Thank you for confirming your presence at the party, you are on our guest list. We truly appreciate your enthusiasm and can’t wait to see you at our party!“

I get this email аt the beginning of the summer and on the Saturday evening precised I pass the entrance of Nu Boyana and I turn to the right on my way to Stage 2. It is near the New York set. Nice young guys meet me at various stages and show me the way to the hall where the party guests gather. I am invited to choose an outfit from Nu Boyana’s wardrobe and I change to the glitter style of the evening.

Here I am couple of minutes later wearing a golden dress and cowboy suede boots. Girls and boys in their twenties bustle around choosing clothes from the props and changing. It is like we will be out on the stage of a glamourous cabaret any minute. It is a carnival mood. Loud and funny. And launching party for the reality RUNWAY REELS Fashion on Film begins. I would leave it in the wee hours of the next day. The party is in orbit! Boogie Nights is the first night of filming. The reality ended in September with a massive fashion show.

RUNWAY REELS Fashion on Film

„RUNWAY REELS Fashion on Film is a show, structured around the question – what does a models do after age 25, – says Yariv Lerner, – how is it possible to continue their career. Since the models have mastered the art to pose and be in front of the camera, the cinema is an obvious choice for them. So our fashion reality Runway Reels Fashion on Film is about turning models into actors. It will be broadcast on a platform of Paramount Plus, which is launching a TV channel next year in Europe.

The creator of the show is our film Forge partner Piotr Rizov. He came up with concept, he reached out an Ukrainian team so we brought in all team of Ukraine that were not working at the time.

How did you choose the models?

We had an international casting online. We had zoom calls and interviewed them and then we selected initially those 53 contestants that came here to the studio. Out of those 53 we were supposed to only take 15 but we ended up taking 17. And the first episode was quite interesting because we had prepared houses and beds for 15 people. And it showed a lot of human nature and of the models as well. We eliminated tree of them so we get back to the number. And then each episode went to a certain photoshoot that we did – we started with a simple makeover where models were supposed to represend themselves by choosing clothes from the wardrobe of Nu Boyana. Next episodes were with different themes like The old Hollywood, the Marvels characters, Barbie. One was an underwater shoot. The challenges got progressively tougher until we got playing in a horror scene. Charles Anderson was directing.

How many episodes did you shoot and is there a winner?

Yes! We have a winner. I cannot tell his name because that’s gonna be giving away the whole show. He actually got a part in movie, that was the goal and he is filming now but I still cannot say the title of the movie. The other contestants are all part of the database of our agency for models and actors now – Forge management. We will work with them for our future projects

About the reality – we have 12 episodes. We shot 12 hours a day and we edited each one to be an hour long. It is up to the marketing team of the television to decide which 44 minutes would stay because 44 minutes is the duration of an episode.

The show’s Grand Finale was announced on a special event on September 9 – a grand fashionshow at the New York backlot, featuring Michele Morrone, Gims, Netta Barzilai and Papi Hans.

Yes, the outfits on the catwalk were by designers from Greece, Italy, Israel, from all of the World. We invited them and they also participated in the making of the reality show. During the fashion show we had buyers from Milan, who could contact the designers directly after the show.

At last year’s press conference, you announced that Nu Boyana would be working with the Disney Channel. Would you tell more about it?

We did two movies. One is “Young Woman in the Sea,” which gonna come out in 2024 around the Paris Olympics. The film is about the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 1920. She broke not only women’s but also men’s records up to that point. And this case helped the suffragette movement win the right for women to vote.

The other film will be broadcast on the Hulu channel, which is owned by Disney and it is the story of Rapunzel, waiting for her knight to rescue her, but he does not come and does not come. And in the end, she is forced to make her way alone, overcome obstacles, fight witches in order to escape. And as she exits the castle the knight comes up riding on a horse – I am here to save you. She sais – I don’t need you anymore.

I know! It happens in life as well. You said Netflix and Lucas Film were interested on filming in Bulgaria? Do you think it would be possible to have parks like Disneyland or the Park dedicated to Star Wars here?

Yes, it is quite possible. Disney as a company is keen on developing new areas where they come to. I don’t know if you know, but they own Marvel, Lucasfilm, ABC, Hulu. They are such a big company and they’re eager and willing to work in Bulgaria.

They’re just waiting for our infrastructure to be ready to receive them.

The law was made and approved by Parliament but it’s administration is a problem. We’re still working out with the oditors, the accountants and the lawyers on how that mechanism work. So this year we actually managed to get two projects approved out of six. There is a sort of like disconnect between the Ministry of Culture and the National Film Center on who enforces the law. So they have to figure out the mechanism. 

Do you have a Bulgarian passport?

