Natalia Machenene
Producer, mentor, scriptwriter

Born and lives in Tallinn, Estonia.

Practical work experience in the Arts field — more than 30 years.
Production experience — 25 years.
Produced 22 plays.

KinoFF-2022 Film Program Manager 
Project curator «OBJEKT: shorts» and «Multimedia Day for kids»

My main principle in work — once an idea is in your head, just go and do it!

I almost don’t have any unrealised projects, only maybe some unrealised ideas. But  once the project is in pre-production, there is no way back.  Sooner or later, one way or another, but the project will be fully realised.

A while ago, I felt burnt out after 20 years of working mainly for theatre. I started to look  for something more challenging and interesting. Now, my new passion lies in writing books, scripts and plays; creating audio-visual productions and helping novice producers.

Graduated from The British Open University (2001).

Studied

— “How to tell a strong story?” (2020, course author M. Shishkin, Moscow)
— «Psychology in Cinema» (2020, course author T. Salakhieva-Talal, Moscow)
— Scriptwriting and Storytelling Course (2018-2019, course author Lily Kim, WGA West)
— Scriptwriting Course (2018, Film School “Bullfinches”, Moscow),
— Film Directing and “The theory of light at cinema”  course (2017, A. Mitt’s Film School, Moscow)
— Art Management Course (2003, “Interstudio”, St. Petersburg)

Some projects

— Short film S77 based on A. Yakobson’s fairy tale Death works as a blacksmith (screenwriter, director, 2022) 

— Immersivne show Mom, Dad, I’m gone (writer, producer, Premiere: September 9, 2022)

— Immersive performance-journey Edge (writer, producer, Premiere: May 20, 2022)

— Animated film Tiidu the Musician based on the fairy tale by F. R. Kreutzwald (producer, 2021) 

— Audio books Estonian Fairy tales and Finno-Ugric fairy tales (2021, creative producer)

— Immersive performance Breathing Slow (playwright and producer, 2021) 

— Screenwriter and co-producer of the Tekhnolik children’s program (ETV+ channel, Estonia, 2016-2021)

— Producer of the full-length documentary film Pärnu Elegies (director Nadja Girich, Tallinn, 2020)
Premiere: December 14, 2020
Premiere on the ETV+ channel: December 25, 2020

— Writer, director, and producer of the short film The Victim (Tallinn, 2020)
Premiere: 18 November 2020, PÖFF Shorts Festival, National Film Competition category (Tallinn)

— Screenwriter, director, and producer of the short film Loved (Tallinn, 2019)
Premiere: September 9, 2019

— Producer of video art Elegy (director Eduard Tee, 2020)

— Producer of the animated film The Choice (director Alexandra Shadrina, Tallinn, 2018)

— Producer of the online school Talented Thinking (2014-2017) 

— Author of the idea and producer of the documentary project Russians, as they are… (director Julia Aug, Tallinn, 2012)

— Producer of the pilot series These Russians (director Julia Aug, Tallinn, 2012)

— Creator, producer, co-director of theatre company called Another Theatre (Tallinn, 2001 — 2007).

The company produced 12 shows based on contemporary plays and performed them 160 times; organized and held projects like Another Sound, Another Cinema, and the international festival Another Format. The company was among the first ones to stage plays by Yuri Klavdiev, Presnyakov Brothers, Martin McDonagh (in Russian) and many others.

Administrative work:
— in the Russian Theatre (Tallinn) as director’s assistant and as a head of the marketing department (1985-2001)
— as a director of the film company «In Motion» (Moscow, 2007-2009)

Mentored:
— Promotional company Miristina Production Group (Tallinn, 2011-2020)
— Animation studio Creative Space (Tallinn, 2018-… )

Другой опыт:

Additional Practice:

— Extensive experience in organizing international festivals, premieres, tours, negotiating with sponsors, writing projects, and receiving funding from cultural funds. 

— Author of online courses for beginners and professionals in art management and production (Tallinn, 2014 — …).

— Author of the course “Marketing for non-profit organizations” commissioned by the Integration and Migration Foundation for Associations of National Minorities In Estonia. (Tallinn, 2019)

— Author of the course for non-profit associations “From strategy to promotion” commissioned by the Foundation for Integration and Migration (Tallinn, 2017)

— Author of the course on producing audio-visual products «Basics of Producing» for the television channel ETV + (Estonia, 2015) 

— Mentor of the First Multimedia Marathon (Tallinn, 2015).

— Participant of the International Conference «Art — Dialogue of Cultures» (November, Grozny, Russia, 2015)

Interview «I am my own producer» in the national newspaper Postimees (Estonia, 2015)