Film director Ruben Kochar thinks that there is no type of benevolence
mechanism in cinematography, but there are people who understand the
concept of a film, have the experience and see big business in the film
industry. Unfortunately, those kinds of people do not exist in Armenia.
They are foreigners who are in the American film industry and invest
large amounts of money knowing beforehand how those amounts will be
paid back. This concerns the organization that has made contributions
for films such as “Titanic”, “Trojan” and others.
The “HyeFilm” studio thought carefully about investing in Ruben
Kochar’s film “Kill Herostrat”. But when the tapings were completed and
work had been started on sound effects, “HyeFilm” decided to make a
small investment. “HyeFilm” wanted to have some experience due to the
fact there had been some fake rumors and nobody believed in the film
studio. When the film had great success, “HyeFilm” understood that
business is possible. “Kill Herostrat” participated in a couple of
festivals and won two of them. The film got included in the top five of
Brazil’s top-class festival in all of Latin America. After that, the
“World Distribution” organization bought the film, sensing that since
it had won in Brazil then it already was successful. Then the film
participated in the “Present a World” festival in Mexico where it
placed 2nd. There were 282 films shown at the festival, including
documentaries and short-films. Fifteen documentaries, fifteen artistic
films and fifteen short-films were competing against each other. In
addition, two studios in Brazil have suggested working with Ruben
Kochar. The requirement of one of the studios is that Hovhannes
Babakhanyan be included on the set.
After the film “Kill Herostrat”, a second Armenian American film called
“Road” is being shot. The film is being funded by “Blue Line”
entertainment. “HyeFilm” has also made an investment. Funding for this
film has cost 5-6 times more than the previous one and it is about the
present day Armenian. The completion of the film will be in two months
and it will be premiered this year. According to Ruben Kochar, this is
a historical event because it is the first time that “HyeFilm” is
making a film in the far corner of the world-Hollywood and most of the
work is being done there. Filming has been done thanks to Ruben
Kochar’s “Arpi” television network in the U.S.A.
As for the expenses made on the film, he said: “If I tell you how much
money is being spent on the film, then I will be like the rest of the
people that lie and do not give a real price. I can only say that
taping one scene a day on the streets of Los Angeles costs $38,000
dollars, and that is just part of the expenses made to the state. In
order to tape a scene there, the roads must be closed, the police
officers must control the area, fire trucks and ambulances need to be
on the site. Besides that, there is a special organization there that
closes all the roads.”