PHOTOS courtesy Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center and Museum.
New York, NY, USA — Persona Films and sister company Twitch Post spent almost three years developing all media design and film production aspects for the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center and Museum, which opened its doors in Yekaterinburg, Russia on November 25th. The museum’s grand opening celebration was attended by President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and several high-profile Russian political, business and cultural leaders.
For this historic project, Persona’s team traveled the globe to shoot 133 exclusive interviews with political and cultural leaders, many of whom rarely speak in public, licensed footage from over 100 archival sources, and produced 163 media and interactive programs.
The BYPC tells the story of Russia’s first president Boris Yeltsin, and the decade from 1990 until 2000 that changed the course of Russia’s history. The fall of the Soviet Union, the development of a market economy, the advance of independent mass media, and thriving relationships with the West are brought to life through Persona’s documentary narratives, immersive installations and interactive experiential programs.
According to Abigail Honor, co-owner of Persona Films and Twitch Post and CEO of their parent company Lorem Ipsum Corp:
“The variety of the types of media in the museum really attracted us to this project. We were able to flex our creative muscles on large canvases 30 feet by 15 feet tall, huge columns, and 3D surfaces. We also had a chance to interview historic figures who have never been interviewed before and include them in a museum which would be the epitome of the 1990-s in Russia. We fell in love with the unique angle the museum takes, a personal one, on Boris Yeltsin. Our documentary storytelling background could come to the forefront as we heard unique stories about Yeltsin the man and were able to work with rare family footage.
“The biggest challenge was the sheer number of media pieces and the depth of the content within the interactive programs. We produced a thorough look at topics ranging from culture in the 1990-s to Russia’s international relations, and the content had to be factual and entertaining at the same time.
“Personally, I find the media program in the Freedom Gallery most exciting. This program enables a museum visitor to record their feelings on freedom and its importance or their memories of Yeltsin and have the recording inserted into the existing media program where world leaders including Bill Clinton and Tony Blair discuss the same topics. I think this is unique and a wonderful use of technology to support freedom of speech.”