Project 64, which combines a studio and a media outlet of the same name, has been actively working for some time and offers its audience a variety of video content. It all started with an idea — before founding their own media outlet, Iana Korbezashvili and Giorgi Gogua worked as freelancers, mainly producing commercial materials, and wanted to do something more interesting. From the very beginning, their idea was to do explanatory journalism and provide information to the audience in simple language and an attractive visual style, sharing knowledge.
As Giorgi Gogua recalls to Aprili Media, it was the fall of 2020 when they were discussing plans and decided to think about establishing a media outlet. A third person joined the process, Toma Begiashvili, who had extensive experience in making video content. They were already established as an organization in May 2021. Giorgi tells us that it would have been hard to imagine being interested in business and thinking about commercial development from the very beginning. He recalls that they obtained a small grant, for just 6 months of work, and started working.
“We wanted to build a company that we would enjoy working for. A company that would be focused on growth, revenue generation, business development.”
The first video was published in August 2021, but the funding soon ran out, and commercial orders became the way to meet financial needs. Before that, they already had some contacts through their experience working as freelancers, and by leveraging the resources of several people, they were actually serving the interests of companies at the cost of one person. They worked like this until the end of 2022 — they added only one person, who took on the role of social media manager.
“The first grant was actually only enough for rent and small paychecks. We had our own equipment, some lighting, not so high quality, and our own backgrounds, which we made with pieces we bought at Eliava. We didn’t even have an editing computer, I was going to bring my own computer from home, but at that time I won the European Union Prize and used that money to buy an editing computer.”
According to Giorgi, they had experience working in other media or as freelancers, but they knew nothing about the effort required to run their own organization. They learned a lot along the way, through practical experience. For example, at first they wanted to publish at least one video a week, but they soon realized that they wouldn’t be able to, because there were only three people in the organization and, if nothing else, they had to think about saving money and taking care of human resources. The same was true with social networks — they decided that it was better to focus on one channel than to use all channels, and at first they existed only on Facebook. Despite the fact that they published a limited amount of content and had not fully utilized social channels, they quickly earned the attention of the audience.
“The audience grew quickly because we were actually creating a product that no one else was doing. For example, hand-made, paper-cut decorations; where the story and illustration follow each other. I think we reached over a million views in the first year, we had a total of 15 videos in one year. It wasn’t just about visuals, the media market was saturated and still is with news, we didn’t want to and didn’t have the resources to make news. From the beginning, the idea was that we would work on video and, mainly, on social media. We wanted to explain complex stories in a simple way and at the same time, combine graphic design and visual storytelling. Then something a little different came out, but the first inspiration was Vox.”
Gogua recalls in a conversation with us that during the founding period, it was still possible to think about business development and make plans for the future. For him, July 5 became a kind of watershed that revealed many problems.
“Before that, there were verbal and sometimes physical attacks on media representatives, which started with a boycott of television stations and informal restrictions on access to public information. Verbal attacks on the media became more frequent and intense, then they turned into insults. On July 5, we saw that the police gave carte blanche to the people who came out to disperse the Pride, and Gharibashvili’s statement was a signal. Unlike television, online media could not be easily accused of political affiliation, although arrows were slowly aimed at online media as well, and we were portrayed as defenders of Pride, of course, inaccurately. In fact, a large part of the online media was on the watch for human rights, although this was conveyed incorrectly and in fact we were portrayed as enemies of Georgians.”
Several people worked for almost two years, after which they received financial support, which was intended for organizational growth. This allowed them to increase the team to ten people. In addition, they bought furniture, for example, chairs. Giorgi recalls that they would take their salary and go to Gorgia, buy planks, then have iron legs made at Eliava and assemble the tables, and says that they are still like that — they do many things with their own hands.
“I think you should always remember how you tried to find a solution when you didn’t have money. That has its pluses — it’s creative, which is very important for us, it’s therapeutic, it’s also unifying, and it constantly reminds you of where you started. You have to maintain a startup mindset to remember that nothing is guaranteed.”
With this financial support, they were given a chance to grow even more, to develop content, and that’s what happened — now they create content in a number of directions and have been publishing at least a few videos every week for a long time. At the same time, the Georgian Dream began to further restrict the media, adopting a number of repressive laws, be it Russian law, FARA, the Grants Law, the Homophobic Law, etc.
According to Gogua, in response to the Dream attempts, they have not lost the value axis that guides their activities — they talk about various issues as a general-profile media, including human rights, and in this regard there is no other side or alternative for them. However, if in the early years the main focus was on educational materials, 2023 showed that it was necessary to bring socio-political topics to the fore.
The impending crisis and the imposed restrictions pushed them even more to work as much as possible in the direction of commercialization. As Giorgi says, there was a case when the work of the studio, which is completely separated from editorial activities, was hindered by the fact that 64, as a media outlet, is critical of the government, and a potential customer refused to cooperate because of this. However, as Gogua says — “If they decided so, what can we do? We cannot betray our values.”
He critically assesses the current situation and notes that it is easy to imagine this situation and its possible future using the examples of Russia, Belarus, and Azerbaijan. However, everything happens much faster here.
He said that this is compounded by current world news and social media, which are killing traditional media. Therefore, he believes it is especially important today for the media to be able to adapt to this changing reality.
They see the mission of 64 precisely in creating a space that, in the context of information fragmentation and the gradual disappearance of the ability to see alternative opinions in a unified picture, will provide the audience with consistent information and offer the opportunity to hear and gain knowledge from often completely opposing opinions.
He tells us that now, when we may expect that much worse could happen than what is already happening, it is important to remember what desire and values led us to try our luck in journalism.
“We believed in something and started because we saw people whose voices were not heard or not heard enough, we saw injustices that no one was talking about, and we imagined ourselves filling those holes. I don’t believe that journalism solves problems, but it sheds light. We have to decide individually whether to continue or not, and if so, how.”
We had already recorded the interview when information spread that the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which oversees the implementation of the Law on Grants, had sent an official letter to several media outlets, including 64. This is the first step when the bureau became interested in the activities of media outlets. The Anti-Corruption Bureau requested 64 to submit information on whether they had received or had an ongoing grant after the law came into force, and information containing personal data was also requested. 64 wrote to the bureau in response that they would submit the information based on the court’s request. We additionally asked Gogua how he assessed the aforementioned story. According to him, he does not think the request is fair, nor the laws that have been recently adopted.
“These laws are intended to hinder the media from working and to stop us altogether, because the Georgian Dream knows very well that grants are what the majority of online media depends on. I think this is just the beginning, this process will continue, and I think the worst is yet to come.”
Giorgi Gogua noted during his speech that, against the backdrop of all those repressive machines, there are no guarantees, so even if the organization is closed, the main thing is what they left behind. He believes that the most important thing is the value connection that was formed between people.
“One thing we have achieved is that if we were to close tomorrow, we can say that while 64 existed, people felt comfortable here. We have had difficult periods before and the team kept us going. It is the same period now, but in the end, a connection of values was made and I hope that people have found themselves in this process. We are lucky to have these people by our side, who will carry 64 on our backs with us.”
In response to the current challenges, a unified platform was created to support independent media: sinatle.media. Today, independent online media in Georgia is fighting for survival. The repressive regime is trying to suppress voices that tell the truth.
22 online media outlets from all over Georgia have come together to defend what belongs to us all: free speech and democracy. Among the online media outlets participating in the campaign is Project 64.
Your support is crucial in this fight. Donate to support independent online media and help us spread the word.
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