ABSTRACT
The cutback in Soviet film production cannot, as the trades unions have already pointed out, be allowed to happen. On the contrary: film production must be given the immediate financial support it needs during the next few weeks or the production season will be lost once and for all. Similarly we must complete as soon as possible the reorganisation of the film industry and the merger of production and distribution that we have already embarked upon. Lastly, in production itself we must take every possible measure to avoid a cutback in production and the dispersal of the qualified workforce. To achieve this we must make every effort to reduce the cost of Soviet films. For precisely 500,000 roubles we can make either five 'hits' for 100,000 roubles
each or twenty-five good 'middling' films for 20,000 roubles each. It is that second path that Soviet cinema must take now. In the last season in the activity of that very same Proletkino we find examples of failed hits such as Mabul, which cost 225,000 roubles or Lena Gold (70,000 roubles) while the only really successful Proletkino films for that season, The Great Flight and Who Whom?, cost 12,500 and 6,000 roubles respectively. Another example: Abortion, which made a profit of over 100,000 roubles, cost 7,000 roubles overall. At the present time the most important step is to produce the cheap films we need. If we do that, it will not be difficult to find the funds and the actual quality of the films will not suffer; we shall stop only the dear 'spectacular' films such as the adaptations of the classics, etc. The greatest attention will be given to themes that reflect our everyday life, the reality that surrounds us and that give us the opportunity to make broad use of exteriors.
