Interview with Oleg Zakharov for FIGHT-FILMS.INFO

14.06.2016uranium

Today, especially for Fight Films.Info, I will talk with the Novosibirsk director of hand-to-hand action films, owner of 1 dan (Black Belt) in Shotokan Karate-do and winner of the “Teacher of the Year” award in regional and city competitions for 2007 and 2009, head and founder of the studio "AURUMfilm"- Oleg Zakharov.

Oleg, good afternoon, and the first question right away is how it all started? What brought little Oleg to the karate-do section?

I grew up during the heyday of action movies. In our childhood there were many movie heroes who fought “evil”. Moreover, almost all of them were played by outstanding athletes and martial arts masters. Therefore, like most boys, I wanted to study. So I came to the karate section located in the school gym. My idea of ​​karate at that time was extremely romantic - I was sure that I would learn to break logs, run along walls, and so on.

Did everything work out right away? What other types of martial arts, besides Karate, have you practiced?

Everything happened gradually. I remember how kimonos were sewn from sheets, how belts were painted after certification... There was nothing special in the stores. I tried not to change my karate, I did a little taekwon-do. But there were other sports - acrobatics, modern dancing.

Yes, now there is no shortage in stores and martial arts themselves are not persecuted, but then times were harsh. Speaking of harshness, was combat knowledge useful in the real conditions of Novosibirsk Street, if this, of course, is not a secret?

Of course it's no secret. All guys fight and that's normal. It is important that this ends in adolescence...

Tell us about your most memorable incident?

I remember how I stood up for a girl on the bus. We fought with a drunk at a bus stop) it was in the spring, we got dirty... The girl, by the way, moved on.

I hope you won?)

Yes. Only my fist was damaged.

Where would you advise a person who wants to take up martial arts to start (no matter what age they are)?
How to choose the right section, what to be prepared for first? At what points is it worth or not worth using your knowledge?

First of all, you need to decide on your own goals. Some work out for health, others need to become more confident, many crave sports victories. You need to be patient, it will take time. Many people want to get the desired result immediately. And they are not ready to work long and patiently, but we need to tune in to this.
I always tell my students - you must live and behave in such a way as not to find yourself in situations where you have to fight. Any fight outside the gym is always without any rules and unpredictable. It is very dangerous.

Let's move on to your film career. What prompted you to create the studio "AURUMfilm" and start an acting and directing career? Was it easy back in 2007?

It was just a desire to try to make a film. What was interesting was the process itself, first of all. I didn’t think about any film festivals or distribution at that time.
It was not easy to assemble a team. Some of my friends were skeptical about this idea and refused to participate. But there were also true friends who supported me. Naturally, I directed, filmed and edited my film myself.

Which famous action heroes were you inspired by? And who do you consider the most suitable role model for actors in the Hand-to-Hand Action genre?

You can learn and gain experience from many. I love Jackie Chan films. It is closest to me in spirit and style. It was his films that inspired me.

In general, is it easy to start your own career in cinema, what is needed for this, materially and physically, and what difficulties should a young actor/director be prepared for? Because now there are a lot of talents trying to become famous thanks to YouTube.

It’s easy to start) It’s difficult to build... Nowadays technology has become more accessible, everyone can film something and post it on the Internet. But we must not forget that it is very difficult to attract and retain viewers. There are a lot of films and videos now. We must try to do something interesting, unique, and of high quality.

Let's say I decided to become a director and eventually found my own studio - what moment will be the most difficult and stressful for me?

Realize and come to terms with the fact that you will have to do everything yourself. At the first stages, no one is interested in your work, no one will give you money, etc. And we must prepare for the fact that the viewer will love the films, and not for the efforts or simply because you are a good person.

Tell us about your team - Sergei Tsoi, Roman I, Pavel Martynov, other guys and, of course, the most recognizable - Evgeniy Bochkarev; How did you meet them, and how did they get into Novosibirsk cinema? And what does a novice director need to do to convince his first associates to join and believe in the success of the young studio?

Sergei and Roman and I practiced karate together since childhood. They were the ones who became my first actors. We met Pavel on the set of the short film Strong Tariff for the Megafon company. He immediately showed himself to be a responsible and pleasant person to talk to. Well, Zhenya found me himself, wrote to me online and I invited him to the episode, which was a success.
A young director needs to be very respectful of his actors, because they trusted an unfamiliar creator. Remember your responsibility to the film crew. The work must be completed. Unfortunately, I know many who abandoned their project halfway... This is very bad.

I completely agree about respect - it seems to me that there has been such a moment in everyone’s life when a project begins, but then everything is abandoned due to the first difficulties. What other advice can you give to young filmmakers, besides patience and mutual respect, so as not to get lost, lose faith in themselves and give up everything?

You need to understand that the first film will most likely not be very good, because this is the first experience. Many directors are not ready for this; they think that now fame and investors will come to them. I realized pretty quickly that I would have to move forward gradually, step by step. And there are no guarantees that everything will be fine. Therefore, I am glad that I succeed at something.

Recently, with the increase in your popularity, celebrities such as Maria Boltneva and Ilya Glinnikov began to appear in your films, and you yourself have already worked in Yolki. How difficult is it to work with all-Russian stars? Don’t they have arrogance, star fever and all that stuff that ordinary viewers and the tabloid press say about them?

