The independent Russian channel TV Rain has announced a fundraising drive for a new television series called Zavtra (“Tomorrow”). The show is being billed as Russia’s first-ever TV political drama.
Using the Russian crowdfunding platform Planeta.ru, the station has managed to collect more than 700,000 rubles (about $11,400). TV Rain aired the pilot episode of Zavtra on February 23. It’s now available on YouTube, as well.
The show is set in a future Russia, where an opposition candidate has unexpectedly won the 2018 presidential election. His administration faces various challenges, such as a power company threatening to shut off the electricity in Moscow.
The series’ screenwriters are Roman Volobuev and Yelena Vanina, two former staff writers at Afisha, a Russian entertainment magazine.
Writing on Facebook, Volobuev thanked those who donated money to help fund the show. “Because of you guys, I find myself in some alternate reality. I didn’t know there are people like you out there, and I still don’t really know how to feel or what to do, now that I do know. So for now I’ll just say thank you to everyone. You guys are awesome,” Volobuev said.
The main characters on Zavtra are the staff in the administration of the new president, who’s suddenly become responsible for the fate of a vast country. With no time to waste, the administration must find a prime minister, form a new ministerial cabinet, tackle corruption, and adopt universal reforms (affecting everything from courts to crosswalks), all without losing control of Russia’s periphery
In January 2014, following a controversially worded survey about the Siege of Leningrad, TV Rain became the target of an attack campaign by the authorities. Documents published by the data-leaking group Anonymous International suggest that members of the Kremlin may have played a role in the attack on the TV station.