EXCLUSIVE: Ukrainian showrunner Yuri Dvizhon has launched a London-based production house with a celebrity-led sex education series.
is a five-part series that has debuted on Eastern European streamer Megogo as Dvizhon Studios‘ first show, featuring the likes of Ukrainian war veteran and amputee Oleksandr Teren, who led the 13th season of The Bachelor in Ukraine.
At its centre is Niko, a puppet created with puppet studio Talk to the Hand (Mongrels, Yonderland) and voiced by Anna Lev, the official Ukrainian voice of Bart Simpson. The visual identity and graphic design is by Seoul-based designer Will Lim.
Filmed inside the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, the show is co-hosted and social-media star TUMAZAR, who leads candid conversations, as Niko asks the direct or unexpected questions a conventional presenter might not. The library itself becomes a voice providing facts and expert context. Episodes expand through street interviews, and Niko’s comedic internal monologue.
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The series was developed over more 36 months in London and Kyiv in collaboration with the Olena Pinchuk Foundation, which works to develop a culture of sexual education and informed conversations around sexuality in Ukraine, with support from British luxury brand Aspinal of London. Dvizhon is the showrunner.
The show will also get a regular linear run on Megogo Music, featuring extended podcast editions of celebrity conversations.
Dvizhon, the founder of Dvizhon Studios, is a London-based filmmaker and showrunner whose films have been presented at Series Mania, Berlinale Talents Sarajevo, Tallinn Black Nights, the Stockholm International Film Festival and Serial Killer. His recent credits include Marriage (In)Equality in Ukraine and Pride Is Not Available In Your Region.
He has worked in the industry for more than a decade across feature docs, TV series, music videos and social impact campaigns, and is now developing a slate of entertainment, scripted and unscripted titles. The First Time is the latest example of how Ukraine’s filmmaking community have continued to develop new titles despite ongoing Russian attacks in the country.
“I was directing much of this show from London while our team in Kyiv kept production moving, through blackouts and repeated Russian missile and drone attacks,” he told Deadline. “It was a strange contrast: we were making a show about how people connect, while Ukraine was living through a full-scale war. I’m proud that what started as a much smaller educational idea grew into a full-scale entertainment format with its own voice, visual world and characters.”
Maria Panchenko, Content Director at Megogo, added: “It is important for us to support initiatives that have a genuine social impact. The First Time offers a unique combination of entertainment and an important educational subject. We are pleased to give our audience the exclusive opportunity to be the first to watch a show that creates a safe space for open conversations about healthy relationships and self-acceptance.”
