and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a busy man. Working in Moscow he has found a way around social distancing restrictions and is currently working on two films: the World War 2 drama  V2 Escape From Hell and R#J the upcoming Generation Z adaptation of Romeo and Juliet using computers and extensive VFX.

normal’>Night Watch and Day Watch reshaped the genre landscape a decade ago) but he is also an irrepressible technological innovator. His Bazelev Studios, headquartered in Moscow and West Hollywood, have pioneered feature and commercial techniques, most notable with the development of ScreenLife, the screen visualization technology which was used in films like Aneesh Chaganty’s Searching and Levan Gabriadze Unfriended – both dramas in which the story is told entirely with imagery that appears on computer and phone screens. Bekmambetov himself produced a film about Jihadist recruitment of Western girls, – Profile – using this same software. It premiered as South by Southwest in 2018.

Tales From The Quarantine.

ScreenLife, naturally.

Director Timur Bekmambetov

Alexander DemianchukTASS via Getty Images

"Times New Roman";color:#222222’>How are you coping with the quarantine?

"Times New Roman";color:#222222;mso-bidi-font-style:italic’>From what we can see the sound and visual quality are excellent. And it is easy to use, even for someone who is technology illiterate.

Unfriended, I realized that – modestly put- this technology is ahead of its time. It was all about our online life that is audio and video recorded. Because of isolation, we all now turn toward technology and time caught up with this technology so to speak.

"Times New Roman";color:#222222’>How would you describe the ScreenLife format in a few words?

"Times New Roman";color:#222222’>Can you please talk about the contest in which you launched, Tales From The Quarantine?

  In fact, I am looking for new talented people who are interested in expressing themselves on screen. I already have about 30 scripts for 3-5 minutes shorts. The new film will be made based on 10 best scripts on a budget of $10,000 each that was submitted on website screenlifer.com. It’s important for human beings to learn how to humanize computer space. I think the only way to do this by using our experience of telling stories on screen.

"Times New Roman";color:#222222;mso-bidi-font-style:italic’>What are your plans for the near future?