18 % Grey (Bulgaria) After his wife left him, a failed photographer stumbles upon a bag of marijuana, and determined to sell it, sets off to a wild trip that may lead him to the truth about his lost love and ultimately to himself.Inseparable soul mates, Zack and Stella have left their homeland, and have come to California to study. Zack is determined to “take over the world” with his photography, but when his big dreams fail he settles for a boring printing job in a 1-Hour photo shop. Stella stays true to herself and starts working in an architectural firm.The film starts 9 days after Stella has inexplicably disappeared from Zack’s life. Devastated, he crosses the border into Tijuana (Mexico) to drown his sorrows. After few hours in dingy bars, he encounters a violent drug-related scene, and trying to save a stranger’s life, nearly loses his own. He manages to escape with the van of the “banditos” and makes it back to the US with a bag of marijuana in the trunk. He decides to quit his job and use the unintentionally smuggled weed as a means to turn his life around and win Stella back. But the only man who can help him is Danny, a compatriot, childhood friend, who lives 4 000 miles away in New York City. Before setting off for the East Coast, Zack goes into a pawnshop to get some music, but comes across an old Nikon camera and buys it. As his quest unfolds, he is waking up to the people he encounters and he starts photographing. What started as a foolish, random trip to Tijuana turns into a life-changing journey of self-discovery. The story is told in nonlinear fashion: now – Zack’s wild ride across America and past – as we see his obsessive romance with Stella. When Zack reaches New York and meets Danny, minutes before the arranged transaction the marijuana gets taken away from him and his long trip is about to end in fiasco. He fights to take back what he believes is rightfully his. In the struggle he finally faces the excruciating truth about the absence of Stella. Ultimately, he must decide: to cling to a love lost or let go and reconstruct his new self.

Graduated from the Conservatory in Sofia and then got a degree in acting from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts. Simultaneously, he established his first production company at the age of 19, called “SIF309” with the main activity of film music recording and shooting of music videos. In order to combine knowledge in arts with business, he got a master’s in audio-visual management at Media Business School (Spain). In 2003 he established (together with Viktor Chouchkov Jr.) the production company CHOUCHKOV BROTHERS with the main goal to produce feature films.

Now his experience includes a variety of productions in the audio-visual industry: He co-produced the feature films “Crayfish” (in the selection of Moscow 09, Karlovy Vary 09) and “Hunting Park”, as well as a number of short films and the awarded documentary “HOMO LUDENS”. He produced prime-time TV shows for the major TV channels in Bulgaria and line-produced (for Bulgaria) – international films from Spain, Italy, Canada and France.

The 3 companies that he has created and manages have produced more than 140 commercials for most major brands in Bulgaria and have carried out as a service more than 650 film music score recordings for world famous composers and film directors, among which are the Oscar-nominated “East/West”, “Hotel Rwanda”, “The Choir”, “The Secret in Their Eyes”.

The feature “TILT” developed with ScripTeast, which he wrote and produced, was awarded Best Debut at the Raindance IFF (London, UK), Best Editing – Woodstock IFF (USA) in 2011 and numerous other awards (14 in total). It has been in the competition of 14 international festivals and in the official selection of another 20, a.o. Seattle IFF, Santa Barbara IFF, Goteborg IFF and Montreal WFF, Transilvania IFF, Sofia IFF. It ran for at least 34 weeks in Bulgarian cinemas, the first four of which it came on top of the box-office. It was the Bulgarian Oscar entry 2011.

Introduced to cinema at the early age of 10, he received a special diploma for main child role from the International Film Festival in Moscow in 1981 for his performance in the Bulgarian movie “Yo-ho-ho”. He has been pursuing his dream ever since, only this time on the other side of the camera – by being a director.

He got a master’s degree in film directing from the National Academy of Theater and Film Arts in Sofia. Before that he graduated from the Secondary School of Fine Arts in Sofia. He has used his talent in a variety of ways. He has directed short films (“A.T.M”, “Obsession”, “The Statues Also Die”), numerous music videos for most of the top Bulgarian performers, documentaries, TV commercials.

His first feature “TILT” was awarded best debut at the Raindance IFF (London, UK), James Lyons award for best editing of a feature at the Woodstock IFF (USA) in 2011 and numerous other awards (14 in total). TILT has been in the competition of 14 international festivals and in the official selection of another 20, among which Seattle IFF, Santa Barbara IFF, Goteborg IFF and Montreal WFF, Transilvania IFF, Sofia IFF, etc. TILT was in Bulgarian cinemas for at least 34 weeks, the first four of which it came on top of the box-office in Bulgaria. It was the Bulgarian Oscar entry 2011.