Silver Skates is a Russian epic romantic adventure film. The 20^thFor producer Petr Anurov, the source of inspiration for Silver Skates was the book of the same name by the Dutch American writer Mary Mapes Dodge. It is the feature film debut for director Michael Lockshin, who has previously directed shorts and commercial advertising. Lockshin won the Young Director’s Award at Cannes in 2011 with his advertising campaign for Eristoff Vodka. He grew up in both the USA and Russia and has merged his cinematic passions from both worlds in his filmmaking.
Relatively unknown actors were cast in the main roles of the film: this is the first major feature for actors Fedor Fedotov and Sofya Priss, both from Saint Petersburg. The actors were required to go through sports training for the figure skating demands of their roles. Fedotov had been playing ice hockey from the age of three but had to learn the different skating styles during three months of intensive training. The film also involved professional skaters and stunt workers.
Silver Skates was chosen as the opening film of the 42^nd Silver Skates is the first Russian film to be released on the platform in the Netflix Originals category.