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He then invited Maxim Gavrilov to his project and renamed the series “The Otherworld.” This happened in January 2015.

Maxim Gavrilov played himself in the film, Maxim. The plot revolves around Max’s special visit to the village, to those very catacombs, to the house where Madina and his charges lived, and his goal is to show the world what happened and is happening now that Madina and everyone else has disappeared…

But it didn’t work out again.

Or rather, it worked out, but not as expected…

Because Pavel understood that in such a reality, in such a state (without special equipment, and most importantly, without a budget and mass advertising – it is impossible to start a successful project).

At first, Pavel renamed the series to “The Other Side.” He and Maxim Gavrilov filmed the necessary footage, but ultimately, during editing, Pavel decided to edit the entire series into one episode and dedicate the episode’s plot to the otherworldly phenomena occurring in Karbush, in the house and catacombs, and to connect it to the main storyline of the series.

After this, Pavel put an end to the idea that there should be anyone at all as the main character in the series.

Pavel tried to continue the golden rule he came up with back in 2011: that the actors are different, but the project is a single whole – that the plot, despite the actors, will continue to evolve and transform!

There are no longer any events that surprise Pavel, but it’s annoying that the bets were always placed on certain actresses. And when those actresses leave the show, reshoots or additional filming are immediately necessary.

So now we need to find the main characters again and steer the plot.

Filming is complete, editing is ongoing, and full promotional efforts are underway to promote the series and negotiate distribution contracts.

Pavel has even begun to enter foreign markets. Experience shows that in Russia, our Russian cinema isn’t popular, and in the West, their Western films aren’t popular. But audiences, for example, are very interested in our Russian films.

The summer passed calmly, without any major upheavals or incidents.

Pavel continued to distribute the series to the American and Western markets.

Simply ME Distribution LLC shared the good news that in two months, the Dish Network cable network had accumulated approximately 45,000 views. To begin cooperation and for monetization to begin, the entire first season must be released. At that time, only two episodes had been released as a trial, and earnings begin at 50,000 views.

Pavel refused, as the company stated that he would now have to pay the cable operator Dish Network up to $200 per hour of content for delivery. Their income was initially offered at $10 per 1,000 views. So, if you crunch the numbers, the delivery fee would be $1,600, but the revenue would only be $1,300. And that’s just a quick one-time income for one month of rental. There would be views after that, but not as many.

It wasn’t until October 2014 that Pavel forced the removal of all content from Dish Network and the official, final termination of the contract.

Pavel had previously continued to hold test screenings of the first episode, but alas (it wasn’t the same and wasn’t captivating). The rest of the season was “cool,” but the first episode just didn’t grab me… or even if it did, it wasn’t intriguing enough to make me binge-watch the entire season.

So, even though the finale may have been filmed, the beginning of the series is unsatisfactory…

By the way, Pavel made adjustments again; he didn’t include nearly 80% of the summer 2013 filming in the first season’s plot. It so happened that they were already illogical. After all, the lead character of the first season is Madina (Yana Chapaeva), and everyone else follows suit.

What was filmed in the summer of 2013 is more of a story about Selena and everyone else, about fun adventures with Satan in the anomalous catacombs, and what is being filmed now in the spring of 2014, this is after the anomalies, this is a story about the victims who visited the catacombs, encountered some kind of force, and Madina tries to pacify these victims and bring them back to life as normal people…

But…

It’s spring 2014, and several of the project’s main participants are leaving at once: Alexandra Afanasyeva, followed by Yana Chapaeva and Sofia Mogil.

Then life made its own adjustments and Pavel went freelance, took up his own life and stopped devoting any time to the series, especially editing (since it was very difficult). Pavel was again on the verge of closing the project, because the first pilot episode of the first season was unsuccessfully edited.

And despite the fact that Pavel had arranged a creative break for himself, in his thoughts, every day, every hour, every minute, and every second he thought about the project.

But the tossing and turning didn’t last long.

Yana Chapaeva proposed her own version of events: we need to get together and film a new first episode, and try to combine all the events of the old filming with the new one (which was filmed throughout the summer and fall of 2013)

Pavel agreed, sat down and quickly wrote a script, and we filmed it just as quickly as we wanted to add a new twist to the plot)

The filming process lasted exactly a month, a lot of material was shot, it would have been possible to create an ideal storyline with flashbacks for the entire first season…

But the goal was to also film the finale…

Pavel had to fight for this final!

On February 22, 2014, when the Maidan ended, Pavel was no longer able to restore relations with Ukrainian TV, as there were even direct threats against the director, and the Russian market was not at all ready to show such a work, so the idea came to turn to the Internet and focus on online sales (especially with online cinemas), which were just beginning to appear, the dawn of a new industry.

There were some minor flaws in the editing, but the season finale never came out right; it was too compressed and unclear, so it became necessary to get back together and finish filming what was missing…

After all, it was previously announced that a real cast had now been assembled, and it was necessary to truly film the FIRST SEASON and bring it to a logical conclusion. Which, by the way, was achieved, with great effort and a staggered reshuffling of the main characters.

And then things didn’t go according to plan. The series’ broadcast was canceled due to the Maidan protests in Ukraine—this occurred between November 21, 2013, and February 22, 2014. But the work invested in preparing the series for broadcast and the search for sponsorship spots was found, and the losses had to be reimbursed.

