So grateful and humbled to have our project selected for the Red Sea Series Lab.
Endless thanks to Film Independent and the Red Sea Film Foundation — it’s incredible to see how our pilot evolved from a rough first draft into something much sharper and more vibrant, and continues to grow under the guidance of amazing industry mentors.
It’s a true privilege to be part of a global community of storytellers and to share voices from our home region of Central Asia through drama.
See you at the pitching sessions in early December.
Wishing everyone a great November! 🍀
The journey continues.
#flyweightsdrama #tvdrama #series #redseafilmfoundation #filmindependent #Kazakhstan #womenboxing
Усейте посмотреть @sasyq_film в избранных кинотеатрах.
Дебютный фильм талантливого и доброго @erden_telemisov .
Наша студия работала над созданием Full Body MakeUp пришельца , которого воплотил своей игрой неподражаемый @chingizkapin .
Над образом трудились @yuliya_levi_@dab3r@mitskevich_ev и @dis45 .
И как раз часть кропотливого процесса создания Аниматронической реальной подсветки пришельца, воплощенной волшебником Диасом Шибановым вы можете увидеть в рилсе.
Ставьте лайки, комментируйте, это нам очень ценно!
#fxmakeup #спецгрим #киноказахстана #specialeffects #fullbodymakeup #creaturedesign #monstermakers foam latex @monstermakersus
С Днем Рождения, дорогой брат!
Диас - ты умнее, сильнее и талантливее меня.
Ты очень крутой кинооператор и автор.
С нетерпением жду встречи, чтобы посмеяться вместе и создать что-то еще более смелое, новое, яркое.
Продолжай сиять!
🫶🏼
P.S. Кстати на фото в ленте Диас с Другим сегодняшним именинником, оператором так любимых нами фильмов. Угадайте с кем🙃
———✨
Happy Birthday, my dear brother!
Dias, you’re smarter, stronger, and more talented than me. You’re an incredible cinematographer and artist.
I can’t wait to see you — to laugh together and create something even bolder, newer, and brighter.
Keep shining!
P.S. By the way, in the photo in the feed, Dias is with another birthday person today — the cinematographer of films we both love. Guess who it is 😉
Don’t miss!!!✨
Неожиданно в Алматы совсем на короткий срок!
Если кто-то думал или даже хотел заказать что-то для спецгрима и практических эффектов - поспешите!
#fxmakeup #спецгрим #киноказахстана #sfx #safeglass
A story about how thoughts materialize.
Yuliya and I are arguing at a workshop in Los Angeles.
We’re staying at a nice hotel in West Hollywood, attending workshops by the wonderful Film Independent.
But I’m stuck — I can’t answer a simple question Yulia keeps asking me: how do I actually see the coach in our series Flyweights?
So Yuliya decides to show me an interview with Johnny Depp. We press play. He lights a cigarette during the interview — already unexpected. And then he starts talking about his upbringing, about the demons he fought while growing up. I start to really sink into him as a character. He’s contradictory, complex, fascinating. Someone who is fighting — or maybe has already overcome — his addictions.
And suddenly it clicks. This is a 100% match with how I felt the coach should be, but couldn’t put into words. His approach to work. The idea that you sometimes need to push things a bit too far, risk being unorthodox or even excessive — and only later pull back if needed. Not safe. Not banal.
Fast forward to Jeddah. The pitching is already over, it’s the night before the final day. Besides a chat about a meeting with Darren Aronofsky, I get added to another group with this message:
“Want even more inspiration?! You’re invited to a closed meeting with Johnny Depp!”
Wooooow.
And he didn’t disappoint. We waited for him like a real rock star — almost an hour 🙃
He walked in wearing boots and a jacket covered in paint. He told us how he ended up in Pirates of the Caribbean because his daughter was two years old at the time. How the executives didn’t understand the character at all at first — but audiences loved it. And that’s how Jack Sparrow, this now-iconic character, became part of film history.
Sitting next to Yuliya — who had just shown me that interview with Johnny Depp — and now listening to him live… that was wow.
Endless gratitude to Red Sea Series Lab, Film Independent, and to my mom — for bringing us into cinema in the first place.
❤️ from 2025 to 2026: About screenwriting’s synchronism and magic ✨.
