Serbia Film Commission implements Film Friendly Environment project funded by EU

August 25th, Belgrade – the Serbia Film Commission strives not only to promote locations in Serbia, but also to develop the filming environment in the country and to build partnerships between filmmakers, local government and the business sector. In order to accomplish that aim, the SFC has developed a Film Friendly project that has been awarded funding by the European Commission’s Regional Socio-Economic Development Program 2. The two year project addresses three key groups of stakeholders – local government, filmmakers and the private sector that are pillars of the community with a film- friendly attitude. Partners of the SFC on the Project are Serbia Investment and Promotion Agency (SIEPA) and National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED).

The first phase of the project is underway and it includes assessment of municipalities in the Greater Belgrade Area and Vojvodina which have attractive locations and film infrastructure that can be offered to international productions. The project team has visited the municipalities of Subotica, Novi Sad, Smederevo, Pancevo, Kragujevac, Sombor etc. and conducted a survey that will help to determine the current level of camera readiness, provide guidelines for improvement and introduce standardized procedures for obtaining film permits.

Through a series of training events, the project will provide capacity-building and skills for the municipalities, filmmakers and local businesses in order to build a solid network of all stakeholders involved in the process of film production.

In the final stage of the project, the most successful municipalities will be awarded a Film Friendly Certificate and promoted through a Film Friendly Serbia portal.

All the of the attractive, diverse and suitable locations that the team finds will be presented in a brand new, highly sophisticated online locations database.
Private owners will also be able to list their properties in the database.