From Russia to Hollywood: Bringing Slavic Culture to the Silver Screen

About this Episode

On this episode, Misha and Taylor speak with Lada Egorova, a Russian filmmaker in Los Angeles who has an ambitious and timely project, creating a TV comedy about Slavic emigres to the US and their culture. The show is titled BLIN, meaning 'pancake' and explores the Russian community and its culture in Los Angeles. As Lada mentions in the episode, one of the inspirations for BLIN is the TV show Ramy on HBO. Learn more here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7649694/

SYNOPSIS: When New Yorker, Katia, returns to her Russian roots in Los Angeles to help her mother run their grocery store after a debilitating car accident, she quickly finds herself in over her head. As she attempts to reconcile her modern, American lifestyle with her traditional, Russian upbringing, Katia must navigate the quirky and often hilarious customs of her Russian neighborhood, all while trying to keep the store afloat. Katia learns that running a business is hard work, especially when you're trying to find your place in a culture that sometimes feels like a foreign land.

ABOUT THE GUEST
Lada Egorova’s journey into filmmaking started with her performance as a ghost in a student short film, she didn’t know much about life and happiness at that time (not that she knows much more now) but she was certain of one thing: she HAD to be on a film set as much as possible. But as she worked on countless projects, she quickly realized she wanted to write her own stories and create complex female characters who would be part of extraordinary adventures, have to fight against impressive forces of life and who would be as fun and inspiring to watch as their male counterparts.
She interned at various production companies in France and in the US while she wrote and directed several award-winning short films. One of her latest short film projects PAPOCHKA was selected by the French Film Organization Ciclic to be part of a screenwriting residency, and later got her to receive a film grant for its production.
After accumulating a diverse and extensive body of work at a French film university in Paris and being an exchange student at The California State University, she stayed in Los Angeles where she is currently developing her own projects, helping other upcoming filmmakers to produce their films and expanding her photography skills by working with diverse artists.
Visit her website at https://ladaegorova.wixsite.com/website

PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on September 21, 2023 via Zoom.

If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch!

CREDITS
Host/Associate Producer: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Host/Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Assistant Producer: Sergio Glajar
Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet
Production Assistant: Eliza Fisher
Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
Recording, Editing, and Sound Design: Michelle Daniel

Main Theme by Charlie Harper @charlieharpermusic and additional background music by Broke for Free, Joey Hendrixx, Nu Tiel Records)
Sound bites from 2001 A Space Odyssey, Rocky IV, Star Trek, and Snatch

Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com

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