ATM GRUPA Christmas party has become a showbiz fixture. This year it was attended by ATM GRUPA executives, staff members, business partners, journalists and ATM show stars. 2017 was a very good year. ‘In addition to our long-standing programs, we premiered thirteen new shows. progress requires change, and perfection requires constant change, so we keep coming up with new plans. Our offering is extremely diverse, ranging from The Border, a highly acclaimed show distributed in many countries around the world, to much-loved shows produced for smaller channels’, says ATM GRUPA CEO Andrzej Muszyński.

It was the second time that the Christmas party had included a launch of an ATM GRUPA calendar. ‘As a production company, we must bend to the needs of advertisers and broadcasters, and respect the visions of program authors, but in putting together our calendar we enjoy full creative freedom’, says Andrzej Muszyński. ‘What makes this edition unique is its dark tone and its protagonists, young and talented actors. We want to accompany them on their creative journey. To offer them new roles and chances to develop their talents’, he adds.

Tatiana Jachyra’s exclusive calendar showcases twelve photo shoots with young actors who appear in ATM-produced shows. Young, sensitive and passionate about acting, they portray famous literary and film characters who are ruthless, psychopathic, scary, horrible but at the same time fascinating. The characters’ passions and obsessions have helped make most of them into pop culture icons. Inspirations behind the 2018 calendar include Dracula, Hannibal Lecter, Alice in Wonderland and, last but not least, Dr Frankenstein. ‘I wanted to give these characters a modern twist, embed them in our era, hence Elżbieta Batory wearing Barbie’s ruffle (the doll, as we know, is a symbol of femininity), a toothless Dracula, and Dorian Gray obsessed with eternal youth and beauty, an obsession which is also present in today’s social media’, says Tatiana Jachyra. This year’s calendar features Weronika Humaj, Aleksandra Popławska, Piotr Żurawski, Anna Ilczuk, Ewa Jakubowicz, Joanna Opozda, Patryk Pniewski, Lidia Sadowa, Helena Sujecka, Bartłomiej Firlet, Kuba Wesołowski and Mikołaj Roznerski.

‘I don’t know any actress who wouldn’t want to portray Lady Macbeth. I have done that and I must say it was a great challenge, not only physically. The things you do for a good photo’, says Lidia Sadowa, of The Ranch fame, whose Lady Macbeth is naked and wears a crown of daggers and bullets.

‘When I was approached to portray Alice, I thought I was chosen for my physical resemblance, but my Alice is in a sort of drug-induced trance, has a skinned rabbit on her head and slits her veins with a card. This image is in sync with my character in First Love, where I fearlessly played a rebellious teenager with a Mohawk haircut’, adds Ewa Jakubowicz, who is familiar to TV audiences from First Love. Another actor featured in the calendar is Jakub Wesołowski, who has recently joined the cast of Father Matthew. ‘I’m glad I could join the Father Matthew team, though I must admit I had my fears joining such a closely knit group of friends who had been acting together for several years. Fortunately, my fears proved unfounded as I was accepted from day one and they made me feel at home’, confesses Jakub Wesołowski, who played the part of Jean-Baptiste in the movie Perfume.

Many other stars attended, including Beata Ścibakówna and Jan Englert, Małgorzata Niemirska, Ewa Kasprzyk, Dorota Chotecka and Radosław Pazura, Aleksandra Popławska, Edyta Olszówka, Michał Piela, Piotr Polk, and Artur Żmijewski.

Photo: AKPA/Mieszko Piętka