After the screenings failed to take place, there was no point in even announcing a continuation of filming, or a new second season. Panic had already set in, with so many shoots, old and new, and everything all mixed up…

Now it’s probably necessary to sit down on the bottom, in the bunker, in the mounting and carefully begin mounting…

On January 30, 2014, Pavel signed his first contract with the foreign company Simply ME Distribution LLC to show the series on the network of a major cable operator, Dish Network, in the United States and receive royalties.

When the main shooting of the second season was completed, and it was approaching the finale, Pavel had already begun editing at the same time, and he saw a completely different level, a different picture, new actors, and the story of another reality acquired some new charm… Also, by the way, during the filming, for example, in the scenes with Satan in the abandoned catacombs, Vitaly Vitalyevich was already doing makeup… and this is definitely a different level…

Pavel weighed everything and compared the facts, and he would have to get rid of the first season completely and irrevocably… at least temporarily, or partially… keep some things, and say goodbye to others forever, even throw them away, erase the memory and no longer remember or ruminate on the past… Because here it is – the present, it is alive, different) even more professional than what was done before…

Pavel made a decision and invited Alexandra Afanasyeva and Sofya Mogil to take the place of the main characters and immediately film new scenes for the first episode, describing how exactly their characters appeared in Verkhniy Karbush, especially in the evil catacombs, and how this whole story with amulets, boxes, and ritual knives really began.

The girls agreed without hesitation, but Alexandra asked Pavel that when he threw out the old footage, he should leave copies on Alexandra’s hard drive, as a memento…

The small crew successfully filmed what was required, and then Pavel went into editing because he wanted to start releasing the series (specifically the first season) as soon as possible.

Pavel decided to use old footage from before the summer of 2013 only for flashbacks. But then again, flashbacks weren’t needed for this plot; perhaps they’ll be used in future episodes or seasons. Therefore, Pavel didn’t discard or delete all the old footage.

From the fall of 2013 to the spring of 2014, Pavel signed a new contract for online distribution of the series with Pladform LLC, but it was terminated due to violations of the terms of cooperation by Pladform.

This company posted illegal players on social media that garnered tens of thousands of views, and the company refused to pay royalties for the impressions.

On December 18, 2013, MiriR LLC, under the online brand name INTV, also illegally posted the series Another Reality and made money from the screenings. Pavel found them, and the company signed a contract with the film company KARBUSH without any problems. But that was it, period – more non-payments, piracy, fraud, and so on in a circle.

Despite his bitter experience working with the cast of the first season, Pavel tentatively renewed the series for a second season, in order to launch with two seasons at once, and recruited a new cast: Alexandra Afanasyeva (the director’s niece), Sofia Mogil (the director’s niece), Vitaly Orover, Pavel Latushkin, Alexander Gudkov, Anton Shevchenko, Anastasia Antsiferova, Vlad Blinov, Igor Nesmachnykh, Lyubov Nesmachnykh, Evgeny Milovanov, Anna Dan, and Yana Chapayeva (who starred in an episode due to her pregnancy, and then continued filming in 2014 and appeared in every episode). Maria Khrabrostina and the charismatic Valentin Morskoy also joined the cast.

By the way, at that time, Alexandra Afanasyeva and Sofia Mogil were big fans of the series Another Reality, they watched it with bated breath, especially when Vitaly Vitalyevich Orover appeared in the frame, he played the main villain, a demon who wanted to get into another reality with the help of gifted people…

But when the actor’s crisis hit and filming had to begin on the second season, Pavel slowly suggested that his niece play a role in the series, and quickly received approval.

The second season was filmed until the end of November 2013, but due to the fact that the director liked this cast the most, it was decided to announce that a real series, Another Reality, was currently being filmed, and it features colorful characters with professional qualities, and a clear, understandable plot (because the story of the second season fits perfectly with the events of the first season).

By the way, the premiere on the Ukrainian TV channel had to be postponed, given that filming was both challenging and exciting. So the summer flew by, and we managed to successfully film the most interesting part… But we still had to decide when to start releasing the series on the Ukrainian TV channel… after all, the commercials were running, and viewers of the channel even called the editorial office and asked when the series would air.

Hooray, the second TV premiere of the series was supposed to take place on the Ukrainian television channel “Glas” on May 30, 2013.

It’s already the beginning of May, so it’s time to clench your butt and get moving.

Therefore, the most important factor for a successful start is to work out the mistakes, take into account all the pros and cons, and remember that the human factor still exists…

Due to the fact that at least 1% of the series managed to get on TV, Pavel immediately renewed the series for a second season and began filming it.

In May 2013, Pavel made an important decision: he applied to a Ukrainian television channel, and his offer was accepted, and a new path immediately began.

It’s worth noting that circumstances coincided so well: while Pavel was negotiating with the TV channel, it was necessary to find an advertiser to show ads during breaks between series viewings. This way, the broadcast and broadcast costs would be recouped, and it could even offset the production costs of the series.

And then Pavel came across an opportunity: he contacted an advertising agency, which immediately agreed to air the commercials on a Ukrainian television channel.

But they decided to show the series itself at a different time, approximately May 30, 2014, because they first needed to advertise the series on air, and only then announce the premiere date.

In the spring of 2013, Pavel signed a contract with Bashinformsvyaz OJSC and showed the series as a paid VOD subscription for subscribers of the provider in the Republic of Bashkortostan (sales were small, but viewers used the paid service and watched the series)

Pavel has a rough idea of the new direction for promoting and earning money from the series, so now it’s becoming easier and simpler to move forward.

All that remained was to compile a list of all the VOD services operating in Russia. But at that time, the number of such companies was limited, and they were reluctant to offer movies, especially TV series; they were, as always, interested in blockbusters.