#18 | September 25 - October 8, 1997  

"Mickey" Chubais: looking for co-stars?

How strong is the Western press's affinity for the "young reformer" team headed by Anatoly Chubais? We at the eXile decided to find out. We created an interesting proposition for Western bureaus: if a movie heralding the rise of Chubais to the top were to be made, would they agree to allow the director to use their offices as a set for the movie? We didn't think anyone would, but it was worth a try-and with the reporters in this town, you can't rule anything out.

The pitch went as follows: we were calling on behalf of Andrei Konchalevsky, the famous Russian director and brother of Oscar-winner Nikita Mikhailkov. Konchalevsky, we said, was planning on making a film called Dawn of a New Era, which told the story of the triumph of economic reform in the post-communist era-specifically the economic reform of the "St. Petersburg team," as Yegor Gaidar and Chubais and their cronies were known. The story was absurd to begin with, of course: the director of Tango and Cash was hardly likely to shoot a major motion picture about the triumph of Chubais's reforms. Still, we thought there was a chance someone might buy it.

Our first target, naturally, was the Moscow Times. At the distressing news that interim editor Geoff Winestock was on vacation, we were referred first to Independent Media executive Francesca Faziolo, and then, when she was out, to the Big Gouda himself-Derk Sauer, president of the company. After a series of communications with Sauer's secretary, our operative, one "Maria Karma," finally got Sauer on the phone:

eXile: Hello, my name is Maria Karma. I work with a film group headed by director Andrei Konchalevsky.
Sauer: Yes, I heard that you'd called.
eXile: What I wanted to ask you was...I wanted to offer to cooperate. We're making a film about post-communist Russia, a sort of history of the triumph of ecnonomic reform, the ones instituted by the St. Petersburg group, you know, Chubais and Gaidar, etc. And we wanted to use the news office at the Moscow Times to shoot a scene, you know...
Sauer: Uh-huh. Well, I don't think there's going to be any problem. I've already spoken with the people at the newsroom, and there shouldn't be a problem. You need to speak with Ken Olsen.
eXile: Ken Olsen?
Sauer: Right.
eXile: Okay, well...you know, we also wanted to propose-would you like personally to participate in the film?
Sauer: Participate? Well, I don't know, I don't know how much money we have right now, so I...
eXile: No, I mean, we're looking for English-speaking actors, and we thought that you might want to be involved. As a public figure, I mean.
Sauer: (laughing) God, I don't know. I'd have to think about it. How soon do you need to know?
eXile: Well, we're not shooting for another two months, but we'll need to know soon. I'll call you back, okay?
Sauer: Sure, call me back.
eXile: Okay, goodbye, then!

That was an encouraging start. Before we called Olsen, we decided to call around the city to gauge interest in the project. Maybe, we thought, we could even start a bidding war.

We called the New York Times first and were disappointed to learn that Bureau chief Michael Specter was out of town; we then suffered the directorial disappointment of being unable to reach the Wall Street Journal (no answer for days-do those guys work over there?). We tried Reuters and a few other agencies and got no reaction, but then, finally, we had a funny exchange with the Washington Post:

eXile: You see, we're making a movie about post-communist Russia, sort of about the triumph of Chubais's reforms, and we'd like to use your office to shoot a scene.
Post: Have you tried the New York Times?
eXile: Why?
Post: I think their offices would be more appropriate.

We called around some more, until we finally returned to Olsen, who lived up to his reputation as the most human representative of the Moscow Times management by balking at our pitch:

eXile: What we had in mind was a scene where...do you remember last year, during the Presidential elections, when Korzhakov got fired?
Olsen: Sure.
eXile: Well, and Chubais got up and gave a press conference in the Radisson...
Olsen: Yes.
eXile: Well, we wanted to shoot a scene where all of your reporters are in the newsroom, watching the press conference on television, and everybody is sort of cheering, saying, "Hey, isn't it great that Chubais is back?" and that sort of thing.
Olsen: (laughs) Well, I don't know about that...We're trying to be objective here-I think that would project the wrong image. I'd have to ask the management if that's okay...
eXile: Okay, well, we'll call you back...

At least somebody in this city has standards...