| Title | THE TALE OF THE DEAF |
| Brand | MTS KION |
| Product/Service | THE KION ONLINE CINEMA |
| Category |
A02. Fiction & Non-Fiction Films: 5-30 minutes |
|
Entrant
|
ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
|
|
Idea Creation
|
ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
|
|
Media Placement
|
MTS Moscow, RUSSIA
|
|
Production
|
ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
|
|
Production 2
|
TAKE-SHOT Moscow, RUSSIA
|
|
Post Production
|
ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
|
Credits
| Husky Husky |
Zebra Hero |
Deaf guy |
| Anton Adasinskiy |
Zebra Hero |
Organ grinder |
| Philip Yuriev |
Zebra Hero |
Director |
| Mikhail Khasaya |
Zebra Hero |
Director of photography |
| ANNA BOKINA |
Zebra Hero |
PRODUCER |
| Denis Kolesov |
Zebra Hero |
Creative producer |
| Andrey Paukov |
Zebra Hero |
Executive producers |
| Elena Samoilova |
Zebra Hero |
Executive producers |
| Artem Tsaregorodtsev |
Zebra Hero |
Executive producers |
| Maria Yakovleva |
MTS KION |
Executive producers |
| Valery Kopytin |
MTS KION |
Executive producers |
| Nikolay Verstin |
MTS KION |
Executive producers |
| Arina Yezhova |
MTS KION |
Executive producers |
| Ravil Salikhov |
Take shot |
Executive producers |
| Elena Panfilova |
Take shot |
Line producers |
| Yulia Volova |
Take shot |
Line producers |
| Daria Kostyuchenko |
Take shot |
1st AD |
Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?
It is a short horror film that brings up the topic of creative crisis, and poses a question to the viewer: where is the limit that cannot be transcended in the name of art?
Background
MTS is the largest mobile operator in Russia. In 2021, the company introduced a new service: the KION online cinema. The service is using a subscription model; however, 40 % of young Russians prefer not to pay for the content. The goal was to tell the company’s target audience that KION would offer the content worth paying for.
Describe the creative idea
The Tale of the Deaf is a horror film about the life of a deaf-mute shadow play actor trying to capture the attention of paupers in a shabby pub. Suddenly, a mysterious stranger enters the establishment, carrying a hypnotizing barrel organ. His musical act drives all the guests insane, sucking their souls out. The organ grinder however never expected one of the paupers to simply not hear his diabolical melody.
Describe the strategy
In order to attract subscriptions and direct the viewers’ attention to its proprietary content, MTS KION decided to shoot fiction films and publish them on a free YouTube channel.
The tale of the deaf, a horror fiction, was one of such films, targeting a younger audience. Husky, a popular singer, played the lead.
The brand intentionally decided against product integrations into the story with only the brand logo featured as the studio. This helped establish the brand as a high-quality content creator and provider.
Describe the execution
What really makes this movie stand out is that the lead role was played not by a professional actor, but by a popular Russian rapper, Husky. An underground musician who never gives interviews and
never participates in any outside projects suddenly appears before the audience as an actor, and the one with a really complex part—the role of a deaf-mute shadow play artist.
Describe the outcome
As a result, in its first month the film received 3,000,000 organic views and over 1,100 comments
on YouTube.
Key media outlets that are relevant among our target audience wrote about the project: Kinopoisk (Russia’s top film-related media), Meduza.io, GQ Russia, Vogue, Glamour Russia, The Flow, etc.
According to YouTube analytics, the film’s likability was 96 %, and 83 % of viewers belonged to our target audience (44 % of viewers aged 18 to 24, and 39 % aged 25 to 34).