Vitaly Sumin

Crime & Punishment, LA (2017 - 2018)
Film by VM Productions (Thriller) Producer/Director/Writer Rod, an intellectually driven former film student, commits a senseless murder as a demonstration of absolute personal freedom. But that freedom is soon threatened by a preternaturally persistent detective and a newly awakened conscience.

Dostoyevsky Reimagined: The Making of Notes from the New World - BTS (2017 - 2018)
Film by VM Productions (Documentary) Producer SOMEONE -- OR SOMETHING -- DID NOT WANT THIS MOVIE TO BE MADE... It had the hallmarks of a thriller: betrayal and abandonment. Lies and innuendo. Colleagues caught up in a mysterious ancient cult. A side project gone terribly wrong. But these occurrences were not part of the script; they took place in real life behind the scenes of the production. The original concept was daunting enough: a contemporary, sun-drenched re-imagining of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's dark 19th century classic, Notes from the Underground. At the outset, writer/director Vitaly Sumin had a script, a location, a vision, and no budget. But he'd been down this road before; his critically acclaimed previous film, Shades of Day, was an LA story based on another Dostoevsky novella, White Nights. Since he did it once, everyone assumed, he could do it again -- until a tsunami of unforeseen challenges threatened to tear these 'Notes' to shreds. Behind the Scenes -- The Making of Notes from the New World stands as a compelling ... Written by Vitaly Sumin, Dan Marcus

Shades of Day (2006 - 2013)
Film by VM Productions (Crime, Mystery and Romance) Producer/Director/Writer "Shades of Day" is a suspenseful Hollywood fable based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's classic novella "White Nights"(considered one of the greatest love stories ever written), but here transferred to modern day Los Angeles. It's the first part of our "Dostoevsky-L.A" project, which also will include "Crime and Punishment, LA" and "Idiot, L.A". The film crosses and re-crosses the thin line that separates tragedy from comedy. It introduces us to the enchanting Linda, whose life is centered around a planned reunion with her former lover Paul. Her plans change in remarkable ways as she encounters an extraordinary cast of characters, including a new lover and a movie producer who is pursued by the Mafia. Written by Vitaly Sumin

The Missing Screenwriter (2012)
Film by VM Productions (Crime, Documentary, Mystery and Thriller) Producer Robert Hurley, 27, a Culver City native and one time computer engineer, has not been heard from since late February, after many attempts to contact him via phone calls, e-mails, and visits to his home in Los Angeles. The latest film based on his screenplay, 'Notes from the New World', tells a modern day version of Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 'Notes from the Underground', complete with Russian mafia gangsters and a dangerous call girl, and evidence suggests Hurley's disappearance is due to real life characters who inspired the script. Abandoning his job at Teletech Technology, Hurley hooked up with Vitaly Sumin, a fellow screenwriter from New Playwrights Foundation after a chance meeting and Hurley went back to his first love: writing. Vitaly, a Russian native and creator of the film company VM Productions, took a shine to Hurley and looked over a very rough draft of the script for ' 'Notes from the New World'. They visited Sumin's hometown of St. Petersburg to get a better ... Written by Vitaly Sumin

Notes from the New World (2011 - 2012)
Film by VM Productions (Action, Crime, Drama, Romance and 1 More) Producer/Director/Writer "Notes From The New World" is a contemporary retelling of Dostoyevsky's novella which unfolds in Los Angeles of 2011 where dreams and harsh realities collide. It is a place where almost everyone spies on everyone else, and everyone seems to be playing a dangerous game. Steven is torn between the loves of two women, each of them pretending to be somebody else. The danger only intensifies when Steven comes face to face with the Russian Mafia. Soon he will discover who he really is. On another level the story suggests an amazing reading of the state of the post modern/post communist world. Are we witnessing certain realization of Dostoyevsky's prophecies - especially as far as the Underground Man's dilemma regarding Love/Terrorism is concerned?.. Written by Vitaly Sumin