The director and script writer of the film is Stanislav Sokolov who has previously directed "" in the 1990s. The veteran animator from Soyuzmultfilm who has previously experience working with Soviet Union artists Ivan Ivanov-Vano and Boris Nemensky worked on one of the last animation films produced in the historic Soyuzmultfilm studio in 25 Dolgorukovskaya Street, near the Novoslobodskaya metro station. Sokolov was interested in such a production ever since the 1970s. During the pre-perestroika times, Sokolov applied for the film concept but the idea was shelved because Hoffman's stories were deemed too frightful for children and mystical for adults.Actual filming for the pilot began in late 2005 using stop-motion puppet animation as the medium to bring to animated life the various characters of the stories by E.T.A Hoffman. Director Sokolov states, "Hoffmann's novels and short stories are perfect for stop motion. It is a technique that allows you to combine the visual effects of animated cinema with the materiality of the resources used. Thus, we create a tuning fork between real and fantasy elements."