The circular motif is a ‘thundermark’, a symbol of the ancient Ukrainian god of thunder, Perun – still used as a carving in ceiling beams to protect against lightning in rural Ukraine.

A recently launched Ukraine-based cartoon project with a
simple title “Ivan’s Money” is set to rock the online media as a boredom killer
worldwide. Quite ambitions, isn’t it?

One of the founders of this project has been talking to Real
Ukraine and revealing the secrets of a their strategy and in-built success
factors designed for Ivan’s Money. Who knows, what if they are right, and Ivan
is really going to bring in a lot of success and cash for the Ivan’s Money
founders.

Real Ukraine:

Vasyl, what makes your project so unique. What will possibly
give it a chance to get through the worldwide media. What makes your Ivan
competitive?

Vasyl:

Well, it is not difficult to see that we want to make a
fun-project. We want to enjoy what we do and, consequently, we want the
audience to enjoy just the same experience we had during the production. You
know, “Ivan’s Money” is a bit of a mix of South Park, Borat and some new
exciting and original ways to present our funny reality. No matter what you see
now on the demo, Ivan and the whole set of characters will have a very distinct
way of being. We sincerely hope that our fans will truly appreciate our
approach.

Real Ukraine:

So you think you will be original enough to grab the
attention of the ever-growing online public, switching from TV entertainment to
more mobile and get-it-everywhere internet?

Vasyl:

Internet is an interesting media. We want to distribute the
content only on internet via all possible means, however, only internet.  It
would be a bit like British music band Radio Head switching fully to internet
public. I guess that we want to target the same audience.  Probably, our
audience should not watch TV  so much, have a busy lifestyle and get to watch “Ivan’s
Money” online for relaxing and a laugh..  so that’s the strategy.

Real Ukraine:

What experience do you have in media projects to make sure
this one will not be a trial-and-error case?

Vasyl:

Exactly, this will be THE trial-and-error case. This has
started as a fun project between designer and myself.  Nothing to hide, we want
to make this all commercial at some point, but we are ok to make trial-and-error
as we like the whole process of production, as I said before.

Real Ukraine:

What is it all going to be about? All I can see now is a
flying sheep and Ivan….

Vasyl:

It is going to be a mix of everything but the main line of
the series will be Ivan’s desire to make money. He gets to meet this funky
alien-processed sheep who can fly and they, together with some help of magic,
travel around the world trying out different life-styles in making money and experiencing
different cultures. It is going to be about world issues, about funny issues
about celebrities etc. Most importantly, it is going to be voiced well. I guess
that’s 50% of success.

Real Ukraine:

What is Ukrainian about the project?

Vasyl :

Well, nothing very conscious at the moment. But it is our
aim to deliver, through the whole set of media and hidden messages an insight
into a Ukrainian identity, as comparing it to other cultures in a funny, sometime,
actually very bitter way.

Real Ukraine:

Well good luck! Looking forward to seeing more of the flying
sheep!  

We offer our readers some screen shots from the first
series!

More can be viewed at www.ivansmoney.com