Public Development (Syaran TV series)
| Public Development | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Directed by | Jannig Smoulian |
| Starring | Bilyana Desislavova Toncheva Bale Kazepov Renato Milić Dyakon Atanasov Rusev |
| Country of origin | Syara |
| Original language(s) | Syaran |
| No. of episodes | 45 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Rumen Shapkarov |
| Production location(s) | Syara |
| Cinematography | Lara Milašinčić |
| Editor(s) | Miroslav Stanimirov Pironev |
| Production company(s) | Prism Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | ComNetwork |
| Original release | June 22, 2021 – Ongoing |
Public Development (Syaran: Јавен развој, Javen razvoj) is a Syaran television comedy series by Prism Productions that premiered on ComNetwork on 22 June, 2021. The series follows the working lives of a team in the fictional Ministry of Public Development as they navigate the collision of infrastructure, project development, public relations, and bureaucracy. The series first season ran in 2021 and has been renewed every year since. Public Development met with positive reviews from critics.
Characters
- Nedelya Boikova Varbanova - The Chief of Staff for the Ministry, Nedelya is a veteran civil servant and the "straight woman" of the office, pragmatic and direct. Nedelya is the principle go-getter for the Ministry, balancing the ambitions and often unrealistic goals of her superiors with what is feasible. Though often exasperated with the performance and attitude of her peers, she possesses a genuine love of her work and has a strong ethical and grounded view of the ministrys' role. She comes from a lower class background, which is sometimes used against her by her superiors for her "lack of vision"
- Kostadin Malchankov - The Senior Project Director of the Ministry, Kostadin is a highly enthusiastic and optimistic civil servant with a strong desire to embark on enormous and profound civil projects, but often has little grasp of the feasibility of such efforts. While generally good natured and friendly, Kostadin's antics tend to irritate Nedelya, a fact he remains largely oblivious to.
- Ilyo Jordanova - The Operations Assistant, close friend to Nedelya and in her eyes the most competent person in the office. Ilyo, despite plenty of experience and common sense, is often overruled by his more senior coworkers and is thus forced to spent most of his time trying to enact their unrealistic ambitions and personal pet projects.
- Maja Vrbanec - The Public Relations Director, Maja is responsible for the Ministrys' public image. Highly prone to following fads and trends, she often focuses more effort on "rebranding" the Ministry, often through social media and information technology means she doesn't truly understand.
- Sivo Andreev Tsvetanov - The Minister of Public Development, Sivo is a former radio host whose appointment was largely related to his role as a public affairs manager for the party. Sivo lacks a clear understanding of the role of the Ministry and often is just focused on meeting the expectations of the Executive of Syara. Most of his decision making and opinions are based on what is political viable or popular, which occasionally makes him both a figure of reasonable authority and an attention-seeking politician.
- Kakig Smoulian - Chief Treasurer of the Ministry, Kakig is tasked with approving budgets for Ministry Projects. He is almost wholly opposed to spending money on anything, but due to his introverted nature he is often ignored and overruled by the Minister. Although occasionally an ally of Nedelya, his penny-pinching nature also works against her on occasion.
- Sanja Cvetko - The Executive Assistant to Nedelya, Sanja is well intentioned and cheerful, but also naive and often prone to going with the flow even to the detriment of her superiors.
- Andreev, Adrijan, Anton - The three deputy ministers, they are described by almost all characters save for Nedelya and Ilyo as polar opposites of one another, but in every appearance they always resemble one another to an almost uncanny degree, with similar opinions and mannerisms. In the rare instance they disagree, they resolve the issue to mutual agreement almost instantly, often through rapid and sometimes nonsensical discussions.
- Payl Ezzatian - Director of Personnel Management, Payl serves as the human resources chief of the Ministry and often goes to great lengths to state her interest and desire to improve the working conditions of the staff. In practice however most of her solutions and suggests are either infeasible or serve no real purpose.
Synopsis
The series follows the staff of the fictional Ministry of Public Development, which is tasked with assisting public infrastructure projects, managing public relations with government agencies, and conducting reviews of civil-political engagement on behalf of the Government of Syara (in reality, these duties are split between the Ministries of Administration, Internal Affairs, and Infrastructure). Following an election which places a new government in power (the party affiliation is never identified), the newly appointed staff of the Public Development Ministry are tasked with improving the public image of the department, completing various ongoing and stalled projects, and streamlining the Ministry's' operations. In practice, this typically involves dealing with the various bureaucracies of each government ministry, and balancing the demands of the public and the ambitions of politicians and public figures.
