EXCLUSIVE: Trying to build a slate of original content is hard enough for anyone working in the industry, but try doing that under the constant threat of attacks from a neighboring country.
That’s exactly what Anna Gonchar, Head of Investment and Partnership Projects at the TV Business of Ukraine‘s 1+1 Media has been doing since Russia began its full-scale invasion of the European country in 2022.
“We’re still standing and still doing everything we can to keep on going,” she told Deadline in an exclusive interview. “It’s not getting easier and sometimes even getting tougher. You can’t live under this stress all this time, but we are really motivated – we know the truth we are standing for. It pushes us to be more inventive and creative.”
Ukraine’s broadcasters, which include 1+1, STB and Inter, were late the streaming originals game, with most productions only rolling out within the past two years. Given the devastation of Russia’s ongoing aggression, that’s hardly surprising.
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The fact they’re now actively developing streaming original is the more eye-opening development. Gonchar said the market development is raising standards and that the industry is broadly “not calling it competition, but a chance for the Ukrainian market to grow.”
“When competitors grow, everyone grows,” she added. “Everyone is developing new skills.”
With that in mind, Gonchar reveals details of three original projects that are set for launch: Gritty crime drama Enrique, festive season feature The Guardians of Christmas and rom-com Probation Period. Not only that, but 1+1, which operates several TV channels and a major production business, is looking for international partners and to expand further – not something you might initially assume given the ongoing war and constant threat of new attacks.
“Since the beginning of the invasion war, as a group we have focused on TV content,” she said. “We had a powerful and impressive news operation, but people in Ukraine need Ukrainian content that will help them switch off, as your body needs to rest. We decided to work towards the production of features and series for OTT only, which we didn’t do before. That’s the positive outcome of war, I’m afraid.”
Here’s the lowdown on the slate. Tykha Nava (known internationally as Enrique), starring Oleksandr Rudynskyi and Anastasia Pustovit, is a true-crime drama based on events in a small town of the same name about a young lawyer who finds himself at the center of an investigation into a series of brutal crimes committed by a man named Elvis (renamed ‘Enrique’ in the series). As the lawyer searches for the truth, he meets indifference from locals and a system grounded with inertia. Themes span from how inaction and silence can result in complicity, and how the system turns against those who attempt to change it from within.
Pitched at the Content Warsaw Copro Pitch event over the summer in Poland, Enrique won top prize in the Scripted Series category, giving it significant moment as it moved towards shooting ahead of an early 2026 release. “The pitch in Warsaw proved to us we are doing right,” said Gonchar. “We’re a European country with great people who produce great projects that can perform well and be competitive.”
Sfera Film is producing Enrique in partnership with 1+1’s joint venture streaming service KyivstarTV. The star power of Rudynskyi, known for roles in Netflix’s The Decameron, Paramount+’s The Agency and BAFTA-winning short film Rock, Paper, Scissors, adds extra weight to the series, which 1+1 sees as key to the view of Ukrainian production from the outside.
“Every single actor and member of the crew understands this is something never before produced in Ukraine,” said Gonchar. “We’ve tried to produce it at movie quality, so we can prove the win wasn’t an accident and was well deserved. I cannot stop watching the dailies.”
The Guardians of Christmas is in post-production ahead of a November 13 cinema release in Ukraine, marking 1+1’s first full feature production.
Directed by Oleksandr Kirienko, the plot centers on Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus and the Ancient Spirit of Winter, who compete for the title of chief wizard of Christmas. Set in 2023, when Ukrainians celebrated Christmas Day on December 25 for the first time in many years, they debate who should oversee Christmas and to whom children should write letters with their wishes. After fulfilling the accidental want of a girl named Vira, Christmas, winter symbols, and the magical powers of the wizards, disappear from people’s memories. As people lose faith in the festive season, the three ‘Guardians’ are forced to prove that people themselves can create miracles without the need for magic. Cast includes Ivan Blindar, Mykhailo Kukuyuk, Stanislav Boklan, Arina Tregub, Kateryna Kuznetsova and Roman Lutskyi.
“It’s not only about sadness and murders,” quips Gonchar, who points to the cultural significance of the pic. “Since 2023, we have started to celebrate Christmas on the same day as Europe,” she says. “With the movie there will be no doubts anymore. Children will know when to write their letters.”
Further down the line, 1+1 will launch Probation Period, a romantic comedy film about a mismatched man and woman who meet while both on three months of probation fighting for the same role. He sees her a frivolous rich kid and she sees him as a principled bore with a messiah complex. Gonchar said shooting should start in September ahead of a planned cinema release in early 2026.
Air raid sirens
Still, producing in Ukraine remains a dangerous game. The night before the much-hyped, little-achieved peace talks in Europe that Trump anchored, production of Enrique was held up three times due to air raid sirens. Yesterday, 17 people were killed as Russian strikes hit the capital Kyiv and the British Council building damaged, as European leaders urged Preside Putin to come to the negotiating table.
The attacks have made Ukraine an almost impossible shoot location for international projects, which is hampering 1+1’s desire to make co-productions with neighbors to the west. “European countries are a bit afraid to work here, which is 100% understandable, but we are working and living here, so it’s possible with security precautions in place,” said Gonchar.
Some of the braver souls in Europe are exploring her thesis, as 1+1 is in development on two series and a feature film co-productions. One series has been submitted for the Series Mania Co-Pro Pitching Sessions initiative at next year’s Lille, France event. “Co-production is the main target and goal now,” said Gonchar.
“To summarise, our strategy now is to develop projects that have good potential for co-production,” she added. “We understand we have brilliant ideas, but are limited in what we can do. We need to continue developing our system, but we are not begging for money– we are working for it. We want to show we are reliable service at a moderate price.