After receiving an M.S. degree in Oceanography, VITALY SUMIN produced ocean-related documentaries (Jacques Cousteau style) which eventually led him to abandon his scientific career to get a B.A. degree in film directing. He subsequently worked as a co-writer and producer on numerous productions. Sumin’s award winning short film "From Womb To Tomb", which he wrote, directed edited, and produced, made a world tour of important festivals. In 1988 Sumin received a US patent #4,784,394 for his invention "The World Belongs To You!" - an interactive tourist game (including video, reality TV and other versions). Sumin further studied at The Sorbonne in Paris under a study grant. His script "Idiot", a contemporary international thriller based on Dostoevsky’s novel, received a development grant from The Warner Bros Fund. A number of other Sumin's scripts are circulating in the United States and Europe. Vitaly Sumin currently resides in Los Angeles. In 2005 he wrote/produced and directed feature film “Shades of Day” –(www.shadesofday.com) in the framework of his “Dostoevsky-Los Angeles Project” - http://www.shadesofday.com/VMP/new-projects.htm “Shades of Day” – an adaptation of Dostoevsky’s novella “White Nights” was selected by the Rutgers University’s professor Gerard Pirog for his course in cinema along with the classic works by Bertolucci, Kurosawa, Bresson, Scorsese, Shroeder, Von Sternberg... – http://www.shadesofday.com/critics.htm In 2009 Vitaly wrote, directed and produced feature film “Notes From The New World” – www.notesthemovie.com - an adaptation of “Notes From The Underground” by F. Dostoevsky (the second chapter of ‘Dostoevsky-LA Project” – http://www.shadesofday.com/VMP/new-projects.htm ) PR NOTES FROM THE NEW WORLD - An Interview With Vitaly Sumin By Christina Hamlett November 21, 2009 http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/view/129603 - Interview with Vitaly Sumin by Lisa Pinckard http://www.shadesofday.com/VMP/smile.htm http://www.prairieden.com/interviews/sumin_interview.htm - Extract from article by Christina Hamlett – “Great Adaptations” – in Movie Maker Magazine 2008: Whatever is depicted, it’s essential that a film’s content resonate with contemporary audiences. Vitaly Sumin, president of VM Productions, is the writer-director-producer of Shades of Day, a feature adapted from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s short story, White Nights. Relates Sumin, “In transporting the essential elements of White Nights from mid-19th-century Russia to modern-day California, I have underscored the universality of Dostoevsky’s tale as well as the commonalities of the human experience. The film proposes a certain reading of the book using it as a pretext to show the conditions of existence in 21st-century Los Angeles. I’ve never been particularly interested in the exact re-creation of stories by classical authors, including the appropriate attributes of the corresponding historical time involved. With all my respect and admiration for the great writers, I believe that as human beings we’re all equal—some of us simply serve as mediums for ‘the voices’ that help to discover the laws of the universe. Each classical fiction work represents for me a patent serving as base for the explorations of our own age.” http://www.moviemaker.com/tags/vitaly%20sumin/ http://www.moviemaker.com/screenwriting/article/great_adaptations_a_winn... Other PR material: www.notesthemovie.com/vitaly_blog.html