Holding, MIFF), Georgy Prokopov (Moskino), Karina Mia Satlykova (Kunay Film, Turkey), Natalia Starostina (Hop.Agency, udtx.vc ), Alexander Shebanov (VK) and others.
Outcome and Support
The most noteworthy projects and pitch participants will receive advice from the organisers for further participation in grant competitions and acceleration programmes. The shortlisted teams will be able to benefit from production support, assistance in preparing applications for government subsidies and access to the presentation venues with venture capital investors.
Background
The Film Start-up Pitching Session is an annual platform for presenting innovative technological solutions in the field of cinematography that bringing together developers, investors and representatives of the film industry who develop domestic technology in cinema.
The first pitching session took place in December 2022 in Moscow at the Digital Business Space (17 applications, 9 short-listed projects). In 2023, the event moved to the Kaliningrad region. The second pitching session was held at the Ember Hall Variety Theatre in Svetlogorsk(19 applications, 9 short-listed projects). The third pitching session returned to Moscow in December 2024 and was held at the Cinema of the Museum of Moscow (15 applications, 9 short-listed projects). This year, the competition received 20 applications, of which 9 winners were selected.
Contacts for the Media
MovieStart Production Centre
Pitching website: cinemastartup.ru
Organiser’s website: moviestart.ru