Seasons usually follow a general plot, though most episodes have additional B-plots among various characters. The typical season opens up with a problem or issue that is identified over the first few episodes, which prompts a variety of responses between the various staff members, which are often mutually exclusive. Resolving these differences and coming up with a realistic solution serves as the main story line for each season. Apart from fads and trends brought onboard by Maja, most of the plots shy away from topical political issues and focus on long-running systematic problems like regionalism, centralization versus decentralization, and change against the status quo.
Seasons
Season 1
A general election places a new administration in power in Syara, resulting in the appointment of a new minister and staff for the Ministry of Public Development. There is pressure on the new government to "clean up" the Ministry following a report issued the previous year revealing the Ministry's poor budgeting and popular image, with 85% of Syarans being unable to identify any of the Ministry's projects or staff. Newly appointed Minister Sivo Andreev Tsvetanov envisions a grand reorganization and restructuring of the Ministry and sources ideas from his staff. His Chief of Staff Nedelya suggests a thorough review of ongoing projects to determine their state and whether they should be continued, but Maja Vrbanec suggests instead a massive social media push to achieve a "presence" in the mind of the Syaran public. Kostadin Malchankov suggests combining several existing projects under one grand vision, but is rebuffed when his "train canal shipping lane" runs into problems with engineering issues, environmental concerns, and the laws of physics. Nedelya and Ilyo identify two projects of interest; a waste disposal plan to reduce the size of Syara's landfills and a railway restoration project that is over budget and behind schedule. Maja has the team sign up for as many social media platforms as possible, but the sheer number of sites causes the team to lose track of their passwords and become locked out of many of the websites. The waste disposal plan identified by Nedelya falls through after it is revealed the chemical corrosion process used produces toxic byproducts, while the railway restoration program is stonewalled by a third party contractor who insists it can't purchase the tools necessary to complete the program because the unions salary demands are too high. Sivo and Maja have the team post hundreds of photos of the Ministry staff to social media, but the team quickly runs out of "glamour shots" and begins posting random photographs of office supplies like pencils and chairs alongside increasingly nonsensical "inspirational" messages. Nedelya tries to have the Ministry re-negotiate the contract for the railway project but the company being contracted threatens to sue for breach. Treaserur Kakig refuses to finance a legal investigation due to the cost of hiring lawyers and the Ministry's own legal team has not yet been seated. The three deputy ministers, Andreev, Adrijan, and Anton all offer to meet with the contractors with their own solutions, but they all end up repeating the same talking points to the frustration of the contractors. Roughly half of the social media accounts set up by the Ministry are banned from platforms for spamming, leading Paylr to suggest running a series of vlogs, none of which attract more than a hundred views after several weeks of being online. Executive Assistant Sanja inadvertently reveals to Nedelya a clause that can allow the government to exit out of the contact, which Nedelya uses to threaten the contractor, who finally agrees to front the funding to finish the project. The Ministry's social media presence unexpectedly kicks off after the trend of posting office photos with meaningless captions becomes an internet meme, and an end of year report finds the Ministry has completely turned around popular perception.
Season 2
The Syaran Government wants to pursue a new initiative for expanding Syara's high speed rail infrastructure. The Public Development Ministry is tasked with identifying possible routes and conducting feasibility studies. Kostadin, Maja, and Sivo are highly enthusiastic about the project but Nedelya points out such a thing has been tried for years to no avail. Kostadin and Maja are in favor of a direct route from Zovahr to Hayreniky, while Sivo favors replacing the Syaran Coastal Highway with a high speed rail link instead. Nedelya and Ilyo try to make plans for one running through flatter Galania, which seems more feasible to the two. Maja suggests linking Zovahr with Dateva and has the team contact specialists and engineers for advice on the construction, only to get laughed at due to the obstruction of the Symmerian highlands. Sivo insists that most motorists would be willing to give up driving on the coastal highway in exchange for super fast trains and tries to commission a study to ask motorists for their opinion, only to be dismayed when most respond to such an idea with ridicule. Sivo attempts to hold a press conference to boost popular support for the idea, but his comments on truckers and truck drivers earns the ire of many and places him in hot water with the Party and the Executive. With much of the teams finances consumed commissioning studies, Nedeyla is forced to find a way to implement her own idea by renting a van and traveling across Galania to do her own studies, which Sanja excitedly joins her on believing it to be a road trip for friends. The three deputy ministers surprise everyone with their own suggestion, connecting southern Scitaria to northern Hayreniky in a smaller-scale version of the Ministers plan. It is initially well received until the team deduces the Deputies picked the route because it links some of their favorite recreational locations together for their own convenience. Nedelya returns from the trip exhausted, prompting Payl to suggest a group retreat to Chryse to recharge their batteries and retool their plans. The trip immediately causes Sivo, Kostadin, and Maja to abandon their ideas for a new high speed rail link to Chryse from Symmeria; when Nedelya points out that one already exists in the Chryse Link, they suggest building a bridge or a second tunnel to host another high speed rail line. The team is dismayed upon their return to their office to learn that the Ministry of Infrastructure has put forward a proposal for a route in Scitaria that catches the attention of the Executive, who embraces it. The team is disappointed none of their plans were accepted, and Payl suggests another retreat, this time to somewhere with no high speed train; they end up in rural Hayreniky just 20 kilometers from the border with Ruvelka, and Kakig momentarily steps on what he thinks is a mine left over from the Zemplen War until Ilyo points out its' just an aluminum can. The team returns to the office still feeling dejected, but learn that the Infrastructure Ministrys' plan has been scrapped owing to environmental concerns. The team quickly attempts to submit all their ideas, only to learn that the projects' projected budget has been cut and the only economically feasible plan would be the Deputy Ministers'. The plan is reportedly approved by the Executive to the delight of the Deputy Ministers, who began planning their vacations only to learn the rail won't likely be complete for nearly a decade.