At first I was very worried. I had to prepare for the shoot more carefully. But the more experienced and professional the actor, the easier it is to work with him. I have never noticed star fever, since a professional actor understands very well that the director is the boss on the set and he must be obeyed. In my latest feature film, Second Childhood, I was lucky enough to work with Sergei Pioro. He is a very positive person and always helped us, shared his experience and inspired us. It's nice when stars pay attention to young directors. I'm very grateful for this.

After the story about how Evgeny Bochkarev came to your team, it became clear to me that your feedback with the audience is well established. In this regard, the question is: how to become an actor in the AURUMfilm studio?

Joining our team is quite easy. You have to be active. First write about yourself. Then try to come to the casting or filming of a crowd scene. All information is always on my page and in the group.

Another question that interests fans of hand-to-hand action films - do you plan to work together with the stars of our and foreign COMBAT films? Honestly, I really want (and I’m not the only one) to see Oleg Zakharov fighting against Gary Daniels, Jamal Azhigiray or Olivier Gruner. After all Sergey Morin already worked on the same site with Mark Dacascos and Roman Kurtsyn, just like Dmitry Shadrin is going to negotiate with several famous actors (without his permission I cannot yet announce their names) for his new film.

I would love to) There are already plans for this. And I also think that it would be nice to bring together all filmmakers who are passionate about martial arts in one project. I'm sure it will be very successful.

By the way, yes, next question on this topic. Back to the same thing Shadrin - often in conversations and interviews he said that it is necessary to raise regional cinema, and for this, all directors, actors and stuntmen from the regions of the country should unite into some kind of Association in order to jointly “promote” the cinema of the regions and exchange experiences and for this purpose create common websites or use existing ones as a base. How do you feel about this idea?

I'm fine. But still, the most important thing is to make a good movie. The difficulty of joint projects lies in the distance... Today, no one will travel halfway across the country to participate in creativity. This means that you need to develop it yourself and build on existing resources.

Which regional directors or studios have you identified as promising?

I know many, but I’ll single out Philip Dmitriev. He is from Novosibirsk and I even played in one of his films. He is very purposeful and is constantly developing.

Let's move on to your current work. Your fans have noticed that you have recently switched to children's films, in particular, I was personally struck by the work “Simpler Than It Seems” - I felt like I was watching a large full-length film that didn’t sag. Is it difficult to work with children?

There are both advantages and difficulties. Children are always more enthusiastically involved in the process. It's very interesting with them. It happens that they get tired faster or, for example, become capricious. You have to use your teaching experience. But in general, I’m glad that many take part in filming and gain experience at a young age. They definitely still have everything ahead.

Let's move on to creative plans. Do you plan to stay in children's films or return to "adult" action films? Or should we expect new genres, like the experimental series "Chain Reaction"?

I've been immersed in children's movies for two years now and really miss action movies. I plan to return in the near future, so to speak... But I don’t plan to say goodbye to children’s cinema either. This summer we have already been invited to Gelendzhik to film a film at a children’s camp. I hope I can do everything in time.

So, in general, how long does it take to produce one of your films? Name the shortest film in terms of production time and the longest)

Speed ​​record - "Simpler than it seems." We did it in 5 days. This is exactly how much time has passed from the moment we saw the actors at the casting and the premiere of the film at the reporting event. And here is the film "Game price“We did it for two years. Very often there are various objective reasons due to which we have to stop filming. That's why I try to shoot faster.

A little criticism. I and many of my friends watched most of the films with your participation, and noticed that in general your action films are light and comedic, in other words, there is not enough blood. Are there plans to make a tougher action thriller with an abundance of harsh hand-to-hand fights, like in the Golden Age of the 80-90s, when heroes, waving nunchucks, poles, knives, swords and throwing out combinations of punches and kicks, sent villains to knockouts, the abyss and pits with spikes?

Yes. I try to make all my films with a minimum of violence. I understand that some viewers like tougher films. But, I am targeting teenagers and I would like them not to learn cruelty. Time will tell, maybe I'll make a bloody action movie...

Name 5-10 things to make a good, watchable action movie: what do you need to add in the timing, preparation and script to make your film look good, watchable and re-watchable?

1. We need an interesting idea.
2. A good hero who will be sympathetic to the viewer.
3. Very “bad” anti-heroes, so that everyone in the cinema will want to put them in their place.
4. Beautiful girls. No genre can do without them.
5. Try to bring something new into the fights.
6. Well, try to remove and mount all this beautifully and efficiently.

Tell us about your upcoming full-length project? What kind of movie will it be, what is the plot and when will it be released in our cinemas?

I currently have two films in pre-production. But, of course, I’ll start with one. This will be a story about several people stranded on an island. Moreover, nothing threatens them except themselves.

I would like to make a film with a minimum of actors and locations, devoting maximum time to production and rehearsals.
It is too early to talk about completion dates. There's still a lot of prep work to do!

Who will play the main roles and where will the filming take place?

The main cast is from our team. I can’t write the names yet, since the roles haven’t been confirmed yet. We will be filming in the Novosibirsk region at the Ob Reservoir. Fortunately, according to the scenario, our island is not tropical.

How do you feel about game development? Have you played fighting games and if so, which ones and which character was the most memorable?

Played computer games. In Mortal Kombat it seems))) I don’t really remember the characters. But I remembered Sub-Zero)

Well, our time has come to an end. Thank you for the detailed interview, I wish you and your team success in your work and a huge number of new interesting films from the AURUMfilm studio, especially hand-to-hand action films!

Thank you for your wishes) I will continue to try.

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