Mhm. I am a Bulgarian citizen, since 2017. I’ve actually been here since 2011 and 2013 I moved permanently. I have an Israeli passport too, and a green card in the States.

Do you think AI would be a threat to the movie industry?

I believe you still need actual intelligence to operate artificial intelligence. AI is just a tool like the hammer, that replaced stones for primitive humans. This was not the end of their world. The point is to use it correctly for the good of humanity. I don’t agree with those who fear that machines will take over the world. They sounds a bit like Baba Vanga. Remember the 1997 Skynet Terminator movie?

Of course. Have you read Arnold Swarzenegger’s last book – “Be useful”? It is inspiring! People can learn a lot of it.

Is it good? And look at what he did with his life, his career, in politics, event being married to Maria Shriver – a Kennedy! Arnold is the exact reason why you shouldn’t scale down your dreams. I know him, we have worked a lot of times. He loves Bulgaria. He is very comfortable here.

He is probably a good example that one should not only dream big but work hard as well?

Exactly. And not to complain. Do you remember the heavy snow last Sunday? Two weeks later people were still complaining about the mayor asleep. Instead of being flexible and active. No matter how much you dream if you are not working on it your dream will never come true. And sometimes you dream, you achieve your dream and when you get it you realize it was not exactly you have wanted. Better take short-term goals every day and be flexible, focus on small victories rather than the ultimate goal. Let me ask you something. If you know for sure that there are aliens out there would that change anything for you?

Absolutely nothing.

So that’s the thing – like knowing something doesn’t change your day-to-day struggles. Important is to go through the day to day. And the knowledge is not enough. You can ask Google it will give you your answer. Awareness is everything. If you learn from your own mistakes you’re smart, learning from other people mistakes is to be wise.

You have worked since a kid with the biggest movie stars. Is there still a personality you would still love to meet and talk and work with?

Talking about that, recently I met Quentin Tarantino. He has always inspired me as a filmmaker but I never got to turn to meet him, to sit and talk. And you know I meet often people in real life where I think – Oh! They’re not the person I expected them to be. Because in the movies you worship them. When I sat down with Quentin I felt like he was the right person that I have imagined. He was just as enthusiastic. And he’s kind of teenager so I was really happy to meet him and talk.

Tarantino talks in his interviews about that his biggest inspiration were the movies he used to rent in the video shop he use to work when he was 17.

He was selling there the movies that my dad was making at the time like Delta force, American ninja. We were so excited because he had talked about how he would rent those movies to the people and how we make those movies and we were connected many years ago.

I expect you to say that he will be filming in Nu Boyana?

We have two projects that were discussing with him.

You know, Yariv, I was a child during communism, and stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Quentin Tarantino were aliens to me. It was quite possible that they existed, but it seemed improbable that I should ever be convinced of it.

I will answer you this way – If you ask a young Bulgarian kid – what do you want to be when you grow up. And he says I want to be an astronaut. Most likely the reaction of people here in Bulgaria would be – oh we don’t even have the Space Program. How do you think it is gonna happen? Scale down a bit. But if you ask an American kid – what do you want to be and the kid gives you the same answer – I want to be an Astranaute, in America they will say to him –  great! So you will find the way.

A lot of things are possible. We spoke about my Bulgarian passport earlier. Sometimes I get asked what’s it like to live in Bulgaria. Truth is I live in Boyana. Living in Boyana I meet people from all over the world – German, English, Spanish, Bulgarians of course. And it is so nice to see people from all of the world coming here to have fun, to enjoy.

When Samuel Jackson was here, he had such a good time, he enjoyed the cuisine, he took pictures of the local restaurants. So people from the movie world come here and experience the culture and then when they go back they, they are telling their friends – hey, you know, Bulgaria is a great place to be. And Ryan Reynolds was with his friends here and he enjoyed it very much.

In our previous interview you’ve said the best way for you to celebrate New Year is to sleep as much as possible. How will you celebrate this New year?

I hope to do the same but we’re having a big party here – The New Year’s Festival on seven stages in Nu Boyana. The set and studios will be open for the audience. There will be different style of music everywhere. Before that from December 14 till 30 the doors of Nu Boyana are open with “A Fairytale Christmas in New York”. There will be skating rink, evening concerts, daily fun for children, Christmas market.

You turn 50 this year, Yariv. What did you wish before blowing the candles? What do you dream about or what did you think you were grateful for?

When you’re six or seven your birthday is an exciting thing. When you’re 21 – as well, for other reasons. When you’re 50 it might be a big milestone or just another day of the year and the first day of the following one. For me it was just another day. I wrote a post in Facebook and I gathered couple of friends. And I said thanks I am on the right side of life, the bright side.