OREANDA-NEWS. August 04, 2011. CTC Media, Inc. (“CTC Media” or “the Company”) (NASDAQ: CTCM), Russia’s leading independent media company, announces the establishment of a new united content production company Story First Production, under which the Costafilm and Soho Media platforms will subsequently be merged into a single subsidiary. Vasily Balashov has been appointed General Director of the newly established company and he has also joined CTC Media’s Executive Management Committee as Chief Production Officer, reported the press-centre of CTC Media.

Mr. Balashov’s responsibilities include the creation of an in-house content development center that will enhance and expand CTC Media’s own production capabilities and increase the volume of high-quality in-house content on CTC Media’s programming grids. The Company also plans to strengthen its creative team by attracting new creative producers, script writers, editors, who will develop and promote original in-house productions.

The Professional teams of CTC Media’s existing in-house production companies will lead Story First Production. The restructuring process does not therefore imply there will be any major personnel changes and all the key members of the production companies’ management will continue to work at CTC Media. Konstantin Kikichev, Head of Costafilm, will be appointed as General Producer of Story First Production, while Irina Kalinina, Head of Soho Media, will be appointed as Director of TV Programs Production.

Anton Kudryashov, Chief Executive Officer of CTC Media, commented: “We have taken the decision to reorganize our production process with the aim of making it more efficient, to increase the volume of internally produced content and implement a more advanced control system at each stage of the production process. We have decided to not drift far fr om CTC Media’s founding principles and its original name ‘Story First Communications’, which was ahead of its time in many ways and became the embodiment of all that was progressive and innovative in our media space. Vasily Balashov has been involved in the creation of a variety of successful television series and motion pictures, both in Russia and abroad. We greatly appreciate Vasily’s international experience as well as his ability to apply this experience to our business.”

Vasily Balashov, General Director of Story First Production, commented: “I am very pleased to join CTC Media and I look forward to proving my worth. We have some very exciting tasks to undertake and the dynamic and creative atmosphere within the Company is very attractive. I am confident that together we will succeed!”

Vasily Balashov
Vasily Balashov, 35, joined CTC Media as Chief Production Officer in June 2011 and was appointed General Director of Story First Production in July 2011. Prior to that Vasily served as Production Director in Walt Disney Company CIS where he worked since 2008. Between 2006 and 2008, Vasily worked in “Park Production” where he produced commercial TV clips for some of the largest global brands. In 2004 Mr. Balashov worked on the Russian series “Kholostyaki (Bachelors)” and the Polish movie “The Aryan Couple”. Prior to that, Mr. Balashov worked as line producer for a movie company called “Slovo” wh ere he worked on Russian series “Diversionist”. Between 1997 and 2003, Mr. Balashov held various positions from line producer, crew chief and deputy crew chief. He also worked on Russia channel as a manager in the film production department. Mr. Balashov graduated from the Russian Federation State Institute of Cinematography.