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WHAT IS THE SHOW?
NEVER SAY NYET is a faux documentary comedy about ANYA, a Russian actress living in LA, and is loosely based on Anya's real life. Tired of being typecast as a Russian stripper in movies such as "Stripzilla" and "Mr. Smith Goes To Hooters," Anya decides to become pro-active and create a web series about Russian Culture.
She teams up with a director, MARTY, a nerdy, self-proclaimed genius whose one claim to fame is a fifteen second YouTube video called "Dog Farting." She also joined by VIKTOR, her devil-may-care, ethically-challenged cousin, newly arrived from Russia. Together they will stumble their way to a successful show.
In the first season Marty suggests to film Anya naked in the bathtub, motivating it by a guaranteed success and a promise of millions of hits. It becomes a question of integrity vs. compromise... How will Anya answer the challenge?
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WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
This project is very personal to me (Anya) in fact it's about me, at least a fictionalized version. There are so many issues I'd like to address with this project and I hope to contribute to resolving them.
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CULTURAL STEREOTYPES - It seems in today's media Russian women can only play hookers, strippers, or if they're lucky, spies. Sure, it affects me as an actress, but I think it has broader implications for all the Russians living in this country. It helps perpetuate stereotypes. And while they often have an element of truth stereotypes don't represent the whole truth. This is something ANY foreigner can relate to. In Never Say Nyet, which examines the life of someone caught between two cultures, I'd like to both joke about these stereotypes and provide another, more healthy, perspective.
- WOMEN IN FILM - The issues of female underrepresentation, gender inequality, sexualization.
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Hollywood remains stuck in its gender bias and we need more female driven stories being told, more empowering leading roles to counter the status quo. More on it in this article: https://www.nyfa.edu/film-school-blog/gender-inequality-in-film/
- INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING - more and more people are tired of re-makes, sequels, prequels and mindless formulated stories. I believe there are those who crave fresh content, want to be genuinely surprised, moved and inspired by stories they can relate to. By producing independently we retain full creative control and are able to tell exactly the story we set out to tell, the way we wanted to tell it.
There are more things that our series touches upon and we believe that comedy is the most effective way of communication, so get ready, it's gonna get bumpy :)
WHAT IS THE GOAL?
We are psyched about the quality of our pilot! And we want the rest of the season to be just as awesome. So we need to raise 600,000 rubles (well, actually $12,000) to shoot and edit the remaining episodes. And then let the whole world (including Russia) see it on our American website: www.neversaynyet.com
And when the series have proven to be a huuuuge success and we've turned our audience into a small army of proficient shot drinkers, we will pitch the show to TV networks. So you may end up being a part of a new TV show :)
NEVER SAY NYET TEAM![]()
Anya Avaeva (Co-Creator/Star)![]()
Allen Glazier (Co-Creator/Writer)
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Michael Cotter (Marty)
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Zack Sayenko (Viktor)
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WHAT WILL YOUR MONEY PAY FOR?
A year supply of vodka! JUST KIDDING!!! ...I prefer wine :) ...no, but seriously!
Everything we've done so far has been a product of many months of developing, honing, preparation and a miracle of favors. We've shot the pilot in two days thanks to the efforts of a small but dedicated cast and crew who donated their time and resources and only got paid with home-cooked Russian meals. And yes, some vodka shots. Na zdorovie! We paid for the expenses ourselves with the help of some generous donations from close friends and family. Now we are raising funds to cover 10 days of production so we could pay our cast and crew, rent equipment, locations, get permits, insurance and food, as well as the post production.
A portion of the funds will also go towards the fees to Indiegogo, film festival submissions and cost of perks and their shipping to YOU! So check out the OhMyGoodness below and grab the one you like the most, some will be limited editions!
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WHAT WILL YOU GET IN RETURN?
Holy goody bags! Here are just some of the mentioned rewards.
Anya's Recipe for Borscht
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Final hours contributors of $25 or more will get this signed card along with other chosen perks!
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Playboy Bunny Special
Saying Nyet has just gotten that much harder. Become one of the very few people out there to own a signed photo of a real Playboy Bunny and our newest cast member Irina Voronina.
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Ask Anya
Never Say Nyet is proud to present a new feature on our website: "Ask Anya". Anya will provide a video response to select questions submitted by fans of the show. As a special perk during this campaign, anyone who contributes $50 or more can ask any question they want and it will definitely be answered ;)
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Airsofter Specials:
I thought I'd create something Special just for you guys :) (although anyone can get this reward).
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Simpsons Fan Special
We are willing to part with these for the Cause! Only 2 available!
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Professional Photoshoot Special
Check out the samples of our Photo Artist Vofka: https://www.facebook.com/vofkagrafia?fref=ts
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Co-Producer!
Along with other great rewards you will have a professional photoshoot with the cast and a POSTER MADE JUST FOR YOU by our Photo Artist Vofka. Her's some samples of his editorial work.
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So that's
Never Say Nyet. We've finished the pilot and lined up our season, but we need your help to get it made. We hope you'll join us, Thanks!
Risks & Challenges
There are always risks and challenges with every creative project, but we are fully capable of handling them through completion of this project.
That said, our biggest challenges will be working with the schedules of all of the talented people in our cast and crew and getting access to some of our shooting locations.
As a team we have already successfully shot and edited the pilot despite some setbacks we encountered on the way. And we feel that we will continue to be resourceful and resilient in the face of any and all challenges in the future.
