Filmography
Deutschland 89
2020, tv series, writer, 2 episodes, Amazon Prime
The Humorist
Best Feature, Baltic Debuts 2019 / Best Screenplay, Golden Unicorn 2019
2019, feature, writer, Metrafilms
Leto / Summer
Nominated for Palme d’Or, Cannes 2018
2018, feature, writer, Hype Film
The Optimists
2017, tv series, created by, 13 episodes, Marmot Film
Londongrad
2015, tv series, created by, 16 episodes, CTC / Warner Bros.
various
Lily and Michael Idov are screenwriters of the Palme d’Or-nominated feature LETO (Main Competition, Cannes 2018), staff writers on the global hit TV series DEUTSCHLAND 83 (Emmy winner for Best International Drama, 2015), and the co-creators of two acclaimed Russian series, LONDONGRAD and THE OPTIMISTS. They have been married since 2004.
MICHAEL is a Latvian-born American who was raised in Riga, and moved to Michigan at 16. He began his career as a top journalist for New York Magazine, winning three National Magazine Awards for his writing. He has also published several books, including the bestselling novel Ground Up (optioned by HBO) and memoir Dressed Up for a Riot. During a 2012-2014 stint as the Editor in Chief of GQ Russia, Michael made his debut as a screenwriter, in Russian, with the feature film SOULLESS 2 (Columbia), which became the country’s top-grossing domestic release of 2015, making over $8,000,000 at the Russian box office.
LILY, born in Moscow, came to the U.S. in 1998. She has a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Columbia University, and practiced law at several major U.S. and international firms before switching her focus to writing. Lily and Michael’s first collaboration, international comedy/thriller series LONDONGRAD (STS), premiered in September 2015 to a 20.5 audience share and extensive coverage on the BBC, in the Guardian, and the London Times.
Their next series, THE OPTIMISTS (Russia-1), a Cold War drama set at the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, premiered in 2017 to a 15.1 audience share, and has been called “one of the year’s hottest international series” by ScreenDaily. Both series are currently available on Amazon Prime. The same year, Michael’s English-language drama pilot APT, produced by HBO’s Sarah Condon and the HOUSE OF CARDS showrunner Frank Pugliese, was sold to TNT. In 2018, LETO, their theatrical feature directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, was met with global acclaim in Cannes, coming in 2nd in the French critics’ poll, and has seen wide theatrical release in over twenty countries. Finally, DEUTSCHLAND 89, for which Lily and Michael have written two episodes, is set to premiere in 2020.