– The idea to shoot «The Ellen DeGeneres Show» in Ukraine, and to do it with Olga Freymut came to me back in 2012, when it became clear that the format «Reviser» was successful, and there was a need to develop further, – says Victoria Burdukova, director of the creative association. – But then there was no time, and then Olya went to work on another channel altogether. When she returned, I thought it was time to implement this idea, and revived old recordings and developments.
Understanding that Ukraine is interested in their format, the first thing Warner Bros. did was to request a dossier on the host. By requirement, she must be popular and ambiguous, evoke a different range of emotions – from adoration to hatred.
– This is a challenge for me, – says Olga Freymut. – After years of revisions, meticulous checks and associations of my name with inhuman cleanliness... to take on a new entertainment format – it's a dare... And also «Show Ellen Degeneres»! It's so well done that everyone has already copied it, and not only in Ukraine. We, together with Victoria Burdukova and Anna Zhizheya, deliberately flew to Hollywood. And Ellen herself and the creators of the program gave us a secret recipe...
For the first time, the formatters met personally with Olga Freymut and the entire Ukrainian creative group in Los Angeles, in the pavilion of «The Ellen DeGeneres Show». For three days, the New Channel team watched the filming process and learned from the experience. Olga Freymut, fluent in English, was able to easily and naturally connect with the creators of the project. She was very well received by both the show's producers and Ellen herself.
– For me, the new «Olya» is an opportunity to work with those who I want to hug and rejoice like a little child, – admits Freymut. – Victoria and Anna are professional and daring accomplices, because the most important thing is that we are already close people. Without them, I would not have dared to agree to such a project. Now everyone is taking on expensive evening shows, where the presenters shine with slick hair, an orchestra tinkles behind them, and Oleg Vinnik is a must-have guest... And we will have that too. However, the priority will not be the scenery and the honored stars, but the ease and openness of the interlocutors. Surprise. Kindness. Spontaneity. And self-irony.
It was also important for Warner Bros. that the Ukrainian adaptation of the daily «The Ellen DeGeneres Show» was relevant and quickly responded to what was happening. Therefore, New Channel will work according to the American scheme: shot today, on air tomorrow.
– We initially planned to shoot the entire season in advance over several studio sessions, and then sit and calmly edit it, – says Victoria Burdukova. – But Warner Bros. insisted that the show should be relevant, that it is its «engine». In general, if Alekseev performs a luxurious number with a crane at the M1 awards today, then he should be sitting in our studio the next day. After thinking and being a little afraid, we agreed...
Guests of the talk show will include both stars of television, film, music, and ordinary people with unique talents and interesting life stories. The host will interview, scare, play games with them – all like in the original show. The audience in the studio is also involved: the principled position of the creative group is to invite only fans of the show to the hall, and not extras, as in most other formats.
The talk show involves many sections, and one of them is «Haters, I love you!» The host comes to her hater, gets acquainted and forgives him for the offensive comment. Olga Freymut has already visited several with the film crew. This caused an active resonance on social networks, which was joined by stars and politicians.
– At first I doubted whether we could do such a large-scale work almost non-stop, – says Victoria Burdukova. – But the brilliant director and producer Oleg Bodnarchuk, who helped us a lot with the filming of the pilot, convinced me and the executive producer of the project Max Pastukhov.
The actual-entertainment show «Olya» will appear on the New Channel in the fall of this year.