diff --git a/shared/utils/dateformat.py b/shared/utils/dateformat.py
index dc27313..cab5595 100644
--- a/shared/utils/dateformat.py
+++ b/shared/utils/dateformat.py
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ def format_date_range(from_date, to_date, variant=DEFAULT_VARIANT):
 
         f = t = ""
         if from_date:
-            f = date_format(from_date, get_format(from_format), lang=get_language())
+            f = date_format(from_date, get_format(from_format, lang=get_language()))
         if to_date:
             t = date_format(to_date, get_format(to_format), lang=get_language())
 
@@ -152,11 +152,11 @@ def format_time_range(from_time, to_time, variant=DEFAULT_VARIANT):
     from_format = to_format = "q"  # get_format(variant + 'TIME_FORMAT', lang=get_language())
 
     if from_time == to_time or not to_time:
-        return time_format(from_time, get_format(from_format), lang=get_language())
+        return time_format(from_time, get_format(from_format, lang=get_language()))
     else:
         f = t = ""
         if from_time:
-            f = time_format(from_time, get_format(from_format), lang=get_language())
+            f = time_format(from_time, get_format(from_format, lang=get_language()))
         if to_time:
             t = time_format(to_time, get_format(to_format), lang=get_language())
 
diff --git a/shared/utils/fields.py b/shared/utils/fields.py
index 05ec964..ac53091 100644
--- a/shared/utils/fields.py
+++ b/shared/utils/fields.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ from __future__ import unicode_literals
 import re
 from django.db.models import fields
 from django.utils import six
+from django.utils.encoding import force_text
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
 if six.PY3:
     from functools import reduce
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ def unique_slug(instance, slug_field, slug_value, max_length=50, queryset=None):
     """
     if not slug_value:
         raise ValueError("Cannot uniquify empty slug")
-    orig_slug = slug = slugify(slug_value)
+    orig_slug = slug = force_text(slugify(slug_value))
     index = 0
     if not queryset:
         queryset = instance.__class__._default_manager.get_queryset()
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ def unique_slug(instance, slug_field, slug_value, max_length=50, queryset=None):
         return queryset.exclude(pk=instance.pk) \
             .filter(**{"%s__istartswith" % slug_field: slug}).values_list(slug_field, flat=True)
 
-    similar_slugs = get_similar_slugs(slug)
+    similar_slugs = list(get_similar_slugs(slug))
     while slug in similar_slugs or len(slug) > max_length:
         index += 1
         slug = "%s-%i" % (orig_slug, index)