Roscongress Foundation Deputy Director Elena Marinina: “Our goal is to build a creative economy in Russia” Stars

Creative Business Forums have become an integral part of major business events over the years – St. Petersburg, Eastern Economic Forum… What place does the creative sector occupy in the “traditional” economy?

Now everyone understands that it is creative projects and innovations that play a major role in economic development and, in general, one could say, they shift the history of all humanity. A dialogue about what the tools might be to support creativity, help talent and generally create a friendly environment for creatives is therefore the most important part of any serious conversation about the economy and society. For the first time, we tried this format at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021: then we saw the task of gathering at one table all those on whom the development of the creative economy depends. We weren’t a pioneer on a global scale – other countries are coming to this kind of format. It was important to start systematic work in this direction in Russia, because our country has huge potential, especially in the regions.

Does “big” business share this interest in creative fields?

Yes, we didn’t have to prove to anyone the importance of this approach, because everyone can see it: those areas that are associated with creativity and intellectual activity not only develop faster than others, but also become the locomotive of important social projects, change the appearance of the territory and help develop infrastructure. A business based on creativity and an unconventional view is capable of both rapid growth and the creation of many jobs. Of course, it’s still not rosy: big business approaches fundamentally new ideas with some mistrust, the “measure seven times” rule plays a very big (almost too big) role. Sometimes a lack of understanding of the long-term benefits prevents people from engaging in creative projects. This is normal, so one of the tasks of the Creative Business Forum is for both parties to see, hear and understand each other. Both “creatives” and those with more conservative views who know how to calculate everything soberly. We are born with synergies, new business alliances, ideas and even entire directions.

How can you measure the effect of such collaboration and the forum as a whole?

Measuring the effect of cooperation would be too presumptuous on our part: thanks to the forum, cooperation and projects are born, which are at different stages of their journey. Of course, we also have our own idea about the criteria for the effectiveness of the forum, which differed in different phases. At the first FCB, the very fact that artists, representatives of creative industries, entered into a full dialogue with big businesses and managers representing the state was important to us. At that time, fundamental issues of the development of the creative economy, the “export” of Russian initiatives and their scaling at the global level, and the combination of traditional forms of creativity and new technologies were discussed and resolved.

The forum is growing, the scale can be judged, for example, by FKB at this year’s St. Petersburg Economic Forum: more than 20 sessions with the participation of more than 90 leading experts in their fields – from cinematography to fashion and design industries. The event was attended by more than 500 people, if we add the number of viewers of the broadcast, the number will exceed one million. They discussed art and media in times of change, the search for identity, investment in creative fields and much more. Perhaps the main topic was the “decentralization” of cinematography, the possibilities of film production in the regions, because our strategic partner was the Spirit of Fire Academy, another project we created in cooperation with the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. Part of the FKB program in St. Petersburg was the festival of the peoples of the north “Soul of Russia” – more than 500 musicians, actors and artists from 15 regions took part in it. At the Eastern Economic Forum, we also have an extensive FKB program – both business and creative, including, among other things, a screening of a film about the festival.

How big is the contribution of the creative industries to the economy?

Estimates of the contribution of creative industries to the Russian economy vary. A few years ago, the lower limit of estimates was 0.5% of GDP, that is, about 500 billion rubles, it is clear that this contribution is increasing. If we understand the creative sphere broadly, i.e. plus cinematography, media, cyber industry and, for example, tourism, it will be a rather impressive share of GDP. It is also necessary to take into account that creative industries directly or indirectly “push” the development of many others and ultimately affect the quality of human capital, and this is perhaps the most important indicator. Our mission is comprehensive assistance in bringing creative initiatives to life.

You said “if we understand the creative sphere broadly”, but how different can the interpretations of this concept be?

It depends on the traditions of each country. Somewhere, national cuisine, traditional medicine and tourism can be considered creative industries, as in Thailand. And in the UK, for example, advertising is considered part of the creative economy. In Russia, there may not be clear criteria in the spirit of “This is creativity, but this is no longer creativity”, and we try to be as open and unclouded as possible: we are interested in the creative side in IT, and in video games, and in publishing, not to mention cinema, music, design and fashion.

Creative industry forums (at least at SPIEF) have also gained popularity thanks to the participation of tiktokers and millionaire bloggers. Is it now a mandatory part of the creative environment?

It is not mandatory, but we cannot ignore how quickly reality is changing – traditional genres of media and art are complemented by podcasts, virtual spaces, posts, bits… In the advertising industry, for example, there is such a question – it is necessary, it is important that it it didn’t happen for a long time, because when the YouTube audience exceeded 2 billion people, it was clear to everyone that this was a new reality to work with.

You can argue about certain personalities, TikTok bloggers who appeared in our sessions, but the trend as a whole cannot be denied: it is new, unusual, extraordinary, changes the usual image of business, creates new trends, formats, virtual platforms. This means that it is also a creative industry.

We try not to avoid controversial ideas, decisions, taboo and even provocative topics. After all, in order to solve a problem, you must first see it, acknowledge it, and articulate it. This process very often starts with controversial performances, and we do not close films and forums for such discussions.

Is the state ready to comprehensively support the development of creative industries?

​ It is not yet a systematic process, at least not as it is organized in many countries – from China to Great Britain. Yes, a lot is being done in Russia to support talent and help SMEs, but these are largely scattered steps. In many ways, the forum helps to unite them into a single strategy: together, during discussions and round tables, we formulate the needs of creative industries, find out what their barriers are, what risks arise and how to minimize them. It is very important that the representatives of state authorities participate with interest in these dialogues, because there is a desire to help from the state side, but it is necessary to correctly grasp the impulse coming from the creative industries themselves. We consider improving the dialogue between the state and the creative industry to be one of our tasks.

Creative business is generally a relatively young field. Does that mean it’s run by the youth?

It wouldn’t be quite right to say that. A person either knows how to generate new things, especially bright business ideas, or not, and this does not depend on age. But among young and motivated people, this symbiosis of new knowledge, readiness for business, the desire to compose, invent – and above all to change society for the better, is naturally born. Young people more easily tolerate the difficulties that cannot be avoided when you start your own business, and even more so when you offer something fundamentally new to the world.

What will happen after the seventh Creative Business Forum? Eighth, tenth, hundredth?

We hope so, we have a lot of plans and most importantly the speakers, experts and audience support us in this. No matter how much is said in the next forum, there is always a fuse to continue the dialogue, even the dispute; there are always unspoken ideas that need to be further developed. And besides, the topics of economic diversification, environmental development (including the development of cities, because urban planning is also part of us) – all these are practically inexhaustible topics. They are not “forever”, but there is still a long way to go to bring all these areas to ideal condition. So there will be enough tasks and topics for the forums for a long time. We see our goal as building a creative economy in Russia, where human creative activity will play a key role.

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