A series starring the President of Ukraine increases global interest

Different countries buy the rights to the comedy series “Sluga naroda” (“Servant of the People”) starring the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky In the role of the President of Ukraine.

In 2015 then actor and comedian Zelenskyy played Vasily Petrovich Goloborodko, A high school teacher has jumped to the presidency after a video clip made by a student went viral showing exposing official corruption in Ukraine.

Goloborodko set himself the goal of ruling the country while avoiding the privileges of driving by maintaining his normal way of life.

The series was a huge success in Ukraine, where it ran for three seasons and had a spin-off, and interest in the series has now taken on new dimensions since Zelensky became the face of the nation as it resisted Russian attacks.

Since its launch, Eccho Rights has distributed the software, Produced by Zelenskyy’s Studio Kvartel 95. The company’s partner, Nicola Soderlund, said sales have risen sharply in recent days, describing interest in the show as “exceptional.”

“It’s really a very old show,” he explained. “But, of course, under the circumstances, it turns out to be very, very, very interesting for everyone.”

Channel 4 announced that it has “servant of the people” rights in Britain and plans to broadcast Sunday’s episode alongside the current affairs program on Zelensky. Eccho Rights has also reported deals with MBC in the Middle East, Greek ANT 1, Romanian PRO TV, as well as radio stations in Bulgaria, Moldova, Estonia, France, Finland and Georgia.

“People are surprised that a comedian can be a politician, but he was,” Soderlund said. “His abilities to send persuasive messages to people, which you would if you were a TV presenter, helped him a lot in becoming a politician.”

Eccho Rights donated €50,000 to the Ukrainian Red Cross, a number that Söderlund says should match the money they made selling the series. The company has also removed any Russian or Russian software from its catalog.

Söderlund met Zelenskyy in 2012 when they put together one of his comedy shows called “Crack Them Up” where ordinary people had to make comedians laugh. The ‘Sluja Naruda’ hypothesis immediately caught his attention.

Zelensky used the humor of an ordinary man in a corrupt society who cycles to the presidential palace, refuses to raise and lives at home with his mother. “That was the idea, and I loved it,” Soderlund said.

Sluga naroda won Best Series at the Teletriumph Awards in Ukraine as well as the Gold Remi Award for Television Comedy at the 2016 WorldFest in Houston.