Ukrainian Showrunner Launches London Studio With Puppet-Led Sex-Education Series on Megogo
Ukrainian showrunner Yuri Dvizhon has launched a London-based production house, Dvizhon Studios, and its first show is already streaming: a five-part celebrity-led sex-education series called The First Time, now available free on Eastern European platform Megogo Deadline.
The series centres on a puppet named Niko, built by the UK puppet studio Talk to the Hand — whose credits include the BBC comedy Mongrels and the fantasy series Yonderland. Niko is voiced by Anna Lev, the official Ukrainian voice of Bart Simpson. Social-media star TUMAZAR co-hosts, leading candid conversations while Niko asks the direct or unexpected questions Deadline.
Among the celebrity guests is Oleksandr Teren, a Ukrainian war veteran and amputee who led the thirteenth season of The Bachelor in Ukraine. The series was filmed inside the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine in Kyiv — an unconventional setting for a talk show, and one that gives the production a striking visual backdrop Deadline.
The First Time took more than three years to develop, with work split between London and Kyiv in collaboration with the Olena Pinchuk Foundation, a Ukrainian philanthropic organisation focused on public-health and social initiatives. British luxury brand Aspinal of London provided additional support. The visual identity and graphic design were handled by Seoul-based designer Will Lim Deadline.
Megogo, the streaming platform carrying the series, has also scheduled a regular linear run on Megogo Music featuring extended podcast editions of the celebrity conversations. Maria Panchenko, Megogo's Content Director, oversees the platform's programming slate Deadline. On the platform, The First Time is categorised as a talk-show and education programme and is available to stream in Full HD Megogo.
Dvizhon is a filmmaker and showrunner whose work has 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 — both documentary projects. He studied filmmaking at the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts, and was recognised in the Kyiv Post's "Top 30 Under 30" list in 2019 for his directing work and LGBTQ advocacy Deadline; Kyiv Post.
The Dvizhon Studios website lists the company as a London-based video-production business with a portfolio spanning event, fashion, social and wedding projects dvizhonstudios.com. Under the same banner, Dvizhon is now developing a slate of scripted and character-driven documentary projects aimed at international audiences LinkedIn.
What makes The First Time stand out is the collision of formats it brings together: a puppet built by a team known for British television comedy, a voice actress recognised across Ukraine for an animated American icon, a war veteran turned reality star, and a library that has stood through a war — all in service of a sex-education show streaming for free on a regional platform. The combination is unusual enough to make the next project on Dvizhon's slate worth watching for.