During the fall block of the scriptwriting Lab in Los Angeles, I showed @dab3r one of Johnny Depp’s interviews to inspire him while developing a character for our series "Flyweights" #flyweightsseries. And just a couple of months later, in Jeddah, a small group of Red Sea Labs participants and I listened to Johnny Depp himself — live🔥🔥🔥 — and even asked him about working in SFXmakeup.
Isn’t that magic and wonder?! I’d say, yes!
I’m grateful that such fantastic moments happen thanks to my favorite craft — screenwriting. Red Sea Film @redseafilm and Film Independent @filmindependent are true magicians for filmmakers!
#screenwritinglife #magicwork
I plan to bring some of that same magic and wonder to the updated Criss-Cross Lab very soon!
P.S. He is a truly deep, warm and touching man. It's as if we've known each other for a long time. I will never forget Johnny's cheerful, warm reaction when he heard that I was Eldar's mother and co-author 😂😂😂
Sharing experience is one of the most human and beautiful things we can do.
The past year was full of meetings with amazing showrunners and brilliant screenwriters — as well as directors and producers. I learned a lot and levelled up in a big way. Thank you all 🙏
One quote — or rather, one rule — from one of our mentors at the Red Sea Series Lab really stayed with me.
Cord Jefferson, the writer of American Fiction — a film that is funny, heartbreaking, and painfully precise.
“I don’t believe writer’s block exists. A carpenter doesn’t have a ‘carpenters block.’ A plumber doesn’t have a ‘plumbers block.’ They just show up and do their job every day.
It’s the same with writing. You sit down and you write. Whether it’s good or bad — that’s the job. You write every day.”
Going into 2026, besides writing, reading and shooting more, I feel it’s just as important to give something back and share what I’ve learned.
And that made me remember: I used to run a director’s video diary on YouTube.
What do you think — should I bring it back? Maybe even expand it into a screenwriter’s daily life in London?
The Great Adventure of a Fading Year.
This spring, my series project Flyweights, about the women’s Olympic boxing team, was selected for the Red Sea Series Labs, run by the Red Sea International Film Festival in partnership with Film Independent.
Both of these institutions do so much to support independent filmmakers from all over the world. It’s been a real privilege to be part of this journey and to spend eight months developing not only the project, but myself as a storyteller — through workshops and masterclasses with truly inspiring mentors.
Huge thanks to everyone involved for everything you do for contemporary cinema.
Dec 28 Happy International Cinema Day
I am endlessly grateful for the joy of working with true magicians who create new worlds through the power of their will and imagination.
Sending hugs to everyone, and wishing you all the best of luck in the year ahead.
How a Darren Aronofsky Film Helped Me Truly See My Brother
On the eve of the closing of the Souk film market at the @redseafilm , I received a WhatsApp message:
“Want to get even more inspired?
You’re invited to an exclusive meeting with Darren Aronofsky!
You’ll be able to ask questions and talk about your projects.”
Wow.
The next morning, we were sitting in the Red Sea Labs pavilion and were invited into a small room.
Comfortable chairs were arranged in a circle.
And then one of the coolest filmmakers of our time walked in.
There were many insights during the meeting — especially about the importance of experimenting with and exploring AI. Darren showed a fun Muppets-style video made of fragments from his films.
But the biggest insight came when I suddenly remembered that The Fountain was also directed by Darren Aronofsky.
Watching that film once completely changed how I saw my brother, Dias.
2006.
I was 19.
Dias was 13.
We were at the Tselinny cinema, choosing a movie to watch. Hugh Jackman was in the cast — so we chose The Fountain.
The film began, and it turned out to be deeply philosophical: about life and death, love, and destiny. I felt like I understood all of it and watched very attentively.
We walked out of the cinema in silence.
Then we walked home.
I found the film fascinating, and I remember thinking: I feel sorry for Dias — this annoying little brother who’s always bothering me. He definitely didn’t understand any of it.
And then we started talking about the film.
And it turned out my little brother understood everything. Maybe even more than I did.
We talked all the way home, discussing philosophy.
That’s how, thanks to The Fountain, I realized that this annoying little brother — who I thought had been ruining my life — was actually a deep and interesting person.
Luv u, brother. @dis45
And huge thanks to Red Sea Labs for this magical experience.
