CTB Film Company

CTB Film Company was founded in 1992.

The company’s primary activity is the production of feature films, and animated films co-produced with “Melnitsa Studios”, with a budget of 2 to 25 million US dollars.

The CEO of CTB Film Company is producer Sergey Selianov.

From the “Film and Context: 1992–1996” article in the Modern History of National Cinema: 1986–2000 Encyclopedia, vol. 6:

Selianov’s diverse track record includes radical auteur projects (Cargo #200 by Alexey Balabanov), blockbusters (Boomer 2 by Petr Buslov and Three Heroes and the Queen of Shamakhi, made in collaboration with “Melnitsa Studios”), and promising debut films (Schultes by Bakur Bakuradze, Nirvana by Igor Voloshin), which introduced new names to Russian cinema . . .

The success of CTB on the Russian filmmaking market may be attributed in large measure to endeavors that at first glance seem to be extraneous to the primary activities of a filmmaker. The movie Operation “New Year” (1996) by CTB laid the foundation for a legitimate market of home video retail. Before the movie was released, the company tendered a bid, stipulating that at least 100,000 copies of the movie on VHS tapes be made. The result—550,000 copies—exceeded all expectations. For the first time in post–Soviet Russia, the sales of films in the home video segment had turned a profit. This allowed the company to invest its own money (the National Film Fund would only subsidize post production) in the movie Brother (1997). The triumph of this film pushed the company to new heights. The success of the film proved that even a modest budget amidst Russia’s budding market economy could not only stimulate creativity, but also generate profit. Brother’s success and acclaim triggered what would come to be know as “the CTB phenomenon.”

Today, CTB is one of the most established names in Russia’s film production business. According to an independent research conducted by Movie Research Company in March 2010, CTB was named the leading filmmaker in Russia.

Films by CTB have been presented at many Russian and international film festivals and have received over a hundred awards. Among them, A Love Story by Konstantin Bronzit, was nominated for an Oscar as the Best Animated Short Film by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Mongol by Sergey Bodrov, Sr. was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film. The film crew of The Cuckoo was awarded the National Prize of Russia in 2004.

Currently the CTB Film Company is actively involved in producing international collaborative projects, such as I’m Not Coming Back, directed by Ilmar Raag (Russia, Estonia, Byelorussia, Finland, Kazakhstan), Wrong Cops by Quentin Dupieux (Russia, France, USA), Midfielder by Adrian Biniez (Russia, Uruguay, Germany, France, Argentina), Cannibal by Manuel Martin Cuenca (Russia, Spain, France, Romania), and many others.

Some of the well-known Russian directors that have worked with the CTB film company are Alexey Balbanov, Sergey Bodrov, Jr., Alexander Rogozhkin, Sergey Bodrov, Sr., Igor Voloshin, Bakur Bakuradze, Filipp Yankovsky, Pavel Lungin, and others.