Speaking to MIPCOM News, George Leclere, session moderator and chairman of War & Peace Media Group, USA, said there were still commercial and editorial obstacles to working with Russia but that "Russians are eager to learn and our panel was well-placed to explain the opportunities."

Speaking to MIPCOM News, George Leclere, session moderator and chairman of War & Peace Media Group, USA, said there were still commercial and editorial obstacles to working with Russia but that "Russians are eager to learn and our panel was well-placed to explain the opportunities." Panelists included War & Peace Russia general manager Vitaly Fedko, who has years of experience putting together co-productions with organizations including ARTE and ZDF. Also from Russia was Yulia Matyash, director of RTR’s distribution arm Sovtelexport, whose recent activities have included a joint venture with Discovery. Leclere said the panel benefited from non-Russian experts too. "Patrick Hoerl, managing director of Autentic, used to be CEO of Discovery Germany and has a lot of experience with Russia. Arnaud Frilley, CEO of B-tween in France, co-produced the movie Rasputin using Russian locations." That project proved a good case study, explained Leclere. "Arnaud got access to great locations in St Petersburg, which helps with the authenticity of the film," he said. "But he also talked about the need to be editorially sensitive if you want Russian co-operation on subjects which recount their history."