Vladimir Todorov has been named the producer for Okko’s documentary content, according to the company’s press service. He will balance this new role with his duties as editor-in-chief at Lenta.ru and as the media development director at Rambler&Co. The announcement signals a strategic expansion for Okko into serialized documentary storytelling, leveraging Todorov’s cross-platform experience across major Russian media outlets. These simultaneous positions underscore a commitment to high-caliber nonfiction that can stand alongside feature films and television series in terms of reach and impact.
Okko’s forthcoming slate includes a multi-part documentary exploring the criminal underworld of the 1990s and a separate project focusing on cybersecurity, designed to complement Yuri Bykov’s feature series “Dashing.” The diversification reflects a broader industry trend toward immersive, issue-driven nonfiction that resonates with contemporary audiences who crave context, insight, and vivid storytelling.
Todorov emphasizes that the goal of Okko’s documentary work is to engage viewers with content that is as compelling as the company’s fiction. He notes that achieving this involves competing at the highest levels of storytelling, dramaturgy, pacing, and visual craft, as well as offering depth in archival material and character portrayal. The approach seeks to translate complex realities into accessible, emotionally resonant experiences for a broad audience, not merely presenting facts but shaping them into meaningful narratives.
According to Todorov, the team will explore a genuinely fresh semantic and visual language for each project. He describes a process that asks: how should the story be told, which visual strategies best serve the narrative, and what role will archives and real-life subjects play in developing authenticity? The plan includes a mix of imaginative and experimental techniques, ranging from non-linear storytelling and artistic reconstructions to motion graphics and the considered incorporation of artificial intelligence tools for research, editing, and visual design. This breadth of technique is intended to push the boundaries of documentary form while maintaining clear, human-centered storytelling.
He affirms that these methods will be deployed with the aim of making every Okko documentary project a consequential event for viewers, one that lingers beyond the screen and invites discussion, reflection, and deeper understanding. The objective is not simply to inform but to create a shared experience that sparks curiosity and dialogue around the depicted subjects and eras.
Gavriil Gordeev, the general producer of Okko, adds that online cinema audiences today place high value on originality. He highlights the desire among viewers to broaden their horizons and acquire new knowledge by watching. In his view, documentary content serves not only as entertainment but also as education, offering practical insights and contextual depth that enrich the storytelling universe of Okko’s broader catalog. Documentation, he explains, can also support and illuminate fictional worlds by expanding audiences’ familiarity with the milieu, history, and characters that populate those works. The result is a more immersive, interconnected experience for fans and newcomers alike, reinforcing Okko’s position as a curator of distinctive audiovisual experiences in the digital age. (Source: Okko press release attribution.)