Season 3
The Government of Syara comes under fire from a watchdog NGO who reveals that more than $65 billion worth of Drachma has been unaccounted for from the national budget over the past several years. In an effort to remedy the situation the Executive orders all government agencies to conduct internal audits, which places the Ministry of Public Development on edge. Minister Tsvetanov attempts to downplay the severity of the problem by providing estimates of Ministry expenditures, but quickly reveals he has little grasp of the actual cost of public projects when he estimates that a national transportation overhaul initiative might cost between 50 million and 50 billion Drachma. Nedelya has the team dig through the records of the Ministrys' financial documents but discovers that the previous administrations' record keeping means were unevenly distributed between storage, in-office paper files, and a hastily thrown together digital server that the team has trouble accessing. Malchankov eagerly suggests placing everything on "the cloud" after hearing the term in a press conference, leading Sanja to mail in dozens of photos of clouds and the sky to the office in an effort to help. Treasurer Kakig is furious to learn his predecessor did not abide by prescribing accounting procedures and forces the team to help him bring everything up to code, only for Ilyo to point out mid-way through the process that the policy Kakig is citing was last updated in 2006 and has since been superseded. Deputy Ministers Andreev, Adrijan, and Anton unexpectedly reveal they have tracked down the location of one of the Ministrys' storage depots, but when they locate it they discover it is actually being used to store captured military hardware from the Zemplen War, which they pose with and cause a minor scandal when images of them carrying and wearing Ruvelkan and Acrean weapons and uniforms appear in the media. Director Payl reveals to Nedelya she has found a large portion of the previous governments records, but is faced with difficulty determining which belongs to who due to the informal terminology and communication used. Malchankov offers to speak to a friend in the former Ministry to help, but their conversation turns sour after a series of escalating petty offenses both real and imagined. After three days of sorting through the records Nedelya finally finds the relevant paperwork revealing that most of the Ministrys' unaccounted spending was due to three cancelled projects, a telecommunications renovation, a new bus system for Scitaria, and a public parks initiative. Despite Nedelya's efforts to point out all were cancelled for good cause, Director Maja and Malchankov become convinced they can revitalize at least one of them in order to justify the expenditures. The team eventually settles on a plan to advance the development of electric buses for Scitaria, but run into opposition from the Ministry of Transportation who have just completed a new contract with a bus manufacturer for the next five years. Maja and Malchankov instead push for modernization for "smart buses" for existing fleets in Symmeria and Galania, which feature charging ports for smart phones, wi-fi connectivity, and its own social media platform to allow bus commuters to stay connected. The team puts together a presentation for the "Syaran Bus of the Future", but the concept is heavily criticized when shopped to various design committees and engineers. The Ministry seems doomed to have to report an major waste of expenditures until Director Payl suggests an app for coordinating bus routes and transportation for commuters, which Nedelya seizes on and manages to convince her supervisors to accept, despite them questioning whether the "lower classes that take the bus" can afford phones in the first place. By the time the audit is due the Ministry has managed to cover over most of its unaccounted-for budget and revealing the new app and tracking system, which is well received by the public and earns the praise of the Executive. The season ends with the team inaugurating the unveiling by taking the bus to work, only for everyone but Nedelya, Ilyo, and Sanja leaving early to take their personal vehicles to work instead.
Reception
Public Development has been praised as "sharp and clever political satire", focusing on the mundane nature of bureaucracy, team management, cooperation, office affairs rather than partisan political bickering. Writing for the Zovahr Standard, Syaran critic Dončo Stojkov highlighted the show as "revealing the true nature of politics; not the ambitious, back door dealings with an air of sinister power grabs, but the boring yet whimsical reality; people whos' efforts to do good and lead are always being led astray by the faults in their own personality and the balancing act of public demand and media